Human rights group decries Maldives proposed death penalty bill – JURIST

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and 10 human rights organizations, on Thursday, urged the government of the Republic of Maldives to withdraw its plans to end its death penalty moratorium and introduce capital punishment for drug-related crimes.

HRW warned that the Maldives’s recent proposal would violate its obligations under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and a number of United Nations (UN) resolutions. The organization suggested that the proposal is regressive in light of “regional and global trends that have seen 113 countries fully abolish the death penalty.”

On 23 March 2026, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu announced that a bill to allow the moratorium on the death penalty to end would be submitted to the Legislature of the Republic of Maldives during the current parliamentary session. The session is planned to close in May.

The moratorium has been in place since 1954. The press release from the President’s Office outlined that upon its ratification, the “Administration will proceed with implementing capital punishment for those whose cases have reached finality and meet all legal requirements for enforcement.”

On December 2025, President Muizzu ratified the Third Amendment to the Drugs Act, creating harsher penalties for drug-related offences, including death penalty sentences. The press release states, “The Amendment also stipulates that offences carrying penalties of life imprisonment or the death penalty shall not be eligible for clemency under any circumstance.”

HRW outlines that introducing capital punishment for crimes that were “not previously punishable by death is contrary to the goal of abolishing the death penalty.”  It called on the government to adhere to its obligations under international law, “withdraw plans to pursue the proposed death penalty law,” and “commute all existing death sentences.”