‘Two wrongs don’t make a right’
- Nation
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Sunday, 04 Nov 2018
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THIRTY-five people were hung to death in Malaysia for the crimes they committed over the past decade.
These numbers, as recorded by the Prisons Department, will end here.
With the Government determined to remove the death penalty, some hailed it as the more humane approach – upholding the right to life.
Others, however, feel the hangman’s noose is still needed to answer to the heinous crimes man is capable of.
Murder, rape resulting in death, drug trafficking and committing terrorism are examples of offences punishable by death.
With a moratorium imposed on the penalty, 1,281 death row inmates are spared.
But abolishing the death sentence doesn’t mean zero punishment, says Anti Death Penalty Asia Network (Adpan) executive committee member Ngeow Chow Ying.
“It is just not an appropriate sentence.
“The alternative is imprisonment and it has to be culpable to the crime,” she tells Sunday Star.
Last month, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong said those on death row will have their sentence commuted to imprisonment for life or life imprisonment.
Imprisonment for life means convicts will spend the rest of their lives in prison without any release date.
Life imprisonment requires them to be jailed for a minimum of 30 years.
Looking forward, Ngeow says the concern is to look into prison reform, jail sentences for serious crimes and what can be done to rehabilitate prisoners.
“After the death penalty is abolished, these are the issues that should be looked into.
“About 55,000 people are in prison now. But the criminal justice system isn’t supposed to lock them up and forget about it.
“Its purpose is to rehabilitate them and see if they can be reintegrated into society,” says Ngeow.
But she acknowledges the feelings of some victims and their families, who may want the death penalty as the means for justice to be served.
“If they feel the death penalty is the only way to cure their pain, we have to respect that.
“But for us, we believe that you can’t send a message that murder is wrong by killing another person,” says Ngeow, from Adpan which consists 80 organisations across 22 countries.
In Western countries, she observes that some families believe that their suffering cannot be compensated by the death penalty.
“Some just want answers to what happened,” she adds.
Calling it cruel and inhumane, senior criminal lawyer Datuk V. Sithambaram says the death penalty belongs in the past.
“In the old days, justice was always an eye for an eye.
“But as Mahatma Gandhi would say, this will only make everyone blind.
“We need to move on to a more humane form of justice. Studies show that the death penalty hasn’t been proven to deter crimes,” he says.
Drawing from experience, he says many accused persons claim they would rather die than to be imprisoned for life. – Star,
“They don’t want to languish in jail. They would rather accept death.
“So, to me, the minimum 30-year jail term or being jailed for life is more of a deterrent than death,” Sithambaram says.
He says other forms of punishment can be included in the sentence, such as community service.
“The Pardons Board should review cases to see if the convict is able to change.
“Many can make themselves better and useful through rehabilitation.
“We all regret the wrong things we have done. Those who genuinely repent should be given a second chance,” he says.
Human rights lawyer Andrew Khoo says community work should be made possible as part of the replacement sentence.
For the 1,281 people on death row, he suggests that there should be a provision for the High Court to review the sentences imposed.
“There should not be a simplistic replacement of, say 30 years.
“Each case must be considered based on its own facts and situation,” he says.Khoo stresses that the whipping should not be part of the replacement punishment.
“Corporal punishment is against the United Nations Convention Against Torture.Malaysia has said we will also accede to that. So we should not violate that as well,” he says.
On the death penalty giving victims and their families a sense of retribution, Khoo says the state should not be involved in the business of revenge.
“Justice needs to be dispassionate. It should not be influenced by emotion.
“When we allow our feelings to influence our sense of justice, there is a risk we will arrive at an unjust outcome,” he adds.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Azis Jamman says the government’s decision on the death penalty was made after taking all views into account.
“As part of the ministry that will implement the policy, we support the Cabinet’s decision.
“Let the Cabinet decide on the finer details, such as the replacement sentences and the possibility of incorporating community service, later,” he says.
image: https://media.thestar.com.my/Prod/FCDBA272-4BEF-4EDB-AFE1-AF46049F3794
Pemerintah Didesak Buat Kebijakan untuk Hapus Hukuman Mati
Wakil Koordinator Bidang Advokasi KontraS, Putri Kanesia. (CNN Indonesia/Bimo Wiwoho)Hal itu merupakan salah satu rekomendasi dari Konferensi Nasional 20 Tahun Reformasi: Kejahatan dan Penghukuman di Indonesia yang telah dihelat di Jakarta.
“Pemerintah harus melakukan moratorium hukuman mati sebagai praktik penghukuman kejahatan sebelum menuju kepada penghapusan secara menyeluruh hukuman mati,” kata Wakil Koordinator Bidang Advokasi KontraS, Putri Kanesia di kantor KontraS, Jakarta Pusat, Rabu (9/5).
Ia merinci bahwa hukuman mati bertentangan dengan pasal 281 UUD 1945. Selain itu, hukuman mati juga bertentangan dengan sejumlah peraturan diantaranya Undang-Undang Nomor 39 Tahun 1999 Tentang Hak Asasi Manusia dan Undang-Undang 12 Tahun 2005 Tentang Pengesahan Intemational tentang hak Sipil dan Politik.
“Memang hukuman mati masih sangat pelik dan kerap jadi perdebatan yang menimbulkan pro dan kontra di ranah nasional dan jadi preseden di dunia internasional,” kata dia.
Ia mencontohkan kasus seperti tak disediakannya penasehat hukum oleh pemerintah untuk membela hak terpidana mati. Selain itu, terdapat kasus praktik penyiksaan terhadap terpidana mati, praktik manipulasi usia dan adanya rekayasa kasus yang menyangkut diskriminasi ras.
“Temuan fakta itu tak pernah dijadikan pertimbangan bagi pemerintah untuk melakukan evaluasi menyeluruh terhadap tuntutan maupun vonis hukuman mati,” ucapnya.
Hal itu bertujuan agar sistem peradilan memenuhi standar peradilan yang adil, tidak memihak dan Imparsial serta mengacu kepada standar HAM internasional yang berlaku universal.
“Kami juga mendesak pemerintah menindak aktor-aktor penegak hukum yang terlibat dalam praktik peradilan yang korup, manipulatif atau sewenang-wenang terhadap kasus hukuman mati di Indonesia,” pintanya.
Tak hanya itu, Putri juga meminta Jokowi dapat memberikan akses bantuan hukum yang layak dan memadai bagi terpidana mati.
Hal itu bertujuan agar meminimalisir potensi terjadinya kembali pelanggaran prosedur hukum maupun dugaan ‘unfair trial’ terhadap narapidana hukuman mati.
“Pemerintah kota garap dapat menjalin kerja sama dan komunikasi dengan berbagai stakeholders seperti keduataan negara asing di indonesia, organisasi advokat mauoin kelonpok masyarakat sipil,” katanya.
Diketahui, penghapusan rekomendasi hukuman mati ini turut didukung oleh elemen masyarakat sipil lainnya seperti Anti Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN), Ensemble Contre La Peine De Mort (ECPM), Komnas HAM, Imparsial dan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (LBH) Masyarakat. – CNN Indonesia, 10/5/2018
