Efforts to abolish the death penalty in Southeast Asia welcomed

Distinguished international experts and representatives of several governments joined Bangkok seminar on departure from the death penalty in South-East Asia.
The seminar was held on Tuesday and Wednesday, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in cooperation with the Thai Ministry of Justice.
In addition to experts and government representatives attended the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights, parliaments, national human rights institutions, the legal profession, academia and civil society.
During the two-day seminar in response to global trends, the participants discussed the situation in Southeast Asia as well as international standards governing the use of the death penalty.
"While challenges remain, the experience in Southeast Asia discussed in this seminar tend to confirm the global trend away from the death penalty," said Professor William Schabas, a leading international expert on the death penalty, and added that he was convinced that more and more countries in Southeast Asia will take significant steps towards abolition of the death penalty in the coming years.
Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn from Chulalongkorn University, who served as chairman of the entire training seminars to the conclusion that this first regional meeting was an important milestone for further discussion at the national and regional level in this critical area, including through the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.
"This dialogue between experts in the field, it is necessary to end this unjust and inhumane practices, which often affects the most marginalized" Vitit said, adding that it was difficult to reconcile the death penalty with fundamental human rights, particularly the right to life.
Ibrahim Najjar, Lebanon's former justice minister and currently the Commissioner of the International Commission against the Death Penalty, said he attended a seminar "at a crucial time when the international movement for the abolition of the death penalty continues to grow in strength and influence."