Faktus Timor-Leste

Monday, July 15, 2019

The ASEAN countries must abolish the death penalty


 
DILI – Nobel Peace Prize laureate José Ramos Horta is arguing ASEAN countries to remove the use of the death penalty from their legal system.

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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