Bangkok
- The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
in collaboration with the Thai Ministry of Justice has been conducting a
seminar in Bangkok on moving away from the death penalty in South East
Asia .
Participants
included international experts and representatives of government , the
Asean Inter -governmental Commission on Human Rights , parliaments ,
national human rights institutions , the legal profession , academia and
civil society.
"
The regional meeting comes at a critical time as the international
movement for the abolition of the death penalty continues to grow in
strength and influence , " said Mr Ibrahim Gajjar , former Minister for
Justice from Lebanon and is currently a commissioner of the International Commission against the Death penalty .
During
the two-day seminar , participants will discuss the situation in
Southeast Asia as well as international standards regulating the use of
the death penalty . "
While challenges remain , the experience in Southeast Asia discussed in
this seminar tends to confirm the global trend of moving away from the
death penalty , " said Professor William Schabas , an international
expert on the obvious question of the death penalty . He
said he was confident that more countries in the region are taking
significant steps towards abolition of the death penalty in the years to
come.
Prof
Vitit Muntarbhorn of Chulalongkorn University who acted as chairman for
the seminar , the first regional meeting was an important milestone for
further discussion at national and regional level on this critical
issue , including through the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on
Rights human .
"
The dialogue among experts from the region is essential to end the
unjust and inhumane practice which often affects the most marginalized ,
" said Professor Muntarbhorn . He argued that it is difficult to reconcile the death penalty with basic human rights , particularly the right to life .
