UN experts urge Pakistan not to execute mentally ill prisoner

UN experts have urged Pakistan not to carry out arbitrary execution of mental illness prisoners. The execution of Khizar Hayat, sentenced to death in 2003 for killing a colleague, was suspended by Pakistan's Supreme Court on Saturday, just three days before the 55-year-old was due to be hanged.

Government doctors had diagnosed Hayat as suffering from schizophrenia in 2008. Agnes Callamard, UN expert on extrajudicial executions and disabled rights said, the imposition of capital punishment



on individuals with psychosocial disabilities is a clear violation of Pakistan's international obligations. Pakistan's Supreme Court will on Monday hold a hearing into whether the execution of Khizar Hayat can go ahead.