Karpal & Death Penalty: I Expected Better From My Human Rights Icon

aNt's aNgle:

Like human rights lawyer Charles Hector (see his blog Charles Hector below), I, too, was shocked - and very deeply disturbed at that - when I heard our nation's human rights iconic lawyer Karpal Singh call for the death penalty for child rapists on Saturday.

What made it worse was that the good lawyer, whom I have great admiration for, said that he has been against the death penalty himself.

As a staunch advocate against the death penalty myself, I can only hope - like Hector - that Karpal's comments was made in a brief moment of outburst of sorts against the rise of crime against the young and vulnerable such as children in our society.

Let's not forget that the disabled and the elderly are very much in the vulnerable category too. 

And often in their situations, their horror stories rarely get to surface. Such crimes only repeatedly go on whilst the world keeps focusing on their personal battles and issues against crime elsewhere.

Mr Singh - my idol - I still like to believe that you are against the death penalty as before and not have somehow abandoned ship in any way. 

With due respect, the statement you made will not only confuse the public as to what we, who are against the death penalty, have been advocating over the years but also be unfair to all criminals as well.

People who commit crime - no matter how horrendous a crime - also have a right to be rehabilitated. After all, that essentially is what should qualify us all as human beings.

Here are other real issues and facts that are tied up with the death penalty issue - and why in any form, it is wrong and should be outlawed.

If you like - death penalty is just as heinous as the raping of innocent children.

1. I've been told that most rapes happen by someone you know and who is close to you than a total stranger. What if it is a father or a brother who happens to be the breadwinner in the family? In all the confusion, shock and betrayal in the family and to the victim, would the victim want them to be dead too? Would the victims be able to live with that? And what happens if the victim was a disabled person or an elderly person who happens to be totally dependent on them?
2. Many rapists, experts say, were victims of the same crime themselves when they were children.
3. Is there no room for hope and rehabilitation for these people? What about those criminals who commit such crimes and were successfully rehabilitated? And what if such a crime was related to mental illness? Should there be no counselling for rapists or no visits at all from the religious authorities as well?
4. And what about other crimes? Is there no crime as bad as child rape? What about cruelty to animals, for instance? Many animal lovers would see the highest form of punishment be given to animal cruelty offenders but I have yet to see anyone suggesting death penalty on them.
5. What are our responsibilities as a government and society in creating a healthy and crime-free society for everyone? Isn't one way to allow citizens to have the right of having their  own religion to be broadcast on TV for that matter? How much are we doing to improve the mental health of everyone? Have we done enough studies to check on how various forms of suppression of peoples' rights and freedoms contribute to dastardly crimes of such nature?
6. And last but not least, what if they happened to be innocent? It is not uncommon that the death penalty has been meted out on the innocent and not found out until later when it was too late. I am told that this was exactly the reason why the death penalty was outlawed in England. 

  

Well, Mr Singh, I hope that as one of the leading lawmakers in the country, you will take the many important steps necessary to seriously address all these other valid issues to help heal and rehabilitate a very, very sick society that we as Malaysians live in today.

100% against the death penalty!

PET+BLOGSPOT 

 

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Karpal should withdraw proposal of death penalty for child rapists and call for the abolition of death penalty

I am shocked that Karpal Singh, Chairperson of DAP, has suggested that the Penal Code to be amended in order to provide for the death penalty for child rapists. I hope that his utterance, as reported in Malaysiakini, was an emotional outburst, temporarily devoid of reason and his usual sense of human rights. His position is, I believe, contrary to his usual position. I pray that he retracts his call for the death penalty. Harsh long prison term would suffice for the most heinous of crimes.

Given the current state of Malaysian police, Malaysian judiciary and the criminal justice system, it makes it all the more urgent for the abolition of the death penalty...

Karpal Singh has called for the Penal Code to be amended in order to provide for the death penalty for child rapists.

The DAP national chairperson said although he had prior to this campaigned for the death penalty to be abolished, the daily occurrences of crimes - rape in particular - against children means “the time has come time for the government to spring into action in the public interest, which demands introduction of measures which are bold and effective”.

