Document - Pakistan: Imminent Execution, Manjit/Sarabjit Singh (m)
PUBLIC AI Index: ASA 33/012/2008
19 March 2008
Further Information on UA 69/08 (ASA 33/010/2008, 12 March 2008) Imminent Execution
PAKISTAN Manjit/Sarabjit Singh (m), Indian national
The man known to the Pakistani authorities as Manjit Singh, whom relatives claim is Sarabjit Singh, is due to be executed on 30 April. Previously his execution date had been set for 1 April, but he was granted a one-month stay following appeals for clemency from the Indian government and mounting public pressure in India.
He was arrested as Manjit Singh in 1990 on charges of having worked for Indian intelligence, but was convicted and sentenced in 1991 for alleged involvement with four bomb attacks in Lahore and Faisalabad that killed 14 people in 1990. An appeal to the Supreme Court of Pakistan to have his sentence overturned failed in 2006.
His family have claimed since his arrest that that he is not Manjit Singh, but Sarabjit Singh, an Indian farmer who accidentally strayed into Pakistani territory whilst working.
Manjit/Sarabjit Singh is held in the Kot Lakhpat Prison in Lahore. His appeal to the Supreme Court to have his sentence overturned failed in 2006, and on 5 March 2008, President Pervez Musharraf rejected his petition for mercy.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:
- welcoming the stay of execution for the man the Pakistani authorities believe to be Manjit Singh;
- calling on the authorities to independently verify the identity of the person with the relevant government agencies;
- calling for his death sentence to be commuted.
APPEALS TO:
President Pervez Musharraf
Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 922 1422 or 4768/ 920 1893 or 1835
Email: via website: http://www.presidentofpakistan.gov.pk/WTPresidentMessage.aspx
Salutation: Dear President Musharraf
Mr Hamid Nawaz
Minister for the Interior
Ministry for the Interior
Room 404, 4th Floor, Block R, Federal Secretariat
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 9202624
E-mail: minister@interior.gov.pkor secretary@interior.gov
Salutation: Dear Minister
Mr Syed Afzal Haider
Minister of Law, Justice and Human Rights
Room 305, S-Block, Pakistan Secretariat
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 9202628
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of Pakistan accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 30 April 2008.