Comango: Malaysia regressing in some human rights

PETALING JAYA, May 20 — Malaysian NGOs accused Putrajaya today of not doing enough to improve human rights in the country as pledged with the United Nations Human Rights Council.

According to the Coalition of Malaysian Non-Governmental Organisations (Comango), of the 150 human rights recommendations accepted by Malaysia in 2014, 60 of them were measurable and the situation was regressing in 57 per cent of these.

“We are seeing increasing violations of human rights and trend of growing impunity.

“For instance, instead of repealing the Sedition Act, we see an increasing trend of use of this Act for political motives since 2014,” Comango representative Sevan Doraisamy, who is also Suaram executive director, told a press conference on the coalition’s mid-term report on Malaysia’s progress in implementing its human rights pledges.

Sevan also said instead of taking steps to promote the rights of journalists and bloggers to freely exercise their rights to freedom of expression, Malaysia was strengthening laws to silence the media.

“The proposed amendments to the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 will likely aim at controlling or even stifling political content online rather than facilitating freedom of expression and information,” he said.

Another Comango representative, Jerald Joseph, from human rights group Pusat KOMAS, said the country also showed little or no improvement in terms of national unity and social cohesion.

“When there was a racial riot in the Low Yat incident, we saw a raced-based IT mall built and this also does not gel well with the 1Malaysia concept that the government is championing,” he said.

Mohd Rizal Rozhan, of Selangor Civic Community Association (Empower), said Malaysia has five years to fulfill its recommendations that are aimed at improving the human rights situation on the ground together with some 193 members of the United Nation.

He said the recommendations comprise eight sectors—international obligation; civil rights; economic, social and cultural rights; marginalised groups; national mechanisms on human rights; trafficking in persons; national unity and human rights education.

Asked if it was fair to penalise the government given that it still have another two years to fulfil these, Jerald said it was up to Putrajaya to explain.

“We hope and wish for the government to call us in to work on these recommendations together but to date, we have not received any such invitation,” he said.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/comango-malaysia-regressing-in-some-human-rights#sthash.SpRaJL0h.dpuf

AI jangka hak asasi Malaysia terus dicabuli

Why the Malaysian Government Has Reneged on Political Reform

Koon Yew Yin


This morning I listened to a local business station which carried an interview with Tom Greatex. He is a British Labour Party politician who is head of the All Party Committee on Malaysia of the UK Parliament. In the interview, although cautious, Greatex expressed great concern with the recent human rights record of the Government, especially after all the big talk by the Prime Minister of doing away with the Sedition Act, of political reform and being moderate.

His visit follows the recent statement by the British Foreign Minister who, immediately after the Federal Court’s confirmation of Anwar’s conviction, said that “[Anwar’s] case raises worrying questions about the independence of the judiciary and rule of law in Malaysia….the integrity of the rule of law is a key part of its success, as are the values of moderation and tolerance. We encourage Malaysia to recognise the importance of international confidence in its judicial system and to restore trust in its commitment to human rights.”

This is diplomatic language for saying that there is little or no international confidence in our judicial system when it comes to dealing with the opposition. It is also a polite way of saying that the Brits do not trust our commitment to human rights.

The British are not the only countries that have expressed concern. Our printed media has tried to minimize or even suppress it but strong words have also come from European Union countries, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Stronger criticism on the Anwar case have come from human rights groups such as Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights which have called the verdict “disgraceful” and a “black day” for justice.

But what happened in the Anwar case is really the tip of the iceberg in terms of the Government’s attempt to kill off the opposition. To date, this drive has netted a wide range of government critics – not only politicians. Thus we have student leaders such as Adam Adli Abdul Halim and Fariz Musa, human rights lawyer Eric Paulsen, Bersih activist Hishamuddin Rais and cartoonist Zunar, being charged with sedition.

Killing Off Any Kind of Opposition

What is clear and especially alarming is that the Government is not only trying to kill off the political opposition but is also trying to kill off any kind of opposition; and it is using the state machinery which is supposed to be independent and neutral. Hence, not only is the judiciary brought into cooperating or colluding with the political masters, other agencies are also brought into the equation. This can be seen by the creation of the Classified Special Unit D5 in the police force to identify and handle sedition cases on social media. Apart from communist countries, ours must be the first country in the world to set up a branch of the police force set up to monitor the social media and cleanse it of anti government voices and sentiments.

So what is the impact of this shotgun approach to killing off the opposition which is definitely being initiated by UMNO and probably does not have the support of the other BN parties in the coalition.

I am sure that every foreign embassy which has an office in Malaysia and which reports back to their foreign ministries will have carried reports of this recent tsunami of political persecution. They will also be carrying analysis of why this is happening and of the impact of the political repression in Malaysia.

Check Out This Public Feedback Not Found in the NST

Here are my suggestions for what they should be including in their reports on the current political and socio-economic situation in Malaysia. 

1. The Prime Minister is politically insecure and fighting desperately to hold on to his position. Hence he has to take a tough line and go back on his earlier promises to abolish the sedition act and to liberalize the country.
2. UMNO hard liners are in the ascendency. They have become increasingly insecure following the recent two elections and know that the party’s grip on power will finally be broken soon. Hence they are trying every trick in the book to bring down Pakatan and the greater opposition. In particular, they are manipulating religious sentiments and intolerance to ensure that they do not lose the Malay constituency.
3. The state apparatus in Malaysia is being used to prop up the old regime.
4. The Malaysian public has become disenchanted. The taxi drivers, the police men when they are not in uniform, the lower rung civil servants, the traders, university students, media practitioners, the professionals – most of them see the present government to be corrupt, incompetent, ineffective, hypocritical and undeserving of support.

I propose that the foreign mission staff do their own private questioning or polling on these issues and to share their feedback with their colleagues and Malaysians.

Malaysia is 'partly free' in human rights report

The Sun
by Lee Choon Fai

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia was given a "partly free" rating in human rights report, Freedom in the World 2015, along with a downward trend due to the government's frequent use of the Sedition Act last year.

The report by international rights group Freedom House involving 195 countries also noted uses of defamation law to silence critics and also the harassment that Shi'ite Muslims are subjected to.

"Malaysia received a downward trend arrow due to the government's use of the Sedition Act to intimidate political opponents, an increase in arrests and harassment of Shi'ite Muslims and transgender Malaysians, and more extensive use of defamation laws to silence independent or critical voices," the report said.

From a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 being most free and 7 being the worst, Malaysia received a score of 4 or "partly free" for both political rights and civil liberties with declining rights noted with a downward trend arrow.

Singapore also received a score of 4 for both political rights and civil liberties, while Thailand saw a significant decline and received a score of 6 for political rights and 5 for civil liberties, and Indonesia received 2 for political rights and 4 for civil liberties.

Countries achieving a perfect score of 1 for both political rights and civil liberties included Japan, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Czech Republic, Germany, France and New Zealand, among others.

Countries that were awarded the worst possible score of 7 for both categories included North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Uzbekistan and Tibet.

Malaysia has abandoned rights reforms – Human Rights Watch

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak abandoned his pledge to revoke Malaysia’s repressive sedition law and oversaw a wave of arrests of opposition politicians and social activists, Human Rights Watch says today in its World Report 2015.

The authorities continued their politically motivated prosecution of parliamentary opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy.

In the 656-page world report, its 25th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries.

In his introductory essay, executive director Kenneth Roth urges governments to recognise that human rights offer an effective moral guide in turbulent times, and that violating rights can spark or aggravate serious security challenges.

The short-term gains of undermining core values of freedom and non-discrimination are rarely worth the long-term price.

