Pakistan ranks high in nations giving death

ISLAMABAD, Jan 25 (Reuters) More than 7,000 people are on death row in Pakistan, one of the most in the world, a leading human rights group said in a report released today.

The report, compiled by the Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), said more than 50 Pakistanis were executed in the first half of 2006.

''There are 7,400 prisoners currently lingering on death row in Pakistan, including 42 women,'' HRCP chairwoman, Asma Jahangir, told reporters at the launch of the report.

Christine Habbard of FIDH, who authored the report, said flaws in legal systems in countries like Pakistan made the death sentence an unjust punishment.

''Given the serious defects in the law itself, of the administration of justice, of the police service, the chronic corruption ... capital punishment in Pakistan is discriminatory and unjust.'' Most of the death sentences were carried out in Punjab, the country's most populous province, where some 6,985 prisoners are on death row, the report said.

Executions in Pakistan are carried out by hanging.

REUTERS MS PM1902