PETALING JAYA: Two lawyers and a human rights group have urged the government to abolish caning as a punishment for convicted criminals.
Commenting on law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s disclosure that the government was considering giving judges the discretion to waive caning, lawyer Fahri Azzat said it was “barbaric” to humiliate someone with caning after restricting his liberty with a jail sentence.
Speaking to FMT, he called for a sharpened focus on “creative, meaningful and socially beneficial forms” of punishment, such as community service and using convicts’ skill sets to benefit society.
He also said the government should get feedback from the public on other forms of punishment.
Another lawyer, Edwin Tomas, said giving the discretionary power to judges would be a “step forward” although it would be better to do away with caning completely for the sake of consistency.
“Some judges may impose it while others won’t for exactly the same offences,” he said. “This will defeat the equality tenet of the Federal Constitution.”
Tomas also said that caning discriminated against men aged between 18 and 50 as they were the only ones subjected to it.
He recommended that the Penal Code and other laws providing for caning as a punishment be amended so that they were in line with the UN convention against torture and other cruel punishments.
Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said Malaysia, as a member of the UN human rights council, must aspire to reach international standards by working toward the abolition of caning.
He said caning was regarded as a form of torture under international human rights standards, adding that research showed the use of corporal punishment promoted acceptance of physical violence and encouraged the use of violence by enforcement authorities.
Wan Junaidi said recently that the government was considerining amending the relevant laws to give judges the discretion to impose or waive caning as a punishment. He also said there was a possibility of removing caning as a penalty. - FMT
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