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| Overview of Malaysia's Human Rights Record 2011 Posted: 07 Dec 2011 10:26 PM PST With the 13th general election in sight, time is running out for the BN government to demonstrate that it is capable of reform. For the last 54 years since independence, every fundamental liberty enshrined in the federal constitution has been cynically taken away or amended beyond recognition. SUARAM
NAJIB'S REFORMS TURNED OUT TO BE RETROGRESSIVE On the eve of Malaysia Day, Prime Minister Najib Razak clearly sought to capture the imagination of an election-expectant public by promising reforms. He undertook to abolish the Internal Security Act 1960 ("ISA") and three Emergency Ordinances and to review other laws relating to the freedoms of expression, assembly and association.
However, before two months had expired, his government made new arrests under the ISA based on grounds of terrorism. At present, there are over 50 detainees under the ISA and more than 1,000 are being detained under the Emergency Ordinance and Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
The impunity of the Police and other enforcement agencies continued despite the demand from civil society, SUHAKAM, Malaysian Bar and opposition parties for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission. The MACC made the headlines again with the death of yet another witness in their custody, Ahmad Sarbani, in a similar fashion to the demise of Teoh Beng Hock. None of the officers implicated in Teoh Beng Hock's death by the Royal Commission of Inquiry and in Ahmad Sarbani's inquest have been prosecuted.
Through our monitoring, SUARAM has documented a total number of 20 individuals killed in police shootings between 9.2.2011 to 1.11.2011, an increase from last year's 15 cases. There were a total number of 9 deaths in custody, an increase from 4 deaths in 2010. There has been a heartening increase in public awareness of police violence and abuse of powers as was evident in several cases where dissatisfied family members of victims had on their own initiative demanded post-mortems and an inquest into the cause of death of the victims.
On 25 October 2011 the High Court at Shah Alam handed down the death sentence on Japanese national Mariko Takeuchi, a former nurse, for trafficking 2,493gm of methamphetamine at the Kuala Lumpur International airport on 30 October 2009. This was but the latest court case involving the mandatory death sentence for drug trafficking in Malaysia. In the course of 2011, the courts continued to hand down the mandatory death sentence on those convicted of trafficking in drugs.
The government's refusal to allow the Bersih 2.0 rally merely encouraged the police to use uncalled-for repressive methods to disperse demonstrators. The Bersih 2.0 rally had put forward eight demands calling for free and fair elections. About 50,000 supporters gathered and witnessed with their own eyes how the police used tear gas and water cannons to drench their right to assemble peaceably. Starting from 19.6.2011, the police had begun arbitrarily arresting persons suspected to be supporters of Bersih 2.0 especially those who were wearing or were in possession of yellow T-shirts. Police had also secured restriction orders from the court against 91 individuals to bar them from the city centre on 9.7.2011.[1] A total number of 1,667 persons were arrested that day, perhaps the largest number of arrests ever on a single peaceful assembly. There was one death reported when Hadriyudin Baharudin died due to asphyxiation by tear gas. In February 2011, 109 persons were arrested in an anti-racism rally organised by the Human Rights Party (HRP) to protest against the controversial Interlok novel which contained racial slurs. Police arbitrarily arrested persons they suspected to be Hindraf supporters, especially Indians found walking in the streets. The arrested persons were detained and investigated under Section 27(5) of the Police Act 1967 for participating in an "unlawful assembly" and Section 45(1) of the Societies Act 1966 in relation to an unregistered organisation.[2] The crackdown on Hindraf's aborted rally continued for three consecutive days in two different towns.[3] On 30 November, a Peaceful Assembly bill, which the people had hoped would return the peoples' right to peaceful assembly, turned out to be more repressive than previous laws that had suppressed this right. The bill confers arbitrary powers to the police and the Home Minister and contained inter alia provisions in which organisers can be fined up to RM10, 000.00 if no advance notice of assembly is given to the police; participants can face RM20, 000.00 in fines.
