Malaysia meted out over 26 death sentences but zero executions in 2019 - NGO

Following the previous Pakatan Harapan government imposing a moratorium on the death penalty, Malaysia has recorded zero executions in 2019, according to a report by Amnesty International.

In the report titled "Death Sentences and Executions 2019", the non-governmental organisation (NGO) said that Malaysia’s moratorium on the death sentence in 2019 was in line with the global trend that year showing momentum towards worldwide abolition of the penalty.

On Oct 10, 2018, then minister in the prime minister’s department Liew Vui Keong reportedly said that the death penalty is put on a moratorium as the then Harapan government seeks to review capital punishment.

“Although no country abolished the death penalty in 2019, positive signs were recorded which indicate that the desire for retention of the death penalty is dwindling among countries that are yet to abolish the punishment,” the report stated, noting that Malaysia continued to observe the moratorium last year.

“Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Malaysia and Gambia continued to observe official moratoriums on executions,” the report said, adding that Barbados removed the mandatory death penalty from its constitution.

Amnesty International also noted positive actions or pronouncements that may lead to the abolition of the sentence soon in the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Kazakhstan, Kenya and Zimbabwe, among others.

The report noted that Malaysia was among 24 countries, including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, India, Singapore, Thailand and the United States, that had commuted death sentences.

Amnesty International, however, noted that despite no executions carried out in Malaysia for the whole of last year, the country still meted out a total of over 26 death penalties, and 1,280 individuals are still on death row in the country.

The NGO pointed out that Malaysia did not share official figures on the death penalties it imposed.

“Amnesty International did not receive information on official figures for death sentences imposed in Malaysia, Nigeria, and Sri Lanka, countries that reported high official numbers of death sentences in previous years,” it said.

It noted that the non-sharing of official figures posed a challenge to the NGO in evaluating the global total of death sentences, with it having found that death sentences imposed have decreased globally to 2,307 last year compared to 2,531 recorded in 2018.

The NGO pointed out that Malaysia last year imposed 18 death sentences (not carried out) for drug-related offences, which amounted to a death sentence being used for crimes that did not involve intentional killing as defined under international law.

Arbitrariness and secrecy over petitions

Amnesty International noted that Malaysia was among several countries that are known to have imposed the death penalty after court proceedings that did not meet “international fair standards”. The other countries included China, Singapore, Vietnam, and Bangladesh among others.

“Death sentences (in Malaysia) were imposed following violations of fair trial guarantees.

“These included: the rights to timely access to legal counsel, and for foreign nationals, consular assistance and interpretation; allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in pre-trial detention, including to obtain statements or information that were used to secure convictions; the reliance on the “presumptions” of guilt in drug-related cases, which shift the burden of proof on to the defendant in violation of the right to be presumed innocent; and the lack of legal avenues to allow for the consideration of new evidence after a conviction is final.

“Additionally, Amnesty International found that the arbitrariness and secrecy that surrounds the handling of pardon petitions have aggravated the mental trauma of the prisoners (in death row) and their families and exacerbated the systemic flaws that undermine their right to this last review,” the NGO said.

It also noted that despite on Sept 20 last year’s announcement by then minister in the prime minister’s department in charge of law Liew Vui Keong on a special committee to review the death penalty and give its recommendations to the cabinet within three months, “legislative amendments to this aim were yet to be introduced in Parliament by the end of the year (2019)”.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International Malaysia’s interim executive director Preethi Bhardwaj said that the report is a timely reminder that there is no credible evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect, and its past use in the country has been marred by widespread allegations of coerced confessions, secrecy and unfair trials.

He, however, noted that it is very encouraging that the moratorium on executions was maintained in 2019.

"As the number of executions around the world continues to fall, we urge the Malaysian authorities to continue maintaining the moratorium on executions and take further steps towards abolishing the death penalty, such as the full repeal of the mandatory death penalty,” he said. - Mkini