“Prime Minister Najib’s shameful reversal of his pledge to end sedition shows his willingness to put politics over human rights,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

“Malaysia’s human rights are in a downward spiral because the government evidently believes that continued rule depends on suppressing speech, harassing opposition groups, and targeting prominent figures with legal action.”

During 2014, Malaysian authorities arrested dozens of people under the Sedition Act for making remarks critical of the government, its political leaders, the ruling party, and sultans.

At least 20 people were charged, including four senior opposition members of parliament. The crackdown generated public opposition from the Malaysia Bar Council and other organisations, and a suit contesting the constitutionality of the Sedition Act.

Najib, who in 2012 had promised to repeal the Sedition Act, announced on November 27, 2014, that the law would instead be revised and strengthened to penalise those who violate the sanctity of Islam and other religions or call for the secession of Sabah and Sarawak from Malaysia.

The Malaysian authorities also continued their politically motivated prosecutions to cripple the political opposition.

In March, an appeals court overturned a 2012 not guilty verdict against parliamentary opposition leader Anwar on sodomy charges and sentenced him to a five-year prison term in a rushed judicial proceeding. Should the Federal Court uphold his conviction, he faces imprisonment and loss of his seat in parliament.

The government’s repeated prosecutions of Anwar under the sodomy law (penal code article 377), invoked only seven times since 1938, highlights the dangers this discriminatory law poses so long as it remains on the books.

The Royal Malaysian Police continued to abuse rights of detainees in police custody with impunity.

There were at least 10 new cases of custodial deaths in 2014, and police used excessive force during apprehension of suspects.

However, police stymied proposals for an effective and independent external oversight such as an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

Malaysia’s image as a moderate Muslim country was tarnished by new government restrictions on freedom of expression and association in 2014.

The government-controlled Registrar of Societies tightened its restrictive oversight on civil society groups seen as critical of the government, refused newspaper licences to critical outlets, and prosecuted an activist on film censorship charges.

The government continued to vilify lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. However, in November 2014, in an unprecedented action, the Appeals Court unanimously ruled that a Shariah law ordinance prohibiting cross-dressing was unconstitutional.

Senior national and Negri Sembilan government officials criticised the decision as “anti-Islamic,” with a senior minister calling for Muslims to defend Islamic teachings “by any method”.

“The Malaysian government appears to be resting its global reputation on its new term at the UN Security Council rather than addressing the country’s serious rights problems,” Robertson said.

“The government will need to reverse course on rights in 2015 if it wants to truly bolster its international standing.” – January 29, 2015.

* To read Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2015 chapter on Malaysia, visit http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/country-chapters/malaysia.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/malaysia-has-abandoned-rights-reforms-human-rights-watch#sthash.uhY0lmYp.dpuf

Humanitarian hypocrisy

The Star
Reflecting On The Law by SHAD SALEEM FARUQI

A deeper understanding of the concept of freedom involves respecting others’ rights as much as knowing our own.

DEC 1O is international human rights day – a day to reaffirm our commitment to the belief that all human beings, irrespective of race, religion, or gender, are entitled to equal worth and dignity. Human rights are not given to us by the charity or generosity of the state. They are inherent in our human condition and are bequeathed to us directly by the hand of God. 

Dec 10 is also a day to remind ourselves that with rights come responsibilities. A deeper understanding of the concept of freedom involves respecting others’ rights as much as knowing our own. The first function of freedom is to free someone else.   

Regrettably, in much of Asia and Africa the international rhetoric of human rights rings hollow and arouses much scepticism and anger. The perception is that the mantra of “democracy” and “human rights” is nothing but a monumental deception to perpetuate the hegemony of the North Atlantic nations over “the lesser people” of Asia and Africa.

There is much evidence to justify this unmistakable perception. 

Fomenting war: Many nations of the West are addicted to war and need to wage continuous battles to keep their military-industrial complex humming. The US, for example, invaded Indo-China in the 60s and killed, maimed and scarred millions of people. It has bombed 30 countries since World War II. Its ongoing illegal drone attacks blow up “enemy combatants” around the world with sickening regularity. 

In the last decade itself, the US and its partners resorted to full scale invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq on trumped up charges plus bombing of Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya and Syria. An American missile downed an Iranian civilian plane over the Atlantic killing all on board. 

The US and its European allies resort to massive bombings, issue nuclear threats, effectuate devastating invasions and regime changes against mostly Asian, African and Latin American nations on the justification that human rights violations have to be stopped through “humanitarian intervention”. 

The book by Adam Jones, Genocide, War Crimes and the West: History and Complicity (2005) rightly points to the Himalayan hypocrisy of western humanitarianism. 

Besides the US, France is notable for its military interventions in its former colonies of Algeria, Mali and Central African Republic. In Yemen, Libya, Syria and Ukraine Western proxies are in the forefront of Western initiated civil wars. The US and the UK are in the forefront of support for Israel’s dehumanisation of the Palestinians.   

Complicity in genocide: Case studies point to Germany’s abuses against the Herero in SW Africa; French atrocities in Algeria; US and European complicity in the 67-year old genocide against the Palestinians; US war crimes in Indo-China, Congo/Zaire, Chile, Bangladesh, Central America, Iraq, Somalia, Liberia and Yugoslavia; the Dutch complicity in the massacres in Srebrenica; and the role of the West and the Western controlled Security Council in the Rwandan holocaust of 1994. 

At the moment of writing the USA, European Union and their Gulf allies are funding terrorists to overthrow the Syrian government. The so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS) is a Western invention to keep the region in turmoil. The breathtaking hypocrisy of both funding the IS and raining bombs on its strongholds is not a new phenomenon (the US supplied arms to both Iraq and Iran to destroy each other) but must be exposed. 

Propping up dictators: Despite their professed belief in democracy, Washington and the EU have a shameful record of collaborating with right wing military officers to overthrow elected leaders who do not do the West’s economic and political bidding. A partial list would include Mossadegh in Iran (1953), Arbez in Guatemala (1954), Allende in Chile (1973), Aristide in Haiti twice, Chavez in Venezuela (2002), Zelaya in  Honduras (2009), Morsi in Eypt (2013) and Yankovych in Ukraine (2014). 

In Cambodia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, undemocratic regimes are wholeheartedly supported because they succumb to the Western agenda at the expense of their own people. 

Structural injustices: Add to the above military horrors, the structural violence and oppressive economic systems of the West that keep our economies shackled.  No wonder the panic in the USA and Europe about Chinese efforts to provide alternative credit institutions to the third world.   

Selective sanctions: The US and EU employ trade and aid as levers to force compliance with their oppressive economic policies. They selectively impose sanctions causing death and of suffering to millions. The inhumanity of sanctions against Iran for its international law right to develop nuclear energy is a case in point. 

Along with the USA, the EU punishes a host of coloured states including China, Iran, Syria, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Yemen, Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, Congo, Eritrea, Somalia and Sri Lanka. But it applies a gross double standard to the genocidal, apartheid state of Israel. 

International agencies: Many human rights agencies including the International Criminal Court (ICC), the UN Security Council, the Human Rights Council and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights are selective about their commemorations and condemnations. Mass murderers in the USA, Israel, UK and France appear absolutely immune from international sanctions. For example the ICC has ruled repeatedly that there is “insufficient evidence” for it to investigate Israel for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.  

Bush, Blair, Cheney and Rumsfeld have not been prosecuted for their lies and deceptions that led to the loss of thousands, possibly millions, of lives in the devastation of Iraq. The US and EU are guilty of massive deceptions and crimes of violence in Libya, Syria and Yemen.     