2011 again saw the growing incidence of threatening racist demonstrations by the far-right with police connivance. Prior to Bersih 2.0 rally, 300 supporters from UMNO, Perkasa and unregistered NGO, Suara Anak Anak Mamak Pulau Pinang held a violent protest in George Town condemning both Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih 2.0. On 31.10.2011, about 300 noisy motorcyclists clad in yellow t-shirts rode to Penang State Legislative Assembly at lunch time causing traffic to slow down to a crawl. Five persons were arrested but they were released later on the same day. Then on 29.11.2011, about 300 people in yellow t-shirts from NGOs of different states including Perkasa and Pertubuhan Kebajikan Sejati Malaysia marched along Penang Road to Komtar demanding the resignation of Komtar assemblyman Ng Wei Aik alleging that he was rude and unfit to be an assemblyman. Nine persons were arrested but were later released on the same day. In schools, instances of teachers and head teachers expressing racist and racial slurs continue to be documented by Suaram.
According to the international think tank, PEW Research Centre, Malaysia ranked among the top 10 in the world with some of the highest government-led restrictions on different religions and Malaysia ranked 5th in recording substantial increases in such restrictions. In March 2011, there was controversy over the stamping of 5,100 Malay-language Bible with "For Christians Only" on the cover of the bibles. This had been done without the consent of the importer, Bible Society of Malaysia. Then in May, the Democratic Action Party ("DAP") was implicated by the UMNO-owned paper Utusan Malaysia to be involved in an alleged plot by Christian priests to replace Islam with Christianity as the official religion of Malaysia. Perkasa chief, Ibrahim Ali, warned of violence against the Christian community following allegations of the establishment of a Christian State. The Law Minister Nazri Aziz said that no action would be taken against Ibrahim Ali because doing so would amount to stifling his freedom of speech.
The freedom of expression suffered a blow when lecturer Dr Abdul Aziz Bari was suspended by the International University of Islam for commenting on the Sultan of Selangor's pronouncement on the raid by the Selangor State government's Islamic Department JAIS' raid on the Damansara Utama Methodist Church. Another serious breach of the freedoms of expression and assembly occurred in November when the police banned the film fest and other activities associated with 'Seksualiti Merdeka', an annual activity to highlight the problems faced by lesbians, gay, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT). The government, through its media organs, Utusan Malaysia and other news media went on a misinformation spree by portraying "Seksualiti Merdeka" as a "free sex" festival. The law minister, in his convoluted wisdom, even propounded his thesis that homosexuality is unconstitutional because it contradicts Article 3 of the Federal Constitution (which states that Islam is the official religion of Malaysia). However, there was a glimpse of hope for freedom of expression when the Court of Appeal in a 2-1 majority decision ruled that Section 15(5) of the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971[4] ("UUCA") is unconstitutional and violates freedom of expression.[5] The section allows public universities to take disciplinary action against students found to be involved in political activities. Appellants Muhammad Hilman bin Idham, Muhammad Ismail bin Aminuddin, Woon King Chai and Azlin Shafina Mohd Adzha of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia had been arrested on 22.4.2010 for participating in the Hulu Selangor by-election.
In the course of the year, the Selangor and Penang state governments introduced amendments to their respective Freedom of Information (FOI) Acts which were a positive move in the right direction. Civil society still stressed the importance of maximum disclosure and narrow exemptions; the protection of whistle-blowers; the routine publication of information; simple procedures to enable the public to gain access to information at a minimal cost, and the need for an independent administrative oversight body. Nevertheless, until the Official Secrets Act 1972 and the Printing Presses & Publications Act 1984 are abolished or amended, FOI cannot be said to empower and promote transparency and accountability in the country.
