Deputy home minister disagrees with public caning

Deputy Home Minister Azis Jamman believed that caning sentences - as what was carried out in Terengganu recently - should not be done in public.

"Personally, I don't agree," he told Malaysiakini when met at the Parliament lobby today.

However, he said that matters concerning syariah courts are not under the purview of the Home Ministry as it is regulated by the respective states.

On calls to abolish caning as a form of corporal punishment, Azis said such proposals should be discussed by the cabinet, although he personally felt that caning has some merits as a form of deterrence.

"Even I have to cane my son if he is disobedient... It is a correctional effort... But the question (being asked now) is whether it should be done in front of the public," he added.

Two women were caned at the Terengganu Syariah High Court on Monday. Although the identities of the two women were hidden, the sentence was carried out in the courtroom in full view of the public gallery. 

Proponents of such a practice argue that the punishment would encourage Muslims to abide by Islamic law, while critics and rights groups argue that humiliating and hurting offenders were a form of cruelty.

Both the Human Rights Council (Suhakam) and the Malaysian Bar have urged Putrajaya to abolish all forms of corporal punishment for both civil and syariah law matters.

Suhakam argued that although the law allowed the Terengganu Syariah Court to hand out caning sentences, the court should have exercised judicial discretion and not resort to fear and humiliation as a tool for education.

The Malaysian Bar pointed out that 53 countries have instituted bans on all forms of corporal punishment, of which four were member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and that Malaysia must follow suit. - Mkini