 As long as a culture of impunity surrounds the pernicious crimes of the “liberal democracies” of the West, there will always be skepticism and disbelief about the hoity toity, condescending  charade of human rights that spews forth periodically from the West. Many of us are not convinced when Tyranosaurus Rex preaches to us about the virtues of vegetarianism. 

Nevertheless we Asians should not turn our back to the human rights quest. While exposing the massive hypocrisies of the West, we need to put our own houses in order. The quest for rights and dignity for all is a moral, religious and legal duty. 

Shad Saleem Faruqi is Emeritus Professor of Law at UiTM. The views expressed are entirely the writer’s own.

Malay rights intact even if Sedition Act repealed

Proham secretary-general says four sensitive aspects of special rights of Malays and Bumiputeras is protected even if act is repealed.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: The abolition of the Sedition Act 1948 will not affect the four sensitive aspects concerning the special rights of the Malays and the Bumiputera enshrined in the Federal Constitution.

As such, secretary-general of the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) Denison Jayasooria said the Malays need not worry about the plan to abolish the Act as the four aspects – the special position of the Malays and Bumiputera (Article 153), the special position of Malay Rulers (Article 181), Malay language as the National Language (Article 152) and Citizenship (Part III) would be protected and well preserved.

“In fact, any replacement of the Act, including the proposed National Harmony Act, will not touch on these four aspects,” he told reporters after moderating the Round-Table Discussion on the Sedition Act 1948 at Universiti Malaya, here today.

The discussion was attended by former Bukit Aman CID director Mohamed Zaman Khan Rahim Khan, Proham Chairman Kuthbul Zaman and Malaysian Bar Council’s Young Lawyers Committee chairman Syahredzan Johan.

Commenting on the call by the Malay Consultative Council (MPM) that the abolition or improvement of the Sedition Act be referred to the Council of Rulers, Denison said it was a non-issue because only amendment to certain matters concerning Malay rights enshrined in the Federal Constitution would need the consent of the council.- Bernama

Malaysia: Sedition Act Wielded to Silence Opposition

Government Campaign Violates Free Expression Rights

SEPTEMBER 14, 2014

(Bangkok) – The Malaysian government should cease using the country’s sedition law to arbitrarily arrest opposition lawmakers, activists, and critical academics, Human Rights Watch said today. Since 2013, at least 14 people have been charged under the Sedition Act 1948 for criticizing the government or government officials. Those found guilty face up to five years in prison and a fine of RM 5,000 (US$1,600).

The government of Prime Minister Najib Razak should repeal the Sedition Act, which has repeatedly been used to prosecute people for political purposes in violation of the right to freedom of expression.

“The Malaysian government is increasingly using the Sedition Act to instill fear and silence in political opponents and critics,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director. “Prime Minister Najib’s crackdown on free expression has shown his true rights-abusing colors.”

The Sedition Act prohibits vague offenses such as uttering “any seditious words” without defining what constitutes “sedition” or “seditious words.” It broadly outlaws any “seditious tendency” that would “bring into hatred or contempt or excite disaffection against any Ruler or against any Government.”

In the period before the general election on May 5, 2013, Prime Minister Najib repeatedly said that he would lead an effort to repeal the Sedition Act and replace it with a so-called Harmony Act. However, following the election, in which the ruling coalition the Barisan Nasional retained power despite major losses in the national parliament, he retreated from his pledge.

Malaysian authorities have used the vaguely worded act to charge four opposition members of parliament with sedition, including Party Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Vice President Tian Chua and Democratic Action Party (DAP) Vice President Teresa Kok.

On August 19, 2014, the authorities charged PKR Vice President N. Surendran with sedition in connection with a statement to the media attacking the decision of the appeals court. A second sedition charge was brought against him on August 29 for alleging that the renewed sodomy charges against his client, the parliamentary opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, were “an attempt to jail the opposition leader of Malaysia,” and that Prime Minister Najib was responsible.

On August 26, the authorities charged Khalid Samad, a member of parliament from the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), with sedition for allegedly critical remarks he made regarding the Selangor state sultan and the State Islamic Affairs Council. Khalid had called for reviews of laws after the state council failed to abide by the attorney general’s decision that Iban and Malay-language Bibles seized by the Selangor Islamic Religious Department must be returned to the Bible Society of Malaysia.

In June, authorities charged Kok with sedition for her Chinese New Year video “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014,” which depicts Kok as host of the program with three volunteers playing characters before a small audience. The video makes no mention of any individual or the government.

The DAP Penang State Assemblyman R.S.N. Rayer was charged on August 27 for allegedly saying “celaka celaka UMNO” (“damn, damn UMNO”) to several state assemblymen of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) during an assembly session in May.

On September 3, the authorities brought sedition charges against David Orok, a politician from the state of Sabah, claiming that he defamed Islam and the Prophet on Facebook. He has pleaded not guilty and apologized on his Facebook page, but the authorities confiscated his passport and the court released him on RM 7,000 ($2,200) bail.

The authorities charged five activists and Tian Chua with sedition for remarks made on May 13, 2013, at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall. The group had accused the government of pervasive voter fraud and suggested that under current election regulations, the opposition coalition could never win an election. On September 5, 2014, a Kuala Lumpur sessions court sentenced Safwan Anang, former chair of Malaysian Students Solidarity, an activist group, to 10 months in prison, although he was released on RM 15,000 ($4,700) bail pending his appeal. Cases are still pending against Tian, the activists Hishamuddin Rais, Haris Ibrahim, and Tamrin bin Abdul Ghafar, and the student leader Adam Adli.

The government is also prosecuting academics and journalists under the Sedition Act. On September 1, Dr. Azmi Sharom, a University of Malaya professor, was charged with sedition for comments related to a political event five years ago. On September 10, a group of academics and students organized a public rally on Azmi’s behalf and to decry the threat the Sedition Act poses to academic freedom. The Attorney General’s Chambers announced that it would review the sedition charge against Azmi and possibly others.

On September 4, the authorities arrested Susan Loone, assistant editor at Malaysiakini, an online newspaper critical of the government and ruling coalition, on suspicion of sedition for her article that included statements by Phee Boone Poh, a Penang State executive councilor. Loone was held and interrogated for nine hours before being released on bail. Police had earlier detained Phee because of his role as chairman of the Penang People’s Voluntary Patrol, an auxiliary force connected with the state government that the inspector general of police alleges is illegal. The story reported Phee saying that during four hours of police questioning he was “treated like a criminal.”

The government has also investigated several senior opposition politicians but ultimately charged them with sections of the penal code that severely restrict expression. On August 28, the authorities charged Rafizi Ramli, a senior member of the PKR and member of parliament, with article 504 of the penal code, which criminalizes “intentional insult with intent to provoke a breach of the peace.” The charge was based on statements he made in a newspaper article that suggested that UMNO was attempting to undermine and destroy the PKR leadership in Selangor State by using policies emphasizing race and religion.

Similarly, on August 25, authorities charged the former Perak State Governor Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, from the opposition PAS party, for defaming Prime Minister Najib in remarks he made in Ipoh in April 2012.

“The Malaysian government has apparently decided that its vaguely worded Sedition Act is its new catch-all charge against its most vocal critics,” Robertson said. “Prime Minister Najib should realize that throwing activists and opposition leaders in jail for what they say is a slippery slope to authoritarian rule.”

Study on human rights needs

The New Straits Times
by FAZLEENA AZIZ

KUALA LUMPUR: A STUDY on the human rights needs of the country is being conducted to become the basis of the National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP).

