UN experts laud Malaysia's move to scrap mandatory death penalty

UN human rights experts on Tuesday hailed the Malaysia's move to end its mandatory death sentence for a range of serious crimes.

The Malaysian Parliament voted last week to scrap the death penalty for offenses such as murder, terrorism, and treason, replacing it with punishments including a life sentence.

The decision could potentially save the lives of 1,300 people on death row and "bolsters the global trend towards universal abolition," the UN experts said in a statement.

They underlined that the death penalty is "incompatible with fundamental tenets of human rights and dignity."

"It denies judges the possibility to consider the defendant's personal circumstances or the circumstances of the particular offence and individualize the sentence," read the statement.

"The mandatory death penalty is not compatible with the limitation of capital punishment to the 'most serious crimes.'"

The new law, which will be applied retroactively, will provide people on death row 90 days to request a review of their sentences, the statement added.

The UN experts expressed hope that the decision "would pave the way for the complete abolition of the death penalty in Malaysia, and eventually in the whole region."