PETALING JAYA, Oct 11 — 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.