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nancy Shukri said the National Human Rights Policy Plan Research would pave the way for the implementation of the NHRAP, thus raising the standard at human rights in the country.

She said the implementation of the action plan would take into account values enshrined in the Federal Constitution and the position of Islam as the country’s official religion.

The 18-month study, which started on July 1, is gathering data, including existing policies on human rights and feedback from the public.

“Phase one focuses on data collection, existing policies and analysis of the current status of human rights in the country, while phase two will focus on activities like public engagement.

“The research team will provide a report that includes the concept of human rights and the actual position of human rights in Malaysia. There will also be unique action plan proposals submitted as part of the report,” said Nancy yesterday.

Several ministries, departments and about 40 experts from local universities will be involved in the two phases of research.

“Research will be based on five fundamentals proposed for the NHRAP, which include civil, political, economic, social, religion and cultural rights,” she said, adding that the research would look into the rights of endangered groups, Orang Asli, indigenous people and international obligations.

“The research will also include public consultation in a meaningful and comprehensive manner.”

The team is headed by Associate Professor Dr Shamrahayu Ab Aziz and assisted by Dr Gan Chin Chuan.

Both are members of the Human Rights Development Action Plan Steering Committee, which is chaired by Nancy.

In October 2012, the government agreed to develop the NHRAP in Malaysia as part of a long-term effort to ensure human rights are preserved and protected in the country.

On 19 June, the first meeting on the Implementation of the National Human Rights Action Plan Research Policy was held and chaired by Nancy.

Those wanting more information can contact the NHRAP secretariat at 03-8885 1000 or come directly to the Legal Affairs Division, Prime Minister’s Department, Precinct 3, 62692 Putrajaya.

‘Gender discrimination against human rights’

Discrimination against Dr.Wan Azizah Ismail is against basic human rights and unconstitutional, says Wanita MCA chief

PETALING JAYA: The selection of a menteri besar should be based on experience, ability and commitment to lead the people and not based on gender, Wanita MCA chief Heng Seai Kie said today.

Heng said denying Kajang assemblywoman Dr.Wan Azizah Ismail the chance to be appointed as the menteri besar is against basic human rights and unconstitutional.

“Worse still, making gender and biological nature as an excuse to discriminate against Wan Azizah is also biased and unacceptable,” she said in a statement today.

Heng said the more pressing issue would be Wan Azizah’s ability to lead Selangor rather than using her gender as an obstacle to hinder woman from moving forward.

The MCA leader was commenting on Umno legal adviser Hafarizam Harun’s statement that a woman could not become a menteri besar because she would face many obstacles in accompanying the Sultan when she had “uzur syarie” (menstruation).

DAP Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching also urged Hafarizam to retract his remarks and apologise.

“The statement not only discriminates Wan Azizah but all women. Does he have any respect for his own mother and the mother of his children?” she asked.

MIC Federal Territory State Women Leader, Kogilam Suppiah said it was a derogatory, insensitive and discriminating remark on a woman in this modern age.

Kogilam said the silly statement only reflected the poor quality and sexist mindset of political leaders in the country.

“If she has already reached menopause, what other illogical and absurd reasons will Hafarizam come up with to justify his statement that she cannot hold the position of menteri besar?

“Is Hafarizam aware that we now have a high number of woman leaders in the world, including Chancellor Angela Merkel (Germany), Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Denmark), President Dilmaro Rousseff (Brazil), President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Argentina)?” she asked.

Malaysia is becoming so hateful; that is true. But I am not yet ready to hate it. Are you?

MALAYSIA is turning into a hateful country

Hate; it is such an ugly word. Yet I can’t think of anything else to describe what is happening here, the land where I am to spill my blood.

But then, why should I care? I am after all an intruder and immigrant.

Yes, I realise that when the racists speak about intruders and immigrants, they mean non-Malay intruders and immigrants; this despite the fact that many so-called Malays are actually of foreign origin. But I am not a hypocrite like them.

I know my roots and they spread to Yemen, to Medan, to Singapore. I wasn’t even born here. Yet I believe that I have as much right to be here as anyone else and my fellow Malaysians have just as much right as me.

And still the question remains: why should I care?

I don’t have the answer to that question because I am not a very philosophical man. Yet I know this; I have no desire to live in the Yemen, or Medan or Singapore.

And as much as I loved my significant time in England, I always knew that I would come home. And home is here, Malaysia.

Forgive the overly sentimental tangent this article is taking, but I am trying to make sense of my world as I write. It is hard to be purely analytical when one’s home is being slowly destroyed by the bigoted, small-minded, cruel and vicious.

This place is my home because I grew up here. My memories and therefore my identity are tied up to this place.

My tastes, my relationships, my way of thinking, in short everything that makes me the individual that I am, are due to this place.

But what kind of place is it now? It looks to me like the kind of place where the vicious can threaten to behead people, where those who are meant to be the final arbiters are unwilling or incapable of making judgments based on the principles they have sworn to uphold.

It is a place where cowardly leaders think only of their votes and not of making a stand against vile people and their vile deeds.

There is so much going on which is going to affect our basic needs of hearth and security. While the wheels of capitalism turn, we the ordinary folk are going to find it harder and harder to just make ends meet.

Yet we allow thugs to set the agenda. We allow non-issues to become national debating points. We allow the vicious to go on screaming malicious words with God on their lips and hatred in their hearts.

All this when we are living in a country with so much potential and wealth. If we can ensure that the truly needy, regardless of their creed or colour are protected and helped; if we can move our education system towards one where we produce thinking people and not well-educated automatons; if we can create a government in all its guises which is dedicated to honesty and the rule of law.

If we can do all these things, then the future will be more secure for all of us. It is there, within reach.

Instead there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel and all I see is a darkness populated by the shrill screeching of the hatemongers.

It does not need to be like this. If the face of this country is as twisted and ugly to you as it is to me, we can still do something.

We can challenge our elected representatives into a corner. Force them to tell us where they stand.

We can support the downtrodden. We can gather together in huge numbers to make a stand not for any political reason, but to show the bigots that they are not the only ones in this land and that their cruel philosophies are not welcome.

We can think for ourselves and not simply allow those with so-called authority to dictate our thoughts for us. We can be fearless in deed, words and thoughts to uphold the values that surely any country needs to hang on to – fairness, compassion, kindness, freedom and justice.

This country is becoming so hateful; that is true. But I am not yet ready to hate it. Are you?

> Azmi Sharom lectures environmental and human rights law in a public university. He can be reached at azmisharom@yahoo.co.uk. The views expressed here are entirely his own. Via The Star

Obama aware of human rights issues in Malaysia

FZ.com
by Terence Fernandez

PETALING JAYA (April 28): He hardly raised an eyebrow and did not seem surprised –   that was how in tune US President Barack Obama was to human rights issues in Malaysia.

The 10 representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who had met Obama at the Ritz Carlton Hotel yesterday said the president was well briefed on the thorny issues facing Malaysia such as religious and racial extremism, the muzzling of the media, lack of free and fair elections, disregard for the Opposition, police brutality and the questionable independence of the judiciary.

 “He knew the issues and asked questions.

“Our interaction with him was on the basis that he knew what the problems were. He was well briefed,” said Datuk S. Ambiga who was representing the Malaysian Human Rights Society (Hakam).

She said while Obama believed prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was reformed-minded, he did not offer any excuses for the shortcoming of the Malaysian Government in addressing these concerns.

“It was very informal. We were initially given just 15 minutes where each of us had only a minute to say what we had to, but instead Obama asked why we were all standing and that we should get some chairs.

