Pakistan national executed for drug trafficking

By: Jessica Ties
Impunity Watch, Asia

BEIJING, China – A Pakistani man, Syed Zahid Hussain Shah, has been executed by the Chinese government after being sentenced to death for a 2008 drug trafficking charge.

A Pakistan national was executed in China for drug trafficking (Photo Courtesy of BBC).
A Pakistan national was executed in China for drug trafficking (Photo Courtesy of BBC).

Shah, a 36 year old former businessman, was arrested in 2008 amid accusations of drug trafficking and in 2010 he was sentenced to die by lethal injection.

Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Director, Sam Zarifi, stated that “executing someone for drug related offences violates internationally accepted standards for imposing the death penalty…”

Zarifi also called on the Pakistani government to “…provide Shah with urgent additional consular assistance.” This request went unheeded as the Pakistani government refused pleas from not only the human rights community but also from the family members of Mr. Shah.

Frustration at the Pakistani governments failure to act was expressed by the Asian Human Rights Commission which stated “it is the primary duty of the Pakistani government to come forward and save the life of any Pakistani citizen who is made a victim because of the wrong advice from him lawyer and the sheer negligence of staff of the Pakistan embassy in Beijing.”

Although the consular assisted Shah during the three years he spent in detention his family believes that  the assistance he received was inadequate.

Shah was allowed a half hour visit with his family on the day preceding his execution and one last meeting on Wednesday morning before he was executed at four o’ clock that afternoon.

According to Shah’s family, he had been falsely implicated by business associates whom he was attempting to help at the time of his arrest and was not aware that he was breaking any law.

Although statistics on the death penalty are considered a state secret in China, Amnesty International estimates that thousands of people are executed in China each year and are not provided with clemency procedures after they have exhausted their appeals.

This year the Communist party has cut the number of crimes punishable by death, such as forging tax invoices, from 68 to 55. Of the 55 remaining crimes; however, 31 are non-violent crimes which are still death penalty eligible. An example of China’s willingness to utilize the death penalty is exemplified by the assurance Beijing has given the Chinese public that those who violate food safety laws which result in a fatality will face the possibility of execution.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – China Executes Pakistani Man on Drug Charges – 21 September 2011

The International News – Family Meets Pakistani in China Before Execution – 21 September 2011

Truth Dive – Human Rights Groups Urge China to Stop Pak Convict’s Execution – 21 September 2011

BBC News – China Lobbied Over Pakistan Man’s Imminent Execution – 20 September 2011

Asian Human Rights Commission – PAKISTAN: The Government Should Engage with the President of China for the Commutation of the Death Sentence of Zahid Hussain Shah – 19 September 2011

Hindustan Time – Justice by Death in China – 17 September 2011

Amnesty International – China Must Halt Execution of Pakistan National – 16 September 2011

Author: Impunity Watch Archive