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.