Asia Sentinel

The NGO's annual document finds authorities misusing security laws

With Singapore, Thailand and Burma under constant scrutiny for allegations of widespread human rights violations in Southeast Asia, Malaysia has been largely ignored. But Human Rights Watch's new World Report, issued earlier this month, has found that the country continues to let national security concerns trump protection of fundamental human rights."

"Hopes that Malaysia's human rights climate would improve following elections in March 2008 proved unfounded," the report says. "The ruling National Front coalition lost the two thirds parliamentary majority it had enjoyed since Malaysia became independent in 1957 but was still in power at this writing. Nonetheless, the report says, the Barisan's leaders "continue to insist that Malaysia's multiethnic society is too fragile to sustain genuine freedom of assembly and expression or full due process rights for all suspects. The government continues to use outdated repressive laws and regulations to silence its critics and extend its rule."

The report comes close to accusing the government of trumping up charges of sexual abuse against Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, now leading the opposition coalition People's Alliance, saying that "In what was widely viewed as a politically motivated attempt to discredit him, police charged him with consensual sexual relations with a male aide in August 2008."

Also, the non-governmental organization criticizes the government for using the Internal Security Act to detain three government critics in 2008 -- Raja Petra Kumaruddin, founder and editor of Malaysia Today, political figure Teresa Kok and Tan Hoon Cheng, a Sin Chew Daily reporter, All three have since been released, although Raja Petra still faces charges of sedition.

In particular, according to the report, the Internal Security Act and the Emergency Ordinance, enacted to combat communist challenges in the 1960s and 1970s, have been used decades after the emergencies faded to "undermine fundamental rights and liberties such as freedom of assembly, expression, and the right to due process.

The government, the report says, has been busily strengthening the Ikatan Relawan Rakyat, or People's Volunteer Corps, and giving it sweeping new powers to arrest and detain undocumented migrants and criminal suspects although the half-million-strong paramilitary organization is untrained.

Even documented migrant workers, particularly domestic workers, lack protection under the law and face a range of abuses, the report says. .

Under the Internal Security Act, the report continues, anybody who the government perceives as a threat to national security or regarded as stirring up ethnic or religious "dissonance" can be detained under the ISA and in effect held indefinitely without trial.

In practice, the report says, the ISA "has served as an excuse to silence government critics through the use of open-ended ISA incarceration." It cites the arrest of five Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), activists after a rally to draw attention to economic and educational discrimination against ethnic Indians in 2007, allegedly because Hindraf posed a threat to national security.

Despite the fact that as of last September no evidence had been presented to support the allegations, the five Hindu leaders remained under ISA detention.

Other political figures arrested under the law in the past have included Anwar Ibrahim, the head of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition as well as Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, and Lim Guan Eng, all leaders of the ethnic Chinese Democratic Action Party.

The government has also threatened to use the ISA against web bloggers and activist leaders to limit freedom of expression and to put an end to street protests, although it hasn't done so yet. Nonetheless, a minister in the Prime Minister's Department said that "the government would not hesitate to use the Internal Security Act against bloggers," the report continues.

In an earlier report, Human Rights Watch cited as "somewhat positive" the fact that Zaid Ibrahim, a minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs and judicial reform, said in May 2008 that he planned to review the Internal Security Act. Zaid, however, has since been sacked as minister and later in effect driven out of the United Malays National Organisation, the Malay-dominated leading party in the Barisan Nasional, or national ruling coalition, for questioning racial inequality in the country.

The world report and the previous one pose a broad series of recommendations, including abolishment of the ISA and judicial review of all the cases of individuals held under it, to be tried under international standards.

Malaysia should also "ratify core international human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Immediately begin the process of bringing domestic law into conformity with these international instruments.

RELA should be abolished and only professional security forces, i.e. immigration, police and prison authorities, should be tasked with apprehension of undocumented migrants and the management and security of immigration detention centers.

The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its additional protocol should be ratified and domestic law and policy should be brought into conformity with the convention.

The reports make a long series of other recommendations.

The full documents can be found here: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/wr2009_web.pdf
and here: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/related_material/HRW%20Malaysia%20UPR%202008.pdf

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Between a hard rock and the sea.
written by Mamakthir , February 20, 2009

Malaysians do not have much of a palatable choice. Choose Barisons, you have your usual run of cronyism, corruption and racial politics. Choose Pakatan, you may end up living in a Talibanistic society which brings you back to a corrupted interpretation of 9th century livings.

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Barisan Nasional Needs to go
written by Raghaven , February 13, 2009

I honestly think that Malaysians should VOTE OUT Barisan Nasional-so many Malay,Chienes and Indians are in Jail without trial.Are we living in a dictatorship? Are we all so stupid? Why should we be frightened anymore-Live without Liberty is death.We must pursue change peacefully through friendly , peaceful assembly.Look at the USA-From Lincoln ( a time of slaves) to Obama ( would have been a slave if he lived in Lincoln's time-now President of the United States.The US is also a multiracial country and all get along because they dont use religion as a ploy to seed disaffection.Time for change-we need it for our future and our children's future!

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A government which imprisons its own citizens with a trial commits an illegality
written by mathias , February 13, 2009

The Basic Rule is that if you are arrested for an offence, you are to know what offence you have committed and you are given a trial by your peers and all opportunity to challenge your accusers to vindicate youself. Stalin, Hitler,Chairman Mao, Marcos, Pinochet, Surharto, Mahathir and other like them never did this.They brutally pursued all what they wanted avoiding the rule of law.In Malaysia after Mahathir this continues.In the United States, there is detention without trial.But in the USA, there are two ongoing wars, there was 9/11, there are unlawful armed combatants caught in the battle field.This is very different.The fact that there is a war immediately attarcts most of the Geneva Conventions.But NOTE: All those placed in jail in the US without trial were non-citizens.In the USA- every citizen is entitled as of right to a trial!

In Malaysia, the government arrests citizens and ignores the constitutionas some toilet paper and imprisons its own electorate including some Members of Parliament. So what do you say about that-we live in Malaysia and in a Police State!

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Malaysia is a Human Rights abuser
written by ishak , February 13, 2009

The Malaysian government has a history of non-compliance with human rights norms.This is nothing new.If you visit the Police Station in Petaling Jaya, you will see th absue and corruption that is taking place.All you have to do is to investigate the bank accounts of all Police Officers who were the Chief in the PJ Police Station the last 20 years and you will see how much money and property they have in their possession.Why go very far.As an indicator and measurement as to what happens in Malaysia , we can always refer to the case of Zulkipli Mat Noor, the Head of Malaysia's Anti-Corruption for 6 years.When it was found out that he was himself corrupt, The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Badawi said," sacking is not the Malaysian way".Zulkifli was found to have amassed millions of dollars in his bank account, ran several businesses and owned half a dozen properties.There was no prosecution and his contract was not renewed. Now my point is this, if the Head of Anti-Corruption can get away with corruption then what can other Police officers do in the Prison systems.Prisoners are regularily beated and expected to pay a fee for special cells in the PJ Lock up.If you dont pay the fee, for a charge like drunk driving you will be put in a cell with murders and criminals who will make your life miserable overnight before you see the Magistrate the next day for bail.It is a normal situation in PJ-can you imagine being caught in other towns? The Barisan Nasional Government uses the ISA, Sedition Act which are legislation used in war when there is peace.The British may have abused malaysian when they were the colonial masters but please let us have them back and perhaps we can have all the human rights treaties ratified!

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