Horta believes the severe
punishment violates human rights and should be abolished around the world.
“At least every country that
upholds the death penalty should declare a moratorium (temporary ban) for 10 to
20 years on its application,” he said.
According to Horta, a
moratorium would allow nations to step back and evaluate their use of the death
penalty, before ultimately deciding whether or not to abolish it.
Currently, five ASEAN
countries continue to use the death penalty: Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Singapore, and Vietnam.
In Indonesia, the death
penalty applies to cases of premeditated murder, terrorism and drug trafficking.
On May 29, married couple from
East Timor were arrested in East Nusa Tenggara for carrying thousands of
ecstasy pills.
According to Horta, East
Timor’s strong stance against the death penalty is one of its greatest
qualities. He added that if any Timorese political leader looked to introduce
capital punishment, they would be met with strong opposition across the
country.
“We have a very deep strong
culture against the death penalty and we will not change that in order to join
ASEAN,” he said.
Horta also pointed out that no
ASEAN countries should defend their use of the death penalty by pointing to
nations like the United States, because the US only uses the punishment in
cases of murder, not for drug offences. As well as this, 20 states in the US have
abolished their use of the death penalty.
Horta’s calls against the use
of the death penalty echo sentiment around the world, were 160 countries have
either abolished capital punishment, implemented a moratorium, or never adopted
the practice.
Speaking at a 2014 event
calling for all countries to implement a moratorium on the death penalty,
former Secretary – General of the United Nations, Ban Ki – Moon, described the
death penalty as having “no place in the 21st Century”.
As a result of its denial of
the right to life (Article 2 of the Human Right Act), the death penalty has
been described by Amnesty International as: “the ultimate, irreversible denial
of human rights.”
Recent reform to legislation
regarding the death penalty in Southeast Asia have also generally been in line
with this international trend, with reforms against capital punishment showing
a gradual but real development.
Despite international movement
against capital punishment, half of the association continues to use the death
penalty.
Brunei, Myanmar, and Laos have
abolished it in practice, with no executions in the past 10 years, while the
Philippines and Cambodia have banned it completely.
A version of this article appears in Tempo Timor Online on July
14, 2019 with the headline: Horta: ‘ASEAN
countries must abolish the death penalty’.
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