The Registrar of Societies (ROS) continued to curtail freedom of association by de-registering associations on technical grounds. On 12.10.2011, the Registrar of Societies de-registered the Malacca Chinese Assembly Hall (pursuant to Section 42 of the Registrar of Societies Act 1966) for holding its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") without sufficient quorum.[6] In another instance, the ROS struck off the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) following complaints from members that MMA had failed to deliver a list of candidates for elections and the failure to include the elections in the AGM agenda.[7] On 16.8.2011, the Kuala Lumpur High Court dismissed HRP's application for a judicial review of the ROS' refusal to register the party on grounds of it being academic, alleging that the party was not properly organised and it had failed to produce a constitution in compliance with ROS requirements.[8]
The positive development as a result of the Bersih 2.0 rally and in an attempt to salvage the Najib government's damaged image, a Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms ("PSC") was commissioned to review and make recommendations to reform the current electoral system. Prime Minister Najib again stirred up a storm of dissent when he said that the PSC recommendations can be implemented after the 13th General Election. He tried to justify this by claiming that the government of the day retains the discretion to dissolve the Parliament at any time during its tenure. Another positive development was seen on 14.11.2011 when six Malaysians living abroad in the United Kingdom through their counsel filed an application for a judicial review seeking to quash the Election Commission's decision not to register them as absent voters, thus depriving them their right to vote. Their counsel stated that in the event the High Court quashes the said Election Commission decision, the nation would be looking at 700,000 to 1,000,000 Malaysians living abroad voting by way of postal votes[9]. Malaysia embarrassed in refugees swap deal Malaysia made the international headlines when the refugees swap between Australia and Malaysia was aborted mainly because of Malaysia's failure to ratify the United Nations' 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol. It was a deep embarrassment for the Malaysian government to have its human rights record relating to the treatment of refugees exposed by the international media. In an attempt to circumvent international standards pertaining to protection of refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, the government introduced the "6P" program. This program still failed to distinguish the fundamental differences between a refugee, an asylum seeker and an undocumented migrant. In the presence of deportation provisions, the 6P program contradicts the principle of non-refoulement and acts as a sanctioned "rid-all" program facilitating the Malaysian government's "immigrant cleansing" practices.
During 2011, several cases illustrated the government's suppression of the freedom of movement and further embarrassed the nation in the international arena. On 22.7.2011, French human rights lawyer, William Bourdon who was in Malaysia to present a speech at a fundraising dinner organised by Suaram was deported back to France. Bourdon is the lawyer representing Suaram in the on-going case in the French courts relating to suspected corruption in the purchase of two Scorpene submarines by the Malaysian government from the French naval arms producer DCNS. Then on 12.8.2011, British lawyer, Imran Khan, counsel for the Human Rights Part was detained and deported back to London on grounds of national security. He had arrived in Malaysia on a fact finding mission to investigate the marginalisation of Indians in Malaysia in regard to Hindraf's class action suit against the United Kingdom government. The freedom of movement was again curbed for Malaysian activists going to Sarawak for the state elections when Bersih 2.0 coalition chairman S. Ambiga together with others including Steven Ng, Wong Chin Huat and Johan Tan were barred from entering Sarawak to observe the state elections.
Suaram welcomes Suhakam's national inquiry into land rights of the indigenous peoples and hopes this will be translated into positive policies to better the lives and conditions of the indigenous peoples of our country. Suhakam's stand on various events that happened in 2011 – detentions, Bersih, Seksualiti merdeka, refugees, the Peaceful Assembly Bill – were also progressive. We hope the national human rights commission will go further in being more proactive in human rights cases and even drafting alternative human rights-based bills for the people.
