Abolition of the mandatory death penalty: No more delays

OCTOBER 10 — The World Day against the Death Penalty is commemorated on 10 October each year.

In Malaysia, the death penalty is mandatory for persons convicted of murder, trafficking in narcotics of various amounts, and discharging a firearm in the commission of various crimes (even where no one is hurt).

The Malaysian Bar has been, and remains, in the frontline of the battle to uphold and preserve the rule of law, fundamental constitutional rights, the administration of justice, and law and order.

In this regard, we have consistently called for the abolition of the death penalty. The Malaysian Bar at its Annual or Extraordinary General Meetings in 1985, 2006, 2012 and 2015 passed resolutions condemning the death penalty and/or calling for its abolition.

The campaign to abolish the death penalty is not meant to confer licence to commit serious crimes with impunity. Persons convicted of serious crimes must receive proportionate punishment. But this does not mean that they therefore ought to die.

The Malaysian Bar has always taken the view that there is no empirical evidence or data that confirms that the death penalty serves as an effective deterrent to the commission of crimes. There has been no significant reduction in the incidence of crimes for which the death penalty is currently mandatory. This is particularly true of drug-related offences.

In short, the death penalty does not work as a deterrent.

The Malaysian Bar’s primary opposition to the death penalty is because life is sacred, and every person has an inherent right to life. This is vouchsafed in Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, which eschews the arbitrary deprivation of life. The right to life is a fundamental right that must be absolute, inalienable and universal, irrespective of the crime committed by the accused person.

Recently, Minister Dato’ Sri Azalina Othman Said stated on 7 August 2017 that the Cabinet had approved the abolition of the mandatory death penalty for drug-related offences. However, there has been no announcement of any timeline, or any release of draft legislation to this effect. The Malaysian Bar calls upon the Government of Malaysia to introduce the amending legislation without further delay. Any delay will mean more people being sentenced to die.

The Malaysian Bar further calls upon the Government to act swiftly to abolish the death penalty for all crimes, stop executions, and commute each death sentence to one of imprisonment.

*This statement is issued by George Varughese, president of the Malaysian Bar Council.

Source: Malay Mail Online, October 10, 2017

Scrap death penalty on drugs to start ball rolling, Amnesty tells Putrajaya

Malaysia should abolish the mandatory death penalty for drug cases at the next Parliament sitting as a pledge to improve human rights here, Amnesty International (AI) said today after the government announced its plans to allow judges a choice in sentencing.

AI Malaysia acting executive director Gwen Lee said many drug cases involve people from lower income groups and that it would be unfair if they had to pay with their lives for such crimes. She added that it would be a good first step towards abolishing the draconian punishment.

She cited the case of one Hoo Yew Wah, a poor Johorean currently on death row for drug possession charges in 2005, as an example of such cases.

"The situation is no different in Malaysia, where it is often those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds who end up paying the price of the death penalty.

"The mandatory death penalty on drug is very important to be reviewed," Lee said in a press conference today.

She also urged Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said to ensure the law gets tabled in Parliament this month.

The minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of law previously said in August that the Cabinet agreed to amend the colonial-era Dangerous Drugs Act of 1952 to give courts a choice in sentencing.

"We want total abolition, but we see this as a good step forward. We are hoping that it will be tabled and it is on the list of suggested amendments," Lee stressed.

She said this would also help in Malaysia's bid to be reappointed into the United Nation's Human Rights Council.

Capital punishment is mandatory in Malaysia for murder and drug trafficking, among other crimes.

According to Azalina, a total of 651 Malaysians have been sentenced to death since 1992, most of them for drug offences.

Source: The Malay Mail Online, October 10, 2017

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