ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Justice Pakistan Project(JPP) and the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law
School prepared this report in collaboration. Tal D. Eisenzweig, Peter Posada, and Mara Revkin
researched and authored the report. Hope Metcalf, Lecturer in Law, and Nick Robinson, Visiting Lecturer
in Law and Robina Foundation Visiting Human Rights Fellow, supervised the work and edited the report.
Zainab Z. Malik, Policy and Advocacy Manager at Justice Project Pakistan, and Amn Nasir, Research
Officer at Justice Project Pakistan, provided extensive edits and guidance throughout the drafting
process. The authors are grateful to JPP for sharing their clients' stories, as well as to the clients
themselves and their families, for demonstrating such humanity and fortitude.
ALLARD K. LOWENSTEIN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CLINIC AT
YALE LAW SCHOOL
The Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic is a Yale Law School course that gives
students first-hand experience in human rights advocacy under the supervision of international human
rights lawyers. The Clinic undertakes litigation and research projects on behalf of human rights
organizations and individual victims of human rights abuses. Recent work has included involvement in
human rights litigation in U.S. courts; preparing amicus briefs on international and comparative law for
U.S., foreign, and international fora; advocacy before international and regional human rights bodies;
and investigating and drafting reports on human rights situations. The Clinic recently partnered with JPP
to produce the 2014 report, Policing as Torture, which examined the prevalence of torture by police in
Faisalabad, Pakistan.
JUSTICE PROJECT PAKISTAN
Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) is a non-profit, human rights law firm based in Pakistan that provides probono legal advice, representation and investigative services to the most vulnerable prisoners facing the
harshest punishments. JPP's clients include prisoners on death row, survivors of police torture, mentally
ill and physically disabled prisoners and victims of the “war on terror.”
JPP conducts strategic litigation to challenge unjust laws and to create progressive legal precedents.
JPP's litigation aims to improve the rights of the mentally ill, restrict the application of the death penalty,
bring Freedom of Information to Pakistan, and enforce the fundamental rights of prisoners. It also
organizes conferences and trainings in its areas of expertise for judges and lawyers to build capacity
within the legal community.
A “MOST SERIOUS CRIME”:
PAKISTAN'S UNLAWFUL USE OF THE DEATH PENALTY