PETALING JAYA: Malaysia should speed up the move to abolish the mandatory death penalty, and a Bill to that effect should be tabled in the next Parliament sitting, say human rights groups and MPs.
Instead, the courts should be given the discretion to hand down such a sentence, said Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto, who felt the death penalty should even be abolished in the long term.
“The way forward now is to first abolish the mandatory death penalty as the first step before heading towards total abolition,” she said yesterday.
At present, the death sentence is handed down for 33 offences in Malaysia, including murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping, possession of firearms and terrorism, 11 of which have mandatory death sentences.
Amendments to the Dangerous Drugs Act in 2017 gave judges the discretion to hand down life imprisonments instead of the death penalty.
The former Pakatan Harapan (PH) government had been working on a Bill to abolish the penalty and come up with alternatives, but the administration collapsed before the Bill could be tabled.
In January, it was reported that the government would decide on recommendations by a committee chaired by former chief justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, with the report to be brought to the Cabinet.
As a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR), Malaysia needs to move in the direction of abolishing the death penalty, said Kasthuri.
“Two thirds of Malaysians who are on death row are from marginalised groups, the B40 income category and minorities.
“We have to move away from retributive justice and move towards rehabilitative justice,” she said, adding that hanging was not a deterrent measure as the number of people on death row continues to grow.
Lawyers for Liberty adviser N. Surendran agreed, saying the death penalty was brutal, pointless and medieval.
“The government must abolish it completely. This involves human lives. It is more important than the anti-party hopping law and other legislations.
“The Opposition must also take a clear position supporting total abolition of the death penalty,” he said.
Former de facto law minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said there was an urgent need for the government to look into the matter.
“Fortunately, we still have the moratorium (on executions). This matter is urgent. Once a person is executed, we cannot bring him back to life,” said the deputy chair of Dewan Rakyat’s Special Select Committee on human rights.
Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah said the moratorium is not the most ideal, as it could cause mental trauma to the inmates.
“There is nothing for them to look forward to. The moratorium is only a temporary measure.
“We need to escalate the passing of the proposed amendments to the laws on the mandatory death penalty,” she said.
