Amnesty International urges Malaysia to end death penalty
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
Amnesty International urged Malaysia's government
on Thursday to keep its promise to abolish the death penalty, saying
unfair trials and the use of harsh treatment to obtain confessions put
people at risk of execution.
The rights group released details of nearly two
years of research on 150 cases as well as interviews with prisoners'
families, lawyers and embassy officials in a report that it said showed
the use of the death penalty was "fatally flawed."
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's government
promised shortly after taking power in May 2018 to scrap capital
punishment, which mandates hanging as punishment for a wide range of
crimes including murder, drug trafficking, treason, kidnapping and acts
of terror.
But the government backtracked after public
objection. Parliament, which resumed meeting this week, will instead
remove mandatory death penalties for some offenses and give courts
discretion in imposing the sentence.
The report said 73% of the 1,281 people on death
row as of February were convicted of drug offenses, including 568
foreigners from 43 countries and many poor members of ethnic minorities.
It said some prisoners were tortured and beaten
to make them confess. In one case, a Malaysian man detained in 2005 for
possessing drugs and later sentenced to death had his finger broken by
police, who also threatened to beat up his girlfriend, it said.
Those who are poor often go without legal
assistance until they are brought to court, it said. Some were asked to
sign documents in the Malay language that were not translated for them,
according to the report.
The group said the pardon process was also not
transparent, with no clear criteria and access to pro-bono legal
services controlled by prison officials. It said half of the foreigners
on death row didn't seek pardons.
"Our research found a pattern of unfair trials
and secretive hangings that itself spoke volumes. From allegations of
torture and other ill-treatment to an opaque pardons process, it's clear
the death penalty is a stain on Malaysia's criminal justice system,"
Amnesty Malaysia director Sharmini Darshni Kaliemuthu said.
The group said its requests to meet Malaysian
authorities including the police and officials in the attorney-general's
office for more details were rejected or unanswered.
It said government sources indicated 469 people
had been executed since Malaysia's independence from Britain in 1957,
half of them for drug trafficking.
The death penalty is currently retained for
nearly three dozen offenses. Amnesty International urged Malaysia to
move toward scrapping capital punishment by repealing mandatory death
sentences for all crimes and maintaining a moratorium on executions
until then.
Government officials couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Many Asian countries including China, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam impose capital punishment. - The Charlotte Observer, 10/10/2019
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