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Attribution: Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu, Executive Director, Amnesty International Malaysia
Amnesty International Malaysia is deeply concerned with the amendments passed by the Kelantan state legislative assembly on 12 July 2017, to its Syariah Criminal Procedure Enactment 2002, which will allow public caning, and calls on the Kelantan state authorities to repeal the provisions which imposes these punishments.
Caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, which is prohibited under international law. The UN Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee against Torture have both explicitly called on states to abolish caning and other forms of corporal punishment.
The organisation also calls on the Malaysian authorities to ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CAT) and implement it in law and practice.