Can I know your stand?

The 10th of December 2011 will be Human Rights Day (SEE HERE). That day will mark the 63rd Anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights(SEE HERE) that was signed back in 10th December 1948. Today, I would like to talk about this issue.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Do you know, out of these nine United Nations’ treaties (above), Malaysia has signed only two of them: (5) The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) and (7) The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Malaysia has to date not signed the other seven, which are also very crucial if we want to see our civil liberties protected.

It is apparent that the current government does not want to sign the other seven treaties. And one more thing that the Malaysia Government does not seem to honour is The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (SEE HERE)

No doubt, while the nine treaties are legally enforceable (which is why Malaysia does not want to sign them),The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not legally binding but nevertheless is considered a moral obligation.

The matter is explained in this article, Human rights: what’s stopping Malaysia? (READ MORE HERE)

I suppose it is pointless to talk to Barisan Nasional about this issue. After all, Barisan Nasional (and the Alliance Party before that) has been in power for more than 54 years and if they had wanted to do it then they would have already done it by now.

What I would like to do instead is to ask Pakatan Rakyat about its stand on this issue. What is Pakatan Rakyat’s stand? Will it sign the balance seven of these treaties if it were to come into power?

Another question would be regarding The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Will Pakatan Rakyat honour this Declaration as well?

Now, we need to know before the next general election and BEFORE we decide who to vote for, is Pakatan Rakyat going to sign the balance of these seven treaties and is it also going to honour The Universal Declaration of Human Rights? If not, then why should we vote for Pakatan Rakyat? What difference would Pakatan Rakyat be from Barisan Nasional?

We need to get this assurance from Anwar Ibrahim -- the Opposition Leader in Parliament and who Pakatan Rakyat has said will be the Prime Minister if Pakatan Rakyat gets to form the next federal government.

We do not want to hear Anwar Ibrahim’s personal opinion, like what he said about the Hudud matter. His personal opinion carries no weight in the scheme of things. We want to hear from him as the Opposition Leader and the Prime Minister-in-waiting for Pakatan Rakyat.

This is very crucial. And we should not give Pakatan Rakyat our vote if they can’t give us a guarantee that they will sign all nine of these treaties as well as honour The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And if they are not prepared to give us this guarantee, we want to know why. And we want to know why, now, before we go to the polls to vote the next government into power.

If you were to read the 30 Articles in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (SEE HERE) you will know why I am asking this and why I say this matter is very crucial. And if I need to go through each Article one-by-one to explain to you in detail, then maybe, as MCA said, you do not deserve to vote.