Malaysia should immediately impose a moratorium on all capital punishments and move to extradite murder convict Sirul Azhar Umar back to the country from Australia, said Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today.

In a statement, LFL executive director Eric Paulsen ( left ) said that Malaysia should seize the current extradition impasse as an opportunity to abolish death penalties all together.

Australia cannot extradite Sirul, a former police commando, back to Malaysia - despite the extradition treaty between the two countries - as the death penalty is not recognised in the country.

Sirul was sentenced to death after being found guilty of murdering Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu in 2006.

However, he did not show up in the Federal Court for the verdict and was later reported as having been in Australia since last year.

"LFL urges the Malaysian government to take the golden opportunity to re-evaluate the death penalty as a mode of punishment," said Paulsen.

If Malaysia commutes the death penalty into a life imprisonment, Australia would be able to send Sirul back.

Paulsen pointed out that the number of countries still using capital punishment is decreasing in time, with more than 70 percent of all nations in this world having now abolished the death penalty.

He stressed that the death penalty has "no place" in any civilised society that values human rights.