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Human Rights watchdog group Amnesty International on Friday, May 2, 2008 renewed its appeal that India should abolish death penalty from its statute. Amnesty International is currently also lobbying for clemency for Sarabjit Singh, who is on a death row in Pakistan. Mukesh Sharma, Amnesty International India director significantly remarked that death penalty does not deter crime at all and especially if the judicial system is shown to be unfair.
The London based Human Rights watch dog group remarked that it feared India’s leaders lacked the political courage and human rights leadership to abolish death penalty. Currently President Pratibha Patil has about 60 mercy petitions under review for people facing death penalty, including the case of Parliament attack main accused Afzal Guru. Mukul Sharma asserted that their plea is based on the belief that death penalty violates the right to life and does not have any place in the modern justice system.
