There are 16 countries which has capital punishment for drugs traffiking annd most of these traffikers are drug users themselves. We oppose the death penalty in all cases as a violation of fundamental rights - the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment. No death penalty. We were extremely sad to read the news of death sentences handed out to two Nepali nationals in Malaysia. The Malaysian High Court on 26th Nov, 2009, Thursday sentenced two Nepalese to death —29-year-old Hari Bahadur Ghale and 30-year-old Sajan Gurung—for drug trafficking. In this day and age, death penalty is both cruel and counter-productive. The sorrow of the death penelty has killed the parents of Mr. GHALE in Nepal AND ALSO HIS SISTER. It is common view among criminal psychologists that even the most heinous of criminals are victims of circumstances and so don’t deserve the gallows. They should instead be sent to reformatories for psychological treatment. Sixteen Asia Pacific countries continue to apply the death penalty for the offences of drug trafficking and possession. Source: ADPAN. We express growing concern that more people are sentenced to death for drug offences than for any other crime in a number of Asia Pacific countries and recently in Malaysia for two Nepalese. This is at a time when there is a worldwide trend towards restricting and abolishing the death penalty. In the sixteen countries that impose the death penalty for drug offences, Amnesty International remains unaware of any evidence to show that the death penalty has led to a drop in drug use or trafficking. All legal proceedings, and particularly those related to capital offences, must conform to the minimum procedural guarantees contained in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, the presumption of innocence, the right to adequate legal assistance and the right to review by a higher tribunal. Malaysia fail to apply the presumption of innocence for drug offences, instead creating a presumption of guilt. The presumption of innocence is an established international standard. We urge >> Malaysia and other 15 countries join the global trend towards total abolition of the death penalty -- starting by ending the use of the death penalty for drugs offences and studying and implementing alternative treatment to break the cycle of drug use and crime. We need your support. National User's Network Nepal