Today, October 10 marks the 20th International Day Against the Death Penalty, an important moment to recall the importance of our efforts to advance the abolitionist movement, for which parliamentarians have played and continue to play a crucial role. This year’s World Day is dedicated to reflecting on the relationship between the use of the death penalty and torture or other cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment.

As emphasized by the World Coalition Against the Penalty, the types of torture and other ill-treatment experienced during the long death penalty road are varied and numerous: physical or psychological torture has been applied in many cases during questioning to force confessions to capital crimes; death row phenomenon contributes to the long-term psychological decline of a person’s health; harsh death row living conditions contribute to physical deterioration;  mental anguish of anticipating execution; methods of execution that cause exceptional pain, and the suffering experienced by family members and those with a close relationship with the executed person. Discriminations based on sex, gender, poverty, age, sexual orientation, religious and ethnic minority status and others can compound cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of individuals sentenced to death.

For concrete actions to take to advance the abolition of the death penalty, see the 2022 Mobilization Kit.

To draw attention to the intersectionality of the death penalty and human rights of women and LGBTQIA+ individuals, PGA joined the statement and call for action issued by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

• Ms. Petra Bayr

No criminal justice system is perfect. No one can guarantee there will be no miscarriage of justice in a case. A civilized and progressive society moves in the direction of stamping out archaic forms of punishment – like torture and the death penalty – and focuses on improving people’s socio-economic lives.

For centuries, the death penalty has been disproportionately used against minority groups, the marginalized and vulnerable communities which exist in large populations as well. Statistics from the Prisons Department also validate that more than 86% of people on death row come from B40, marginalized, minority and vulnerable communities in Malaysia and around the world.

Parliamentarians for Global Action has always been a strong advocate and partner towards the abolition of the death penalty, beginning with the first step, to abolish the mandatory death penalty, and as President I applaud this herculean task to bring this to the House. As such, we can celebrate a small victory step in the right direction after Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar tabled the first reading of amendments to seven bills to abolish the mandatory death penalty.

Ms. Kasthuri Patto (MP) Malaysia, President, Parliamentarians for Global Action
(for full statement, see: Time to ratify UN treaty, abolish death penalty – Kasthuri Patto, the Vibes, 10 October 2022)

Resources

• Mobilization Kit (20th World Day Against the Death Penalty)
• Joint statement co-signed by PGA on the death penalty and human rights of women and LGBTQIA+ individuals
• Statements at the Human Rights Council General Debate delivered by FIACAT and ECPM and joint by PGA (September 2022)
• Time to ratify UN treaty, abolish death penalty – Kasthuri Patto (10 October 2022, the Vibes)
• How to Work with Parliamentarians for the Abolition of the Death Penalty (EN & FR, co- authored by PGA and World Coalition 2021)
• Addressing the gender dimension of the death penalty: Coaction between Parliamentarians and Civil Society (EN & FR, co- authored by PGA and World Coalition 2021)