Malaysia’s government announced Friday that it has consented to abolish the mandatory death penalty, with campaign groups applauding the decision but warning that the country had failed to deliver on previous promises to improve human rights. In the Southeast Asian country, capital punishment remains mandatory for several offenses, including murder and drug trafficking.
A reformist partnership that came to power in 2018 declared that it would abolish the death penalty entirely, but the plan was thwarted by political rivals and the families of murder victims.
Since then, a rainfed proposal to abolish the death penalty only in cases where it is mandatory has been floated.
Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar announced on Friday that the Cabinet had agreed to abolish the death penalty.
He stated that more research would be conducted to determine what sentences could be substituted for the death penalty.
“The decision on this matter demonstrates the government’s primacy to protect and guarantee the rights of all parties,” he said in a statement.
Aside from crimes for which the death penalty is compulsory by law, there are several others for which the death penalty can be imposed at the discretion of the judge.
To effect the changes, legislation must be enacted in parliament, and Wan Junaidi told AFP this would “take a little while,” without providing a timeframe.
The procedure is “not as simple as people think,” he adds.
While campaigners welcomed the announcement, they were cautious.
“Malaysia’s public declaration that it will abolish the mandatory death penalty is a significant step forward,” Phil Robertson, lieutenant Asia director for Human Rights Watch, told AFP.
“However, before everyone starts cheering, Malaysia must pass the necessary legislative changes to put this pledge into effect.”
He went on to say that successive Malaysian governments had a history of “promising much of it on human rights but ultimately delivering very little.”
Ramkarpal Singh, an opposition lawmaker whose party was in power when the government first suggested abolition the death penalty, expressed support for the move.
“We have always espoused for the abolition of the death penalty,” he told AFP.