NONE“This would send a clear message to would-be offenders that the law will not tolerate anymore the rape of innocent children,” said the veteran lawyer (left) in a statement.

The public has expressed outrage over recent reports of a man who was caught allegedly trying to rape a 10-year-old girl in a school bus.

Members of the public caught him after a kindergarten teacher heard the girl's screams coming from inside the vehicle.

“The anger and outrage expressed by all quarters in the country over what has transpired should find expression in amendment to section 376 of the Penal Code,” said Karpal.

Section 376 (2)(e) of the Penal Code stipulates that rape of a child under 12 is punishable by a term of imprisonment that may extend to 30 years together with whipping.

'Punishment not adequate'

“The question which arises is whether in such a case (as the recent one), the punishment provided for as the law now stands is adequate,” said Karpal.

“The amendment he proposes should provide for the death penalty in cases of the commission of rape on children,” he added.

anti rape crowdGiven the possibility of an innocent man being sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit, Karpal said the guilt of the accused must be proven beyond any reasonable doubt.

“The execution of the death penalty is irreversible. The horror suffered by an innocent man condemned to death at the instance of the state is beyond imagination.”

Karpal said in cases as this, however, where the suspect has been caught red-handed in the act itself supported by the evidence of credible eye witnesses, there should be no difficulty in proving the case beyond reasonable doubt.

“The magnitude of the offence of rape of an innocent child in broad daylight, in the observance of eye-witnesses, must attract the need to amend the law,” he added.

“I call upon the government in coming sessions of Parliament to introduce the amendment I have suggested to section 376 of the Penal Code.

“I have no doubt, in the public interest, the opposition will support this amendment.” - Malaysiakini, 31/7/2010, Karpal proposes death penalty for child rapists

Death penalty must be abolished in Malaysia as no one, certainly no government or country, has the right to deprive one of one's life.

The trend towards abolition of the death penalty is global, and in fact there are now 2 United Nations General Assembly Resolution in 2007 and 2008 calling for the abolition of death penalty and pending that an immediate moratorium on all executions.

On 18 December 2007, the UN General Assembly endorsed a resolution calling for "a moratorium on executions" by an overwhelming majority: 104 votes in favour, 54 against and 29 abstentions. - RESOLUTION 62/149

On 18 December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a second resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

The Malaysian Bar also has called for the abolition of the death penalty.

RESOLUTION OF THE MALAYSIAN BAR FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY

(which was adopted at the 60th AGM of the Malaysian Bar on 18/3/2006)

WHEREAS every human being has the inherent right to life;

WHEREAS Malaysia has hanged at least 358 persons between 1981 and 2005;

WHEREAS about 173 persons are on death row as at December 2005;

WHEREAS :

a) studies conducted throughout the world over the past seventy years have failed to find convincing evidence that capital punishment is a more effective deterrent of crime than long-term imprisonment;

b) studies conducted in Australia show that abolition of the death penalty had no effect on the homicide rate and in Canada there in fact was a sharp decline in the homicide rate after abolition;

c) in the United States over the past twenty years, states with the death penalty in general have had a higher homicide rate than states without the death penalty;

WHEREAS on the other hand the execution of human beings by the State gives an ‘example of barbarity’ to society and legitimizes the taking of human life;

WHEREAS Malaysia lacks safeguards that would ensure a fair trial such as the right to immediate access to a lawyer upon arrest, right to full disclosure of evidence in the possession of the police and prosecution, and has to the extreme prejudice of accused persons loaded a capital crime statute such as the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 ( which generates the largest number of death sentences annually ) with presumptions of trafficking that compromise the presumption of innocence which is integral to any fair and just criminal justice system;

WHEREAS:

a) it is not possible in any system of human justice to prevent the horrifying possibility of the execution of innocent persons; and

b) the infliction of the death penalty makes wrongful convictions irreversible;

WHEREAS :

a) 122 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice as opposed to 74 countries which retain the death penalty;

b) An average of three countries have abolished the death penalty each year over the last decade;

c) the trend worldwide has been for the abolition of the death penalty;

WHEREAS the UN Commission on Human Rights Resolution 2005/59 passed in 2005 calls upon all states to abolish the death penalty and states that the abolition of the death penalty is essential for the protection of the right to life of every human being;

WHEREAS Article 1 of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provides that ‘ No one within the jurisdiction of a State party to the present Optional Protocol shall be executed ’.

