KUALA LUMPUR: Sisters in Islam (SIS) has called for the Terengganu religious authorities to cease imposing public caning on a man found guilty of committing khalwat (close proximity).
It also urged the Federal Government to immediately end all forms of corporal punishment, including public caning, as failing to do so could lead to irreparable damage to society.
SIS issued a statement in relation to the sentence of six strokes imposed on the man, who is reported to be a repeat khalwat offender – the first under the state’s amended Syariah Criminal Offences (Takzir) Enactment 2022.
“The (public caning) punishment serves no meaningful purpose in justice or moral reform,” it said in a statement on Friday (Nov 22).
The NGO also questioned the choice of a mosque as the location for the planned punishment to be carried out.
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SIS said that claims of public caning serving as a form of education to offenders are a hollow justification standing “in stark contradiction to Islam’s core principles of justice, compassion, mercy and the preservation of human dignity.”
“Laws and practices enacted in the name of Islam must reflect these values to align with the teachings of the Quran,” SIS said.
It said the Terengganu Syariah Court’s decision was in breach of Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which unequivocally prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.
“The irony is glaring as Malaysia is currently a member of the UN Human Rights Council (2022-2024) but is failing to uphold the very principles it pledged to protect.
“By allowing such actions, the Federal Government appears to have abandoned its fundamental duty to safeguard human rights and dignity,” the statement read.
It also said public caning did not promote justice or moral values but was “a dangerous shift” towards extremism where punitive measures outweigh compassion and fairness.
“Normalising public violence in the name of Islam fosters a culture of fear and intolerance, eroding the social harmony that Islam and the maqasid al-shariah (higher objectives of Islamic law) seek to uphold,” it said.
“Malaysia must decide its path forward and let us choose one rooted in justice, compassion and progress, not in violence, shame and regression,” it said.
It was reported on Thursday (Nov 21) that a construction worker, a father of five, will become the first person in Terengganu to be caned in public for committing khalwat for the third time.
