Suaram says human rights record worsening, back to ‘Mahathir’s era’

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) warned today that the country human rights record is worsening, saying it was returning to “Mahathir’s era”.

The human rights group’s director Dr Kua Kia Soong said the situation has not improved since Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad stepped down but noted that his successor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had attempted to right the wrongs.

“Abdullah tried to have an image of a more liberal and softer than Mahathir. He tried to differentiate himself but he didn’t succeed but one of the important things he did was that the Royal Commission of the Police recommended many things, about 100 over recommendations,” he told reporters at the Civil and Political Rights Report 2010 launch here.

One of the recommendations was to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) which has been watered down to a Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (Siap).

The Malaysian Insider had earlier reported that the Lawyers for Liberty group is pushing the government to set up an independent body as a check and balance for the police force, highlighting the escalation in fatal police shootings in the past two years.

Kua admitted though that the committee was never set up and none of the recommendations, as well as the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s (Suhakam) recommendation, was implemented. He still credited the former prime minister for his attempts.

“I’m just saying Abdullah was trying to have a softer approach which he failed,” Kua said bluntly, saying that the current administration under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak seemed to slide back to “the authoritarianism of Mahathir.”

“[Najib is] not even trying, as so often people have been arrested at peaceful assemblies, banning books, [he] even threatened to ban my book on arms spending,” he said.

The report highlighted issues on racism, abuse of the police, freedom of speech and assembly, among other things.

“Despite promises of reforms and greater respect for human rights, the Najib administration continues to display intolerance towards dissent and free speech in 2010. The proposed cyber-sedition law signals the increase in further crackdowns on the freedom of expression.

“Taken together, all the incidents and controversies that have happened in 2010 signal a return to the Mahathir era, a period of stifling control, abuse of powers and suppression of human rights,” the report said. - Malaysian Insider