WHEREAS the death penalty has no place in any society which values human rights, justice and mercy;

NOW IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED that the Malaysian Bar calls for the:

1) Abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia;

2) An immediate moratorium on all executions pending abolition;

3) Commutation of the sentences of all persons currently on death row;

4) Ratification by Malaysia of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Proposers: N.Surendran , Charles Hector , Amer Hamzah Arshad, Sreekant Pillai

* the facts and statistics relied on here are from Professor Roger Hood’s The Death Penalty( A Worldwide Perspective) OUP 2002, Amnesty International and statistics released by the Government of Malaysia.

MADPET (Malaysians Against Death Penalty) has repeatedly called for the abolition of the death penalty..

One of the reasons used often by governments, including the Malaysian government, to justify the mandatory death penalty is that deters serious crimes. This was what Datuk M. Kayveas, a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department told Parliament. (Bernama, 28/6/2006) This is baseless and cannot be justified by any facts or statistical proof.

On the other hand, there are studies conducted throughout the world over the past seventy years using various different methodological approaches that have failed to find convincing evidence that capital punishment is a more effective deterrent of crime than long-term imprisonment.

Studies conducted in Australia show that abolition of the death penalty had no effect on the homicide rate and in Canada there in fact was a sharp decline in the homicide rate after abolition;

In the United States over the past twenty years, states with the death penalty in general have had a higher homicide rate than states without the death penalty;

The United Nations itself noted in 1988, 1996, and 2002, "research has failed to provide scientific proof that executions have a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment. Such proof is unlikely to be forthcoming. The evidence as a whole gives no positive support to the deterrent hypothesis."

Noting also that on 18 December 2007, the UN General Assembly endorsed a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty" by an overwhelming majority (Resolution 62/149), and on 18 December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted with a bigger majority a second similar resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

MADPET calls for the repeal of all provisions in law that provide for the mandatory death penalty.

MADPET reiterates its call for an immediate moratorium on all executions pending abolition, and for the abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia . - MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY PROVISIONS IN LAW SHOULD BE REPEALED

Besides, civil societies and NGOs, Malaysians generally is for the abolition of the death penalty

It must also be pointed out that a television poll done by RTM 2 during the Hello on Two programme on 7/5/2006 showed that 64% of Malaysians are for the abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia. This program has an estimated audience of 80,000. It is thus important that members of Parliament, the representatives of the people respond to the aspirations of Malaysians and remove the death penalty from the laws of Malaysia. - MADPET: REMOVE DEATH PENALTY FROM ALL MALAYSIAN LAWS

In Malaysia, as in many other countries, reason and good sense has a way of going out of the window especially when there is public outrage and a media frenzy for blood....and judges, being human, have responded badly at times sentencing one to death. A bad lawyer can also result in one being sent to the gallows. There is just too many dangers that a person who does not deserve the death penalty will be hung. I have seen notes of proceedings in death penalty cases, where the lawyer at the High Court just did not take the trouble to call certain witnesses and adduce certain relevant evidence, and when it comes to the Court of Appeal (or the Federal Court) one is generally bound to rely only on the evidence before the High Court. Sometimes, it may be just because a witness was not called or a certain evidence not adduced, that a person cannot be saved from the gallows.

Repentance...a second chance..transformation...values found in all religions also shouts out against the taking of a human life by the State, the government, the people of Malaysia. There have been too many cases where innocent people have been killed...and, as such we have no choice but to abolish the death penalty. Long prison terms are always available. There is the life sentence...or even sentencing one until he dies of old age.

I hope that Karpal, when he cools down, will withdraw his proposal to impose the sentence of death on convicted child rapists.

(IN PET+BLOGSPOT TOMORROW: MADPET CONDEMNS THE DEATH PENALTY) 

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