Human rights definition unclear

Malay Mail (Used by permission)
by Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

Narrow and prejudiced viewpoint needs to be eradicated, says Suhakam chairman

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has yet to determine a definition of human rights despite it being enshrined in the Federal Constitution, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam (pic) said.

Although there was improvement in human rights development, the pace remained slow, he said.

“There is a need for a more serious effort by all parties that want to see more significant achievement in the human rights field,” Hasmy said at the launch of Suhakam’s 2011 annual report here yesterday.

“We must begin by defining the concept of human rights itself. After nearly 13 years of establishing Suhakam, I think the definition of human rights in our society is still unclear and inconsistent.”

“This is not true and it reflects a narrow and prejudiced viewpoint. The concept of human rights is on the basis that every individual has rights since birth,” he said.

He pointed out there were also Malaysians who misinterpret the Universal Declarations of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948 as foreign values imposed by Western cultures.

“Rights as citizens are clearly enshrined in our country’s constitution. These rights include political and civic rights, economic rights, social, cultural, sexual equality and religious rights.”

The rights must be seen collectively and not individually, he said, stressing one must not be prioritised over the other.

“This can be achieved through a paradigm shift by accepting the UDHR principles while upholding the human rights principles in accordance with the Federal Constitution,” he said Hasmy urged the government to ratify the remaining four remaining human rights treaties, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Malaysia has only ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

Hasmy also revealed that Suhakam had received 1,232 complaints last year.

“A large number of them were related to issues concerning the orang asli, with 156 cases in peninsular Malaysia,” he said.

“The majority of 153 complaints in Sabah were on land matters while Sarawak’s 48 complaints were mostly on alleged infringement of native customary rights to the land,” he said.

The complaints received in 2011 were the highest since 2007 where 1,145 complaints were lodged. The previous year, Suhakam received 721 complaints.

Surprisingly, the commission only received one complaint adson freedom of religion, five complaints on freedom of expression and four complaints against the Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960 last year.

It had also received 113 complaints on alleged abuse of powers, delays in actions on reports and excessive use of force by the police during interviews or interrogation of detainees.