“So we carried some chairs … even he carried a chair and we sat around him and spoke for an hour,” she said when met at her office here yesterday.

Accompanying Obama was National Security Advisor Susan Rice and US Ambassador to Malaysia Joseph Yun.

“We made it clear Malaysia was neither a moderate Muslim nation, nor a democracy in the true sense of the word,” Ambiga said, adding that Obama was also told that any praise of Malaysia’s democracy would be undermining the work of the NGOs and civil liberty movement.

Ambiga said the president assured them that they will continue engaging on these concerns through the US Embassy, where issues that were of obvious infringements of human rights would be prioritised.

She said although Obama admitted he may not be able to highlight every concern, he said he would raise the issues with his Malaysian counterpart each time the opportunity arises.

“He seemed very sincere about it,” she said.

Obama in his public speeches had cleverly touched on issues of racial discrimination and respect for democracy without offending his hosts – a veiled signal to the Malaysian Government which is hoping to get US’ endorsement for a seat in the UN Security Council.

Sisters in Islam (SIS) meanwhile had told Obama that moderate Muslims are facing an onslaught by extremists.

“It was also pointed out by SIS that calls for respect for human dignity and progressive Islam is being labelled as a threat and deviant by extremists who preach hate and racial supremacy,” its executive director Ratna Osman said in a statement.

Honey Tan, of the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs (Comango) said politicisation of Islam was the biggest concern brought to Obama’s attention.

“Since Malaysia will assume the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2015, the president should encourage our prime minister to ensure space for civil society organisations are not constrained and activists not restrained from speaking out,” she said.

The meeting was also attended by Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) commissioner Tan Sri Hasmy Agam, Bar Council president Christopher Leong, Bersih 2.0 Chairman Maria Chin Abdullah, Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) chairman Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Emeritus Rev. Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam, the Council of Churches Malaysia head Rev. Dr Herman Shastri and Tenaganita’s Aegile Fernandez.

It had been reported that Hasmy complained about the toothless tiger Suhakam was where its annual report was not even tabled in Parliament.

Information on the prosecution of religious minorities was the input provided by Ahmad Farouk.

Obama’s Cynical Malaysian Sojourn

BFF. Mwah.

State visit avoided hard issues and gave Najib a pass on human rights

For anyone in Southeast Asia with an interest in fair, honest and even-handed government, the disappointing visit of President Barack Obama to Malaysia is a victory for political expediency that largely glossed over growing discontent over racial tensions, corruption and abuses of judicial power by the ruling coalition.

Obama, according to most reports, walked a careful line on such issues, roaming the stage at a town meeting with students to tell them the country can’t succeed if minorities are suppressed.

But the president also continued to call the prime minister a friend and reformer. What kind of friend is this exactly?

The fact is that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was a willing perpetrator as defense minister in the looting of the public purse to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars – in bribery and kickbacks from the French munitions maker DCN over a US$1 billion submarine deal, as well as other deals involving patrol boats that were never delivered, Russian Sukhoi jets that cost vastly more than what other countries paid and other equally dubious transactions that have been repeatedly exposed by the opposition and printed on opposition websites, to no avail.

On top of that, Najib heads a country that is slipping backwards fast on human rights issues, with its most prominent opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, facing jail for the second time on what are clearly bogus charges of sexual deviance and another, Karpal Singh, who was about to be railroaded out of parliament on specious sedition charges when he was killed in a car accident. 

Other opposition leaders also face sedition charges in what Ambiga Sreenevasan, the former head of the Malaysian Bar Council, recently called “Operation Lalang by the courts,” a reference to a 1987 crackdown on dissidents that sent more than 100 people, most of them opposition leaders, to jail without trial.

Obama’s decision not to meet with Anwar “in and of itself isn't indicative of our lack of concern, given the fact that there are a lot of people I don't meet with and opposition leaders that I don't meet with,” he told reporters in response to a question by CNN.

Anwar does get an April 28 meeting with Susan Rice, the president’s national security advisor, but the message on human rights was clear – the issue takes a back seat to geopolitics in Kuala Lumpur and perhaps to a desire to prop up Najib for fear of empowering more conservative elements inside his long-ruling United Malays National Organization or to gain his support for the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

Obama either appears to have been hoodwinked by Najib, or decided that diplomatic niceties demanded a waffle. In response to a question, the president said in a press conference that … “the prime minister is the first to acknowledge that Malaysia still has work to do,” that he “came in as a reformer and one who is committed to it, and I am going to continue to encourage him as a friend and a partner to making progress on that front.”

Najib’s lukewarm commitment to economic reform vanished in the wake of the May 2013 election, in which the opposition won a narrow popular-vote victory but lost parliament due to gerrymandering, and the subsequent ascendancy of the hardline UMNO wing led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his long-running ally Daim Zainuddin. The modest reforms Najib had put in place to reverse parts of the disastrous race-based New Economic Policy were washed away last September in an array of new economic benefits for ethnic Malays.

Najib, whatever his personal beliefs may be, is clearly in the thrall of such Malay chauvinist organizations as Perkasa, which preaches astonishing hatred towards Malaysia’s minority races. Nobody, including Najib, has ever spoken of reining in such groups. Minority and opposition politicians who raise an outcry over racial issues are often met with threats of sedition charges.
To anyone deeply familiar with Malaysia, the statement that Najib is committed to reform is laughable. None of Malaysia's online news sites, which form the credible journalistic opposition, were invited to the Najib-Obama joint press conference. So while Obama was extolling Najib's reformist credentials, Malaysia's most trusted news organization Malaysiakini wass shut out of the press conference.

UMNO is a kleptocracy that continues to loot the country’s assets with impunity. The latest, for example, was the award – without an open bid ‑ earlier this month of a RM1.6 billion contract for the building and maintenance of a hospital whose entire board of directors was drawn from the youth wing of UMNO, and whose managing director is a close friend of Khairy Jamaluddin, the head of UMNO youth. 

These contracts are signed on a regular basis. Any suggestion that Najib doesn’t know they benefit his own political party is silly. He has participated personally in this kind of theft, which has resulted in his ostentatiously wealthy wife flaunting her riches worldwide to the anger of many people back home.

The party’s continuing use of fundamentalist Islam has nothing to do with true religious fervor but rather a specious use of faith to shore up its rural base at election time.  The decision to ban the word “Allah” in Malay-language Christian Bibles is an example. The word was banned for Bibles in mainland Malaysia, where Malays outnumber other races, but allowed to stand in Bibles in East Malaysia, where indigenous tribes are mainly Christians who support the ruling national coalition at the polls.

According to the New York Times, Obama’s visit underscores a change in Malaysian attitudes toward the United States, “which has evolved from deep suspicion, verging on contempt, to a cautious desire for cooperation.” 

But the fact is, as the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur knows well and surely told the president, is that despite Mahathir’s heated rhetoric during his years on office, the country has remained firmly in the western camp. Indeed, as the late Barry Wain illustrated in his book, Malaysian Maverick, while Mahathir was delivering speeches about American imperialism, he was quietly allowing the US military to train in Malaysian jungles. He was also sending his own children to American universities for their educations.

While Malaysia recognizes its future with China as its biggest trading partner, it is hardly the fulcrum of influence for or against the US in Asia.  It is nice for the US to have it as a strategic partner, as Obama stressed.  But it is one that should be kept at arms’ length.

Wrong to call Malaysia a 'moderate Muslim country', NGOs tell Obama

Filepic: Barack Obama

KUALA LUMPUR: It would be inaccurate to describe Malaysia as a “moderate Muslim country” despite repeated attempts by the country’s leaders to project such an image, civil society groups told US president Barack Obama during his visit.

