Under the PPC, the death penalty may be imposed for murder,1163 referred to as qatl-i-amd, (sections 302(a) and (b))1164 and blasphemy (section 295C).1165 The death penalty is further specified for certain acts, including ‘the offence of kidnapping for ransom or hostage-taking’, falling under the purview of the ATA.1166 For details on blasphemy provisions and ATA provisions stipulating the death penalty, see sections 5.4. Blasphemy law and 5.5. Anti-Terrorism Acts above, respectively. There were continued reports of courts imposing new death sentences,1167 including on blasphemy charges,1168 with varying estimates of their overall number.1169 In 2025, HRCP reported a significant increase in death sentences, with at least 225 issued, mainly by lower courts, compared to 174 in 2024; at least 15 of these related to blasphemy charges.1170
The Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) recorded 3 204 death row prisoners in the country’s prisons as of October 2025. However, a de facto moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty has been in place since 2019,1171 with no executions reported in 20241172 and no such reports found during the remainder of the reference period.
- 1163
LG, Types Of Punishments Under Pakistani Law, 3 October 2025, url
- 1164
Pakistan, Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) (as amended up to 2025), 1860, url, sections 302(a) and (b)
- 1165
Pakistan, Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) (as amended up to 2025), 1860, url, section 295C
- 1166
Pakistan, Anti-Terrorism Act (as amended up to 2025), 1997, url, section 7(a), (e)
- 1167
See, for example, News International (The), Man sentenced to death in double murder case, 25 March 2026, url; Hands Off Cain, Pakistan: Two Brothers Sentenced to Double Death Penalty, 17 March 2026, url; Shahid, K.K., Is Pakistan Ready to Reform Its Lethal Blasphemy Laws?, The Diplomat, 24 January 2026, url; AP, Pakistani court sentences 4 people to death for blasphemy, 15 January 2025, url
- 1168
Shahid, K.K., Is Pakistan Ready to Reform Its Lethal Blasphemy Laws?, The Diplomat, 24 January 2026, url; AP, Pakistani court sentences 4 people to death for blasphemy, 15 January 2025, url
- 1169
Amnesty International, Death Sentences and Executions 2024, 8 April 2025, url, pp. 21, 23; HRCP, State of Human Rights in 2024, 2025, url, p. 12
- 1170
HRCP, State of Human Rights in 2025, 4 May 2026, url, p 12
- 1171
NCHR and JPP, The Death Penalty in Pakistan 2025, 10 October 2025, url, pp. 18-19
- 1172
Amnesty International, Death Sentences and Executions 2024, 8 April 2025, url, p. 21; HRCP, State of Human Rights in 2024, 2025, url, p. 12