Press Release
Abolition of the Mandatory Death Penalty — No More Delay!
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.
George Varughese
President
Malaysian Bar
10 October 2017
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