In an “intimate and candid” meeting with Obama on Sunday, 10 local non-governmental organisation (NGO) leaders said they had highlighted that there were still a slew of issues affecting the country, which included extremism and the worrying process of Islamisation that was “tearing at the fabric of Malaysian society”.

“If you look at the issues that are affecting us, both from an ethnic religious perspective, as well as a human rights, and respect to rule of law. We cannot be described as moderate,” Bar Council president Christopher Leong told Astro AWANI today.

Leong had met Obama together with nine other NGO leaders.

They were: Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa (Islamic Rennaissance Front), Ratna Osman (Sisters in Islam), Tan Sri Hasmy Agam (SUHAKAM), Aegile Fernandez (Tenaganita), Honey Tan (Comango), Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam (outgoing Roman Catholic Archdiocese of KL), Rev Dr Hermen Shastri (Council of Churches), Datuk S Ambiga (Human Rights Society, HAKAM), and Maria Chin Abdullah (BERSIH).

Leong said that Malaysia constantly faced “widespread and institutionalised ethnic and religious unfair discrimination”, citing the cases of minority Muslim sects, Syiah and Ahmadis, being persecuted, and the seizure of Bibles and holy books by the Home Ministry.

These instances, he said, has led to an "acute polarisation in our society and community” and Malaysians growing further apart.

“There are attempts to subvert the underlying precepts of our constitution through a worsening Islamisation process in Malaysia,” said Leong.

Obama to 'mutually support' human rights work

Obama, he said, had “shared our concerns” and jointly expressed that everyone, including Malaysians and Americans, should advocate moderation, fight discrimination, and encourage adherence to rule of law.

“Before becoming president, he was a lawyer who had a passion in civil liberties. That’s why we spoke the same language. While he has work to do in his own country, and he assured us that where possible, US would be there to mutually supportive of each others' efforts. He will lend his voice to us,” said Leong.

Leong also highlighted that the government is supporting a “rule by law” instead of rule of law, citing the example of the usage of laws to criminalise use of non-Muslims of several Arabic words and phrases.

“There is a growing and almost prevalent practice now of state religious bodies issuing edicts and these edicts are being enforced by government public service almost as law. That runs contrary to our constitutional framework and democracy,” said Leong.

As example, Leong said the National Fatwa Council prohibits children born out of wedlock from being registered, and refused to accept those who converted out of Islam.

Leong said it may be right to simply describe Malaysia as a Muslim majority country, but it would serve "no purpose".

“Other than it being a factual description, it has no utility or benefit for Malaysians in the mid to long term. It is like describing America as a Christian majority country. In fact, it is counterproductive, because it emphasises and embeds in the divisions in society, and perpetuates this psyche in the minds of the government and citizens, which is one of the root causes of disharmony and disunity in Malaysia,” said Leong.

Najib himself a moderate but...

However, Obama and Leong shared the sentiment that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak himself was supportive of “moderation” though he faced an uphill task with elements, in and outside of his party and government, that are working against it.

“Both president Obama and I do recognise and believe that our Prime Minister Najib, his instincts are for moderation and against extremism, he is a proponent for economic transformation, institutional modernisation and ethnic and religious moderation.”

Leong said he told Obama that the use of religious and ethnicity hegemony and division is dangerous and divisive for Malaysia.

“Like America is called ‘Land of the Free’, until such time that we have earned and deserving such epithets such as “Harmonious Malaysia” or “Multicultural Malaysia”… let’s just refer to Malaysia as Malaysia.”

Others issues Leong said were discussed and communicated to Obama and his special advisor, Evan Medeiros, included:

Ethnic and religious tensions
“We discussed how ethnicity and religion is being used and abused as a means for maintaining political power. And that is highly divisive and potentially devastating for Malaysia. Obama recognised that, relating to us the experience in America in regards to the use of race and ethnicity for a tool for political power and political oppression. In America, the oppression of the African Americans in those days… required good men, over time, with continuous and relentless advocacy and work to overcome the issue of that could have potentially torn America apart. You must remember that a lot of wars and human suffering find their origins in either race, ethnic or religious discrimination and oppression, unfortunately. America entered into a civil war to do away with ethnic discrimination. So that is something that every country in a modern era should be able to learn from mistakes of the past and navigate and avoid those same mistakes.”

Issues US has to deal with
“Obama admitted that US does not have a perfect human rights record. His strong campaign message during the presidential election was to close Guantanamo Bay. This was something I raised with him and he said he would address Congress on that matter. (Other issues were) their non-ratification of several UN conventions, for example, against all forms of discrimination against women, rights of child. America has involved itself in the international area and sphere in many ways. By that token, America should subject themselves to international law and justice. Its support for Israel in the long continuing conflict. America must be careful not to be supporting breaches of international law and abuses of human rights by the Israeli regime. These are things that America needs to think about."

Malaysia’s repressive laws
“I earlier mentioned to him the concerns of rule of law. The reintroduction of detention without trial after ISA. This time not for terrorists but it is in respect of Malaysian citizens in the pretext if crime fighting. I am referring to the amendments to Prevention of Crime Act. Also we also talked about the use of the Sedition Act: an outmoded ad oppressive legislation used against members of civil society, namely people like student activist Adam Adly, activist Haris Ibrahim, and opposition leaders like Tian Chua and the late Karpal Singh. The message conveyed to him was these legislation are used to silence dissenting views and curb freedom of speech and expression.

The ‘Allah’ debate
“I found it very interesting and ironic that president Obama begun his visit with us with the national mosque, and had toured National Mosque with imam Tan Sri Syaikh Ismail Muhammad, who is reported to have said that he found it endearing and kind of President Obama’s efforts to use Bahasa Malaysia. And President Obama in the course of conversation also said InsyaAllah (God willing) and terima kasih (thank you). It is ironic that the imam finds that endearing and kind, when Malaysian non-Muslims who say that in almost all states would face prosecution."

Hudud
“We raised concerns that there is a proposal of the introduction of hudud, which provides for, in essence, bodily mutilation. There can never be an acceptable, criminal justice system which would recognise and legitimise bodily mutilation. Such Islamic hudud laws cannot in any way apply to non-Muslims whether directly or indirectly by way of amendments to the Penal Law. That would be in effect imposing Syariah law on non-Muslims. Yet, if that is the case, how can you then have a disparity in treatment that is fundamentally unjust and unfair, that some Malaysians are subject to different treatment under the criminal law.

Freedom of expression/assembly
“We talked about the use of Printing Presses and Publications Act to curb the press. Also the denial of space to online news portals by denying licenses to print by fz.com and Malaysiakini and the indefinite suspension (now lifted) of news weekly The Heat recently. Use of unnecessary and excessive force on peaceful assembly and police intimidation and assault of members of the press including damaging and confiscation of equipment by the media. Intimidation or harassment by the home minister in respect to reporter from Malaysiakini in an event in Malaysia. The use of Peaceful Assembly Act to restrict or deny rights of peaceful assembly. Bearing in mind that the Act was to facilitate peaceful assemblies, it is now being used to prosecute members of civil society and politicians."

To watch more of Astro’s popular programmes and infotainment, use Astro on the Go http://onthego.astro.com.my

Read more at: http://english.astroawani.com/news/show/wrong-to-call-malaysia-a-moderate-muslim-country-ngos-tell-obama-34860?cp

In intimate meet, Obama lends ear to human rights issues in Malaysia

Malay Mail
by ZURAIRI AR AND YAP TZU GING

KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — President Barack Obama turned out to be an attentive listener on a wide range of human rights issues in Malaysia, civil society representatives said after meeting the US leader late yesterday. 

