MOINUDDIN AND AZAM Age at time of conviction: 17 Years on death row: 17 Status: Case Pending in Supreme Court Tried as terrorists without juvenile safeguards Azam (aka Abdur Rehman) and Moinuddin were arrested in 1998 and convicted in 1999 for murder and armed robbery. According to the accused, they went to a house to collect an unpaid debt but the homeowner refused to pay, resulting in a fight. Moinuddin had a pistol on his person, and in the scuffle the owner of the house was killed. The investigating officer filed the case under the Anti -Terrorist Act (ATA), which meant the duo would face a harsher punishment and be tried without judicial safeguards. Confessions were extracted from the accused by severe torture, and the brutality of torture was such that Azam admitted to be someone else in order to stop the police from inflicting pain. Fabricated evidence and confessions obtained through torture ultimately led to death sentences being handed out to the two. At the time of their arrest, both Azam and Moinuddin were 17 years of age. Though their conviction predates the implementation of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance, the retrospective scope of JJSO means that both the accused should be barred from being executed. Indeed, there was an initial recognition of their adolescence as Azam, despite being tried as an adult was kept in a juvenile facility until he was awarded the death penalty. In 2004, the jail authorities had lodged an appeal to have both the prisoners’ sentenced reduced because of their ages but the appeal was rejected. Despite assurances from jail officials and a government doctor that both Azam and Moinuddin were 17 at the time of the crime, the court refused to take it into consideration. This is because the JJSO is not a supreme law, and as the ATA has no minimum limit on death penalty, the JJSO is not applied in “terrorism” cases. Moreover, a compromise was reached between the complainant and Azam and Moinuddin and a pardon was granted. However, the ATA does not acknowledge compromises, therefore, their death sentences were upheld. Azam and Moinuddin have spent the past 17 years in jail. Despite having no links to any terrorist groups or evidence of having committed a terrorist act, they were tried under the anti-terror laws. A black warrant was issued for their execution in 2015 but a stay of execution was obtained. Their case is currently pending in the Supreme Court.