Human rights: Govt ‘fails’ again

The NGO's annual report details the government's ineptitude last year in preserving human rights in Malaysia.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government has done worse in preserving human rights despite Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s reliance on reforms to guarantee a win in the upcoming elections, said Suaram director Kua Kia Soong today.

“We find that the record for the government in 2011 is worse than in 2010. They failed in 2010 and they failed again in 2011, and it looks like it will fail worse this year,” he told reporters at the launching of Suaram’s Malaysia Human Rights Report 2011 here.

“Because you cannot have a government that supposedly values human rights, yet has detention without trial,” he said.

He was alluding to the Internal Security Act 1960 which subjects detainees to an initial 60-day detention period without the requirement of a judicial order.

Although the ISA was repealed this year, the government has replaced it with a Security Offences Special Measures Act which Suaram claims is merely the “new ISA”.

“And with regards to freedom of association, expression, assembly, etc, the government has failed again,” Kua said.

According to the Human Rights Report 2011, the changes made by the government were “aimed at legalising [the] government’s powers over its perople and falsely promote the government’s compassion towards human rights and liberties.”

It lists down the violations the government has made towards human rights principles such as freedom of assembly, association and information.

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