The ten activists had expected to brief the president for around 15 minutes and were surprised when Obama pulled up a chair and listened to them in an informal meet which lasted close to an hour.

“We raised all the human rights issues that we could in that time,” Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, who represented the Malaysian Human Rights Society (Hakam), told The Malay Mail Online.

“The President was very engaging and heard us out. There was agreement of the importance of human rights issues.”

The ten raised issues on religious and racial polarisation, divisive politics, free and fair elections, political persecution, rule of law, and media control by the government

“We tried to present the flipside of Malaysia today. It is far from democratic, we were trying to tell the president that Malaysia is not moderate and democratic,” said Maria Chin Abdullah, the chairman of electoral reforms watchdog Bersih 2.0.

The president of the Malaysian Bar Christopher Leong said he highlighted the use of the Sedition Act against members of civil society and opposition politicians, and the Printing Presses and Publications Act to keep media outlets in line.

“I have specifically discussed with President Obama the reintroduction of detention without trial laws, this time not for terrorists, but against Malaysians on the pretext of fighting crime,” Leong said.

The groups also talked about Islam’s increasingly political role in the country and how the religion has been used to censure human rights activists and to silence even constructive criticism.

“There is a concerted effort by the government to silence the dissident and persecute minorities,”  Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, the chairman of Muslim group Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) claimed.

He said that religious persecution remains rife and targets not only Christians but also minority groups within Islam including Shiahs and Ahmadis.

Honey Tan, who represented the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs (Comango) said that the group has often been labelled anti-Islam and anti-Malaysian.

The Home Ministry declared Comango illegal but later lifted the ban quietly following international pressure.

The ten also said it was ironic that Obama had taken the time to meet them, while Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had so far been elusive in engaging the civil society.

“Comango has written to the prime minister, foreign minister, home minister. We haven’t received even a reply, which is basic courtesy,” Tan said.

Others who were present were Tan Sri Hasmy Agam of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission, Ratna Osman of women’s group Sisters in Islam, and Aegile Fernandez of Tenaganita.

The churches were also represented by outgoing Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam and Rev. Dr Hermen Shastri of the Council of Churches Malaysia.

President Obama Must Address Malaysia’s Human Rights Record

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – On the eve of President Obama’s visit to Malaysia, Amnesty International USA urges him to publicly address the deteriorating human rights situation in the country.

The President must send a clear message to the Malaysian authorities that increasing restrictions on free speech and ongoing human rights violations by the police are unacceptable and incompatible with the country’s human rights obligations.

“President Obama’s visit to Malaysia – the first of a U.S. President in almost 50 years – offers a crucial opportunity to push the authorities on much needed human rights reforms,” said T. Kumar, Director of International Advocacy, Amnesty International USA.

A series of recent developments demonstrate the increasingly restrictive space in which civil society, human rights defenders and opposition politicians can operate in Malaysia.

In March this year, a court in Malaysia overturned the acquittal of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on politically motivated “sodomy” charges. The authorities have consistently harassed him for years, in a blatant attempt to silence one of the opposition’s most important voices.

In another case, human rights defender Lena Hendry is facing politically motivated charges as a result of her legitimate work. She was arrested on July 3, 2013 and subsequently charged under the Film Censorship Act 2002 for screening a documentary about alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka.

In January 2014, the government declared illegal the civil society grouping COMANGO – a coalition of Malaysian non-governmental organizations formed to raise human rights concerns at the United Nations.

“Human rights in Malaysia are increasingly coming under attack, and President Obama must speak out on behalf of all those whose voices are being silenced by the Malaysian authorities,” continued Kumar.

President Obama should demand the repeal or else amendment of the range of laws used by the Malaysian authorities to arrest and imprison activists and human rights defenders and to curtail free speech. These include the notorious Sedition Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Printing Press and Publications Act and the Peaceful Assembly Act.

Amnesty International USA also urges President Obama to highlight continuing human rights violations committed by the Malaysian police. There are ongoing reports of torture, other ill-treatment and deaths in police custody, fatal shootings and excessive use of force and firearms. Many such allegations are not adequately investigated and suspected perpetrators are rarely held to account, creating a climate of impunity which perpetuates further violations.

“President Obama should tell Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak that enough is enough – Malaysia’s human rights record must improve,” said Kumar.

Amnesty International

Obama should rap Putrajaya’s human rights record, says lawyer in Wall Street Journal

 By EILEEN NG - TMI

With Kuala Lumpur keen to present its best image as a moderate country during Barack Obama's visit this weekend, a prominent lawyer has called on the US president not to be hoodwinked and instead, to rap Putrajaya's human rights record and be aware of rising extremism.

In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Bar Council Human Rights Committee co-chair Andrew Khoo (pic) said Obama should not buy into the fiction that Putrajaya is trying to showcase; that Malaysia is a moderate Muslim-majority democracy, a model of interracial and interreligious diversity heading for developed nation status by 2020.

The Barisan Nasional-led federal government will also try to present itself as an ally in combating arms proliferation and transnational crime, and friend of the United States in Asia, Khoo wrote.

"President Obama should not accept this fiction or defer to the Malaysian government because of regional security concerns. Instead, he would do well to note the sorry state of its human rights and call for greater respect for civil liberties.

"President Obama needs to deftly use his public appearances and statements to demonstrate concern about what is happening in Malaysia – and to say what many Malaysians fearfully cannot.

"The usual mantra of moderation can no longer conceal the escalation of extremism and repression," Khoo wrote in the international news and business daily.

Obama arrives today from South Korea on a three-day visit as part of his Asia trip that also took him to Japan. He leaves on Monday for the Philippines.

In his opinion piece titled The Myth of Malaysia's Moderation, the lawyer shone the spotlight on the rising racial and religious extremism since the 13th general election last year.

In citing examples, Khoo made references to the persecution of Muslim Shia and Ahmaddiya Islamic sect, the ban on Christians using the Arabic word "Allah" to describe God, Putrajaya's declaration of human rights coalition Comango as unlawful and the use of a colonial-era law Sedition Act against the government's detractors.

He said recent legislative changes introduced by Najib are the "opposite of needed reform", citing laws that outlaw street demonstrations and allow for indefinite detention without trial against those involved in serious criminal offences.

"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has promoted Malaysia internationally as a leader in a global movement of moderation. But these actions show the government is anything but moderate.

"Mainstream newspapers, many of which are owned by political parties within the government, brazenly promote such double-speak. Those who dare to criticise put themselves at risk of vituperative attacks from extremist groups, police investigation and politically motivated prosecution," he wrote. – April 26, 2014.

The Myth of Malaysia's Moderation

The Wall Street Journal

by Andrew Khoo

 

 

President Obama should note the rise of extremism and repression when he visits this weekend.

When U.S. President 

​​

Barack Obama visits Malaysia this weekend, he will be the first American president to do so since Lyndon Johnson in 1966. Kuala Lumpur will seek to take advantage of the much-anticipated trip to showcase Malaysia as a moderate Muslim-majority democracy, a model of interracial and interreligious diversity heading for developed-nation status by 2020. It will present itself as an ally in combating arms proliferation and transnational crime, and friend of the U.S. in Asia.

President Obama should not accept this fiction or defer to the Malaysian government because of regional security concerns. Instead, he would do well to note the sorry state of its human rights and call for greater respect for civil liberties.

