B. Pakistan fails to distinguish and protect prisoners vulnerable to death row syndrome, specifically juveniles and mentally ill person Conditions on Pakistan's death row, where prisoners spend an average 11.41 years on death row, expose prisoners to a high risk of death row syndrome. Especially vulnerable are juveniles and individuals with mental illness or intellectual disabilities. The inquiry as to whether the combination of circumstances runs afoul of the ICCPR's prohibition of inhuman treatment is case-specific, but typically considers the prolonged detention of the prisoner; the physical conditions of imprisonment; and the psychological impact of the incarceration on the prisoner.266 The Human Rights Committee has acknowledged that “the psychological tension created by prolonged detention on death row may affect persons in different degrees.”267 Critical to this last factor are “personal circumstances of the [prisoner], especially his age and mental state at the time of the offense.”268 Pakistan continues to hold juveniles on death row. The Human Rights Committee maintains that holding juveniles on death row amounts to cruel and inhuman punishment in direct contravention to Article 7 of the ICCPR.269 Holding juveniles on death row also violates Article 10(3) of the treaty, which provides that “juvenile offenders shall be segregated from adults and be accorded treatment appropriate to their age and legal status in so far as conditions of detention are concerned.”270 However, case after case details instances of juveniles confined with adults on death row, simultaneously violating both of these important international obligations. Furthermore, as noted above, juveniles are especially susceptible to the death row syndrome. Ansar Iqbal endured 21 years on death row. He was 15 years old when he was arrested. Shafqat Hussain, arrested at 14 years of age, suffered 11 years on death row. Aftab Bahadur was executed after spending 22 years on death row. Collectively, all three spent more than half of their brief lives awaiting death in the gallows. Pakistan also continues to hold on death row persons with mental illness and developmental and intellectual disabilities. The Human Rights Committee has found a violation of the Covenant where the death row inmate's “mental condition was exacerbated by his treatment in, as well as the conditions of his detention, and resulted in documented long-term psychological damage to him.”271 In finding such a breach, the Human Rights Committee considers the prisoner's current mental health, and not only that presented at time of sentencing. Thus, a breach occurs when “[c]ounsel has provided information that shows that the author's mental state at the time of the reading of the death warrant was obvious to those around him and should have been apparent to the prison authorities.”272 Furthermore, a prisoner with mental illness may be especially vulnerable to inmate and guard violence and abuse, which infringes upon a prisoner's inherent dignity.273 A “MOST SERIOUS CRIME”: PAKISTAN'S UNLAWFUL USE OF THE DEATH PENALTY 37

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