The present report of Amnesty International concerns a mission of a four-person Amnesty International delegation that visited Malaysia in July 2009 and who conducted private interviews with over 200 documented and undocumented migrant workers. Amnesty states that the imposition of caning contravenes the prohibition on torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, in violation of Malaysia’s obligations under international law. When caning and other sentences are imposed after summary proceedings that lack elements of a fair trial, including the right to legal counsel, adequate time to prepare one’s defence, and the right to appeal, the right to a fair and public hearing is violated. One of the valuable sources of these rights concerns the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.
The present report of Amnesty International concerns a mission of a four-person Amnesty International delegation that visited Malaysia in July 2009 and who conducted private interviews with over 200 documented and undocumented migrant workers. Amnesty states that the imposition of caning contravenes the prohibition on torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, in violation of Malaysia’s obligations under international law. When caning and other sentences are imposed after summary proceedings that lack elements of a fair trial, including the right to legal counsel, adequate time to prepare one’s defence, and the right to appeal, the right to a fair and public hearing is violated. One of the valuable sources of these rights concerns the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers.
