On 3 and 11 April 2023, the Dewan Rakyat (lower house) and the Dewan Negara (upper house), respectively passed two bills amending the existing legislation on the use of capital punishment, and abolishing the mandatory death penalty for 12 offenses. Until then, the death penalty was compulsory in law for 11 offenses (meaning that judges were not able to consider other elements and were required to impose the death penalty in case of a guilty verdict) and discretionary for 22 crimes. One offense – relating to certain drug charges – had already been removed from the list of the crimes carrying mandatory death penalty in 2018, however, it had little impact. This new law therefore confirms the removal of the mandatory death penalty for this crime again.
The entry into force of the Abolition of Mandatory Death Penalty Act 2023 on 4 July 2023, along with the Revision of Sentence of Death and Imprisonment for Natural Life, has significantly limited the scope of capital punishment. The judges will now have the discretion to consider all the circumstances of the offense and the offender before deciding whether to impose a death sentence or a prison sentence ranging from 30 to 40 years, accompanied by a minimum of 12 strokes of whipping – a practice nevertheless considered as a form of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment under international human rights law. Furthermore, the country also still maintains the death penalty for drug trafficking under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, even though such offenses do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes” under international law.
Malaysia is still categorized as a retentionist country but has observed a de facto moratorium on executions since 2018 with the last execution being conducted in 2017 (its duration is indeed too short to consider the country as abolitionist in practice). Amnesty International reported that in 2022, at least 16 death sentences were recorded, some of which were handed down in proceedings that did not meet international fair trial standards. Half of these sentences were related to drug offenses. As of 2022, there were 1,337 individuals known to be under sentence of death in Malaysia, according to Amnesty International.
Malaysia has not yet signed or ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and its Second Optional Protocol aiming at the abolition of the death penalty (ICCPR-OP2).
PGA activities on the abolition of the death penalty in the country:
6-9 July 2023: Participation in a Workshop in Kuala Lumpur organized by the World Coalition against the Death Penalty focused on retentionist and abolitionist countries at risk of re-introducing the death penalty.
11 June 2022: Following Malaysia’s pledge to abolish the death penalty, Hon. Kasthuri Patto, Member of the Dewan Rakyat and PGA President, wrote an op-ed, welcoming these announcements and calling her country to completely abolish the use of capital punishment in Malaysia, as well as to explore the idea of rehabilitative justice.
29 April 2022: PGA condemned the execution of Mr. Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a mentally disabled national of Malaysia, convicted for drug trafficking by Singapore.
9 October 2020: On the occasion of the 18th World Day Against the Death Penalty, PGA organized a discussion with Hon. Kasthuri Patto, Member of the Dewan Rakyat and Member of PGA’s Executive Committee, titled “Access to Counsel: A Matter of Life and Death.” This event also launched the publication of the Factsheet for Parliamentarians on the right to effective legal representation, co-published by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and PGA.
6 – 9 November 2019: PGA, with its partners, Ensemble contre la peine de mort (ECPM) and the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN), consulted with parliamentarians and policy makers in Malaysia on the abolition of the death penalty and criminal justice reform. This mission coincided with the hearings and consultations of various stakeholders by a Special Committee established by the Ministry of Law to study punishment alternatives to mandatory death penalty, which the government has promised to abolish. PGA attended a briefing of majority MPs by the Special Committee, facilitated by Hon. Kasthuri Patto, Member of the Dewan Rakyat and Secretary of PGA’s National Group in Malaysia.
10 October 2019: On the 17thWorld Day against the Death Penalty, PGA and Hon. Kasthuri Patto, Member of the House of Representatives of Malaysia, Secretary of the Women’s Caucus, and Secretary of the PGA’s National Group, published an op-ed entitled “There is no place in a new Malaysia for the death penalty”, lauding the government’s moratorium on execution and calling for the abolition of the mandatory death penalty.