CONCLUSION Malaysia's human rights record for 2011 puts into question the Prime Minister Najib's promises of reforms including the repeal of detention-without-trial laws, the Police Act 1967 and assembly. The recent arrests of 13 more individuals under the ISA have confirmed our suspicions that the BN government has no intention to abolish detention without trial. The recent speedily passed Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 has deprived Malaysians of their freedom to assemble peaceably enshrined in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution. Abuse of power by the police has continued as seen in the rising statistics with regard to deaths in police custody, police shootings and other forms of violence against the public. The government remains recalcitrant in refusing to implement the IPCMC as recommended by the Royal Police Commission a few years ago. The reaction by the government to the 50,000-strong rally organised by civil society on 9.7.2011 for free and fair elections was seen in the half-hearted formation of a Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms. Even so, the Prime Minister Najib still maintained that his government reserves the right to dissolve parliament at any time even before the implementation of the recommendations by the PSC. The plight of refugees has not been alleviated by the government's refusal to distinguish the fundamental differences between a refugee, an asylum seeker and an undocumented migrant. Their protection remains illusory while the Malaysian government drags its feet in ratifying the United Nations 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. With the 13th general election in sight, time is running out for the BN government to demonstrate that it is capable of reform. For the last 54 years since independence, every fundamental liberty enshrined in the federal constitution has been cynically taken away or amended beyond recognition. |
| Posted: 07 Dec 2011 09:07 AM PST Instead of using the opposition as its punching bag, Umno has to wisen up and engage in some soul-searching, that too if there is any of it left. There is no denying that Umno is all about hidden agendas. From the division head to the member of Parliament, everyone has only one goal in mind, which is to stay in power for as long possible. Does the rakyat's welfare cross their minds? Hardly.Jeswan Kaur, Free Malaysia Today The recently concluded Umno general assembly had the trappings of all things fake, from the speech and rhetorics of its president-cum-prime minister Najib Tun Razak to the personal hidden agendas of the delegates. For Najib and the rest, the 62nd annual general assembly was nothing more than a misused platform to do the despicable – condemn and ridicule their adversaries, i.e. the opposition led by dethroned former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim. Such immature acts of trying to so very hard to make an impression among the people that Umno has everyone's interest at heart is pure gibberish. The truth is that Najib in all his desperation is playing to the gallery for the sake of his political survival. Using the Umno general assembly to announce that the 13th general election is just round the corner is not going to win Najib and Barisan Nasional the rakyat's votes, going by the track record of the premier, Umno and BN. To childish attack on the opposition for one reason or another merely reflects Umno's desperation and BN's anxiety at the fate that awaits them at the coming national polls. Still, Najib refuses to learn. He decided to mock DAP saying it knew all of Anwar's secrets, only to end up earning DAP national chairman Karpal Singh's wrath. Karpal took Najib to task for the latter's sardonic statement which the veteran lawyer said was unbecoming of a prime minister. Karpal also lambasted Najib for criticising Anwar's decision to give an unsworn statement from the dock in the on-going sodomy II trial. To the fearless Karpal, the statement by Najib which mocked a lawyer-client relationship created an impression that DAP was holding Anwar to political ransom. Is "Anwar Ibrahim" the only ammunition Najib has in trying to win the people's trust? Whatever happened to the recently-exposed controversy involving Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil who is embroiled in a multi-million ringgit scandal? Umno has hidden agendas There is no denying that Umno is all about hidden agendas. From the division head to the member of Parliament, everyone has only one goal in mind, which is to stay in power for as long possible. Does the rakyat's welfare cross their minds? Hardly. Had the people's well-being mattered to Umno, Shahrizat who is also Wanita Umno chief would not have been spared the rod; instead she received support from Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin who is also deputy PM. In his policy speech at the general assembly, Najib announced that only "winnable candidates" would be chosen to help in his ambitious move to turn Umno around. However, should he decide to retain politicians like Shahrizat who faces accusations of misusing the taxpayers' money, what would that say of Najib's promise to the rakyat, of putting the people first? Najib had declined comments on whether Shahrizat would be dropped as a candidate in the coming general election. All he could say was: "We know how to handle it". Should the rakyat then take it to mean that Najib and Umno have only one objective, to continue to hold the reigns of Putrajaya, that too at the people's expense?
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