Landmark bill will now move to upper house of Malaysia’s Parliament Monday’s vote was ‘long time in the making,’ says Amnesty International KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian lawmakers voted on Monday in favor of abolishing the mandatory death penalty, paving the way for landmark legal reforms the government said are aimed at respecting each individual’s right to life. The lower house of Malaysia’s Parliament passed the bill, which will now be brought to the government-controlled Senate, or upper house, for approval, before it is presented to the king and passed into law. Under the revised law, which applies retroactively, 11 offenses that previously carried a mandatory death penalty will instead have alternative punishments, including whipping and imprisonment between 30 and 40 years. The new measures will also remove capital punishment as an option for some serious crimes that do not cause death, such as the discharging and trafficking of firearms and kidnapping. “The abolition of the mandatory death penalty aims to respect the right to life for every individual in Malaysia while ensuring justice for all parties,” Deputy Law Minister Ramkarpal Singh said during a wrap-up of parliamentary debates on the bill. “The basic principle for every sentence in Malaysia is rehabilitation so that they can return to society and become individuals who can serve the family, community and country after completing their sentence.” A moratorium on the death penalty has been in effect since 2018 in Malaysia, where over 1,300 prisoners are on death row, representing a disproportionately high number compared to other countries in the region. While the new bill does not completely remove capital punishment, which remains for offenses ranging from drug trafficking and terrorism to murder, it allows judges the discretion to pass alternatives. “We commend the government, which has shown political will and determination to reform. The abolition is a move toward the advancement of Malaysia’s human rights,” Ngeow Chow Ying, an executive committee member of the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, told Arab News. However, Ying said officials could do more in their efforts to reform Malaysia’s criminal justice system, as the use of caning in the law is “barbaric” and an “ultimately cruel and inhuman punishment.” Though Monday’s vote was “a long time in the making,” Amnesty International Malaysia’s Executive Director Katrina Jorene Maliamauv said that “there is still more to be done.” “All eyes are now on Malaysia’s Senate to take the next steps and make these reforms a reality.”