26 February – 1 March 2019: Honourable Kasthuri Patto, Member of the House of Representatives of Malaysia, Secretary of the Women’s Caucus, Secretary of the PGA’s National Group, attended the 7th World Congress against the Death Penalty, organized by ECPM in Brussels (Belgium).
30-31 October 2018: PGA organized, in partnership with the ADPAN and ECPM, a regional parliamentary seminar entitled “Standing Against Death Penalty in Asia: The Role of Parliamentarians” in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). Opening the event, the Minister of Law in the Prime Minister’s Department, Hon. Liew Vui Keong, reaffirmed that the Malaysian government would proceed with full abolition promptly. Parliamentarians and civil society representatives from Malaysia, Australia, India, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Thailand participated in the event and discussed relevant issues, including reducing the scope of capital punishment, ensuring decent conditions of detention for death row inmates, fighting threats of resurgence of the death penalty, and framing the abolitionist cause for public opinion and the media.
14 February 2018: PGA joined calls from the international community urging the Malaysian government to make sure the Dangerous Drugs Amendment Act of 2017, which abolishes the mandatory death penalty for drug crimes, would enter into force without further delay.
30 November 2017: Following commitments made during the Parliamentary Roundtable on the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Malaysia and in Asia, a bill was introduced to Parliament to amend Section 38B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. However, the original version of that bill only removed the mandatory death penalty upon authorization of the Public Prosecutor. PGA Members, including Hon. Kula Segaran, strongly advocated for changes to be made to the bill. They succeeded and the bill was adopted.
6 November 2017: PGA Member Hon. Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, attendeda Parliamentary Roundtable on Strengthening the Rule of Law, with a special focus on the abolition of the death penalty, organized in the Senate of Jordan by PGA with the cooperation of the Coalition of Women MPs to Combat Violence against Women – Jordan. He welcomed hearing arguments on the religious justification of capital punishment and vowed to discuss them with his colleagues in Malaysia.
25 July 2017: Together with its partners ADPAN and ECPM, PGA organized a Parliamentary Roundtable on the Abolition of the Death Penalty in Malaysia and Asia, in the Malaysian Parliament in Kuala Lumpur. During the opening, the Minister of Law announced that a bill on the mandatory capital punishment for drug-related offenses would soon be approved by the Cabinet, which was confirmed in August. Participants adopted an Action plan on how to best further their efforts towards abolition.
24 May 2017: PGA Member Hon. Kasthuri Patto made a strong public condemnation of the executions that had recently taken place.
23 June 2016: During the closing ceremony of the 6th World Congress against the Death Penalty, held in the City Hall of Oslo, Hon. Kashthuri Patto delivered a message on behalf of parliamentarians worldwide against the death penalty.
31 March 2016: PGA members Hon. Kula Segaran, Hon. Dr Siti Mariah, Hon. Thomas Su and Hon. Kashthuri Pattospoke out against the recent secretive hangings of three men in a media statement given at a press conference in the Malaysian Parliament.
24 March 2016: Malaysian Parliament plenary question of MP Kula Segaran, PGA Executive Committee Member, to Minister in order to try to halt imminent ‘secretive’ execution.
16-17 November 2015: PGA organized a Parliamentary Roundtable and Consultations on the abolition of the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia, which was attended by MPs from all parties and relevant actors. Three Ministers, including 2 PGA Members (Minister of Law and Minister of Tourism), publicly committed to abolish the mandatory death penalty for drugs and to make legal reforms for that purpose. PGA provided technical assistance for a draft cabinet paper introducing the bill abolishing the mandatory death penalty for drugs which was to be presented to Parliament in 2016.
9-13 June 2015: PGA conducted Consultations on the Abolition of the Death Penalty and the Fight against Impunity in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) in the margins of the South-East Asia Regional Congress on the abolition of the death penalty organized by ECPM.
October 2012: In light of the growing public debate in Malaysia on the death penalty, PGA Member Mohamed Nazri, MP, the then Minister of Law announced that the government would consider removing the mandatory death penalty for drug offenses and applying a moratorium on executions for those offenses.