Since the last general election in May 2013, when Prime Minister 

​

Najib Razak's governing coalition was returned to power but lost the popular vote, racial and religious extremism has been on the rise. Pro-government extremist groups have responded to self-perceived slights and insults against the ethnic Malay majority and Islam by declaring that they are prepared to shed blood to defend their honor and sanctity.

These groups have made direct references to May 13, 1969, an infamous date in Malaysian history when race riots between Malays and Chinese led to killings in several cities and towns, and emergency rule. A 1996 fatwa forbidding the practice of Shia Islam has recently received renewed attention, leading to raids on and arrests of Shia adherents. Followers of the Ahmaddiya Islamic sect have also lately been targeted. Their prayer sessions and religious activities have been interrupted by Muslim religious authorities enforcing the state-sanctioned version of Islam.

A Malaysian Court of Appeal held in October 2013 that a Roman Catholic Church newspaper could not use the Arabic word "Allah" to refer to God. According to the court, use of the word was exclusive to Islam and not intrinsic to the practice of Christianity in Malaysia. Language has become a flashpoint in Christian-Islamic tensions. One Muslim group even suggested that using the Malay language to advertise an Easter concert meant that Christians were attempting to convert Muslims, which is an offense. The group openly questioned the very celebration of Easter, calling it un-Islamic.

Freedom of speech is also under threat. In an attempt to improve Malaysia's human rights, a coalition of civil society groups submitted recommendations to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights back in September 2013. In January 2014, the government called these "haram," or sinful, and declared the coalition unlawful.

Additionally, the government has renewed its use of the Sedition Act, a colonial-era law that makes it unlawful to "cause disaffection" against the government or the hereditary rulers. It has been used on everyone from politicians to social media commentators.

Clearly the public wants genuine reform. There was tremendous clamor for clean, free and fair elections in 2012, when hundreds of thousands risked tear gas, water cannons and arrest to participate in the BERSIH 3.0 peaceful protest in Kuala Lumpur. Yet the government has hardly been receptive.

Recent changes in legislation introduced by Prime Minister Najib Razak are the opposite of needed reform. They include outlawing street demonstrations, requiring a 10-day prior notification period for public assemblies, and introducing two-year without-trial detention orders, renewable indefinitely, for those alleged by the government to be involved in serious criminal offenses.

Individuals facing trial for unlawful assembly from the 2012 rally and subsequent protest gatherings have been predominantly political opponents of the Malaysian government. The most notable dissident is former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, recently convicted for sodomy, which many saw as a trumped-up charge.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has promoted Malaysia internationally as a leader in a global movement of moderation. But these actions show the government is anything but moderate. Mainstream newspapers, many of which are owned by political parties within the government, brazenly promote such double-speak. Those who dare to criticize put themselves at risk of vituperative attacks from extremist groups, police investigation and politically motivated prosecution.

President Obama needs to deftly use his public appearances and statements to demonstrate concern about what is happening in Malaysia –and to say what many Malaysians fearfully cannot. The usual mantra of moderation can no longer conceal the escalation of extremism and repression.

Mr. Khoo is co-chair of the Malaysian Bar Council's Human Rights Committee. He writes in his personal capacity.

HRW: Malaysia accused of shocking human rights violations, abuses against Shiite minority

Brief “Among the marginalized in Malaysia, there is a single group perhaps more marginalized than many. They are the people that Malaysia has forgotten. They are the Shiite Muslims” says Loyar Burok, a popular Malaysian blog. The article is entitled “Shiite Muslims in Malaysia: A Cultural Genocide.”

Malaysia has a serious human rights problem, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which released a 100+ page report entitled “No Answers, No Apologies” detailing abuses by Malaysian authorities. The report comes on the heels of accounts that Malaysia arrested infants from the country’s minority Shiite Muslim sect, based upon the “crime” of engaging in Shiite religious practices.

International attention has been given to Malaysia after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing last month, and human rights watchdogs welcome the focus.

“Unjustified shootings, mistreatment and deaths in custody, and excessive use of force in dispersing public assemblies persist because of an absence of meaningful accountability for Malaysia’s police force, the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP),” says the HRW report.

The human rights abuses are directed at all sectors of Malaysian society, however significant media attention has been drawn towards the plight of Shia Muslims in Malaysia, who are facing increased discrimination on a daily basis.

“Among the marginalized in Malaysia, there is a single group perhaps more marginalized than many. They are the people that Malaysia has forgotten. They are the Shiite Muslims” says Loyar Burok, a popular Malaysian blog. The article is entitled “Shiite Muslims in Malaysia: A Cultural Genocide.”

The issue of anti Shia human rights abuses is slowly becoming endemic to the country’s populace. On Reddit, on a discussion of human rights abuses in Malaysia, one user wrote “In Malaysia, Shia is considered deviant […] You also not allowed to form a group to practice your faith. Yes we are stern in protecting our faith and our children faith and to keep it pure from innovation. Regarding Allah words, it was the right move, because there were underground movement to spread confusion among muslim youth in the country.”

When questioned about the morality of the behavior of the Malaysian government, the same user replied with a horrific account of conditions in Malaysia: “They were not oppressed, most probably they would end up in rehabilitation center to correct their faith.”

Last summer, government officials in the Malaysian state of Kedah announced their intention to curb Syiah (the Malaysian word for Shia Muslim) practices, authorities view as illegitimate. Malaysian media reported that elected officials said “When the fatwa is [announced], it will be enforced immediately to ensure Muslims do not deviate from the true teachings of Islam.”

The same official also expressed an interest in preventing Shia Muslims from exercising their funeral rights, and Free Malaysia Today reports he said “It is contrary to our usual practice as a Sunni Muslim. So, this is one of the things that is happening and we will try to avoid it from spreading.”

Malaysia’s “The Sun Daily” reported that a nearby state, Pahang, also banned Shia teachings “because [Shia] teachings are different.”

The national government later also banned all Shiite teachings, “All states have agreed that Syiah teachings should not be allowed in the country” said Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, according to the Sun. Earlier this year, an Imam was arrested and imprisoned for possessing books on Shiite teachings. In a startling incident, the deputy president of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party was obligated to prove he had no ties to Shia Muslims, after he was accused of making positive remarks about Shia individuals.

Another government official complained that more was not being done to combat the religious belief set. “Since the Syiah was gazetted as illegal by the National Fatwa Council in 1984 and 1997, not much enforcement was done,” said Home Ministry Security and Public Order assistant secretary Zamihan Md Zain Al-Ghari according to the Sun.

Other Malaysian media was quoted as saying “Those who practice [sic] Syiah will be severely dealt with, regardness [sic] of status or political ideology, and will not be accepted in the country.”

The campaign has not gone unnoticed by Middle Eastern countries and business leaders.

“An unofficial boycott of Malaysian goods by Iranian businessmen has left rubber products worth some RM2 million lying in a warehouse in the Middle East nation, a backlash against Umno’s recent anti-Shia campaign,” reported The Malaysian Insider.

“Since the anti-Shia campaign in Malaysia last year, Iranian businessmen refused to buy Malaysian-made products,” said one individual to the paper.

Malaysian leaders have refused to back down in the face of economic ruin, and Mufti Datuk Wan Zahidi Wan Teh told the Malaysian paper Berita Harian that “Shiism could be regarded as a ‘poison’ that can destroy the harmony and security of the country.”

The Mufti made the remarks at a conference held in Malaysia’s capital entitled “Facing the Shiite Virus.”

The Human Rights Report features a 7 page section on recommendations the country can take to halt police abuses, however stopped shy of recommendations on other pervasive human rights abuses.