Stop caning, says Amnesty

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Caning of convicts and asylum seekers in Malaysian prisons has reached epidemic proportions and is often inflicted so severely that flesh is torn off the body, Amnesty International says.

The London-based human rights group said the practice amounted to torture and should be abandoned.

However, prison officials defended the whippings as lawful.

Malaysian courts mete out caning - a remnant from British colonial laws - to punish severe offences such as rape, robbery, drug possession and corruption.

Up to 24 strokes are given with a thick rattan stick. Since 2002, caning has also been used to punish immigration offences.