Human rights situation in Malaysia: One word - SAD!

Based on the annual reports prepared by Suhakam, Suaram and the US Department of State and information available from newspaper reports, the human rights situation does not appear to be improving in Malaysia. In some ways it has deteriorated especially in respect of political and civil rights.

According to Suaram, the state of human rights in 2011 was worse than in 2010. Twenty-seven people were detained without trial in 2011. The number was 25 in 2010. There were 25 cases of custodial deaths in 2011 compared to 18 in 2010.

Overcrowding in prisons and places of detention continue to persist. In 2010, the country’s 31 prisons held about 38,387 prisoners designed to hold about 32,600. In August 2010, the secretary-general of the Ministry of Home Affairs acknowledged deficiencies in detention centres as well as their failure to meet international standards.

By August 2011 RELA membership reached 2,690,000. There is great concern that they are not suitably trained and experienced to perform their duties in a professional manner often leading to human rights violations of people they are supposed to protect.

Religious freedom concerns

Article 121(1A) of the Federal Constitution, which reads “The courts referred to in clause 1 (i.e. the two High Courts of Malaya and Sabah and Sarawak and the inferior courts provided by federal law) shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the syariah courts.”

The Article does not specify what is within the jurisdiction of the syariah courts. It also does not mention that the syariah courts have been elevated to the same status as the civil High Court. Before Article 121(1A) came into existence the decisions of the syariah courts could be reviewed by the civil High Courts. Problems as experienced now did not arise.

Now we see non-Muslims being left in a situation with no legal remedy. Reference is now being made to Malaysia as an Islamic state but this is not provided for in the constitution. Unusually strict conditions are imposed on building plans for non-Muslim places of worship. More often than not approval takes a long time to be issued.

In Sabah, the approval for the construction of a mazu statue was withdrawn after it was approved by the approving authority and the construction was already in an advanced stage. It was not even a place of worship.

Suhakam reports

Suhakam has now prepared and submitted to Parliament 11 annual reports but so far none has been debated in Parliament. This is indicative of the priority given to the promotion and protection of human rights by the government.

Political rights

During the last three to four years there are indications that people generally are showing greater interest and awareness of their political and civil rights. This being the case, they are now more assertive than ever before in their effort to prevent the authorities from denying them of their rights.

The Bersih 3 rally attracted a multi-racial crowd of about 250,000 people on April 28, 2012. Bersih 3 represents a civil society organisation which promotes clean, free and fair elections. It is therefore most surprising that the government saw it fit to declare it as an illegal organisation. A government which subscribes to and practises good governance would surely support any move towards such noble objectives unless, of course, the survival of the government depends on deceits and cheating during elections.

What Bersih 3 stands for represents universal basic democratic values and attributes. Some on the government side accuse it of being infiltrated by communists without providing hard evidence, identifying them or clarifying their understanding of communists. If communists are bad, why is the government having diplomatic relations with communist countries? Others claim that Bersih 3 is trying to overthrow the democratically elected government by force but again without providing any evidence. In any case, how could it be possible when all they had were water bottles and facing a strong police force armed to the teeth.

A Peaceful Assembly Act was quickly approved by Parliament. Under this Act there is no necessity to obtain police permit prior to holding a peaceful assembly. However it imposes very stringent conditions and as expected the people were very unhappy and showed plenty of reservations. Some of the conditions include street protests being disallowed for non-Malaysians and those below 15 years of age. If you are below 21 years of age you are not allowed to organise a protest.

Electoral roll

As the 13th general election draws near, one of the most important tasks at hand is the spring cleaning of the electoral rolls. This task could be farmed out to a suitably qualified, experienced and independent body. It is common knowledge that the electoral roll is tainted. This has been acknowledged by a High Court judge in the case of the Likas state seat of Datuk Yong Teck Lee. The High Court ordered Yong to vacate his seat, ruling that he won it in 1999 with the help of phantom voters. The judge found out that the 1998 electoral roll for the constituency was illegal and the election held in March 1999 was null and void. The judge further observed that it was just the tip of the iceberg. This prompted Parliament to amend the Election Act, whereby the electoral roll once gazetted cannot be challenged in any court of law. This is not right and bad law.

Ratification of core human rights instruments

To date, Malaysia has not signed and ratified the following core international human rights instruments:

● The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR);

● The International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (ICSECR);

● The Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

● The International Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Some positive human rights developments

There have been some positive developments. On November 24, 2011 the Emergency Proclamations were revoked. The ISA was repealed. Unfortunately it was replaced by the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 which many feel is just as draconian. Human rights activists feel that the ISA should not have been replaced as there are enough laws available to prosecute all types of offences.

National human rights action plan

Soon after the inception of Suhakam in 2000, it recommended, in 2001, to the government that it should develop and formulate a National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP). After more than 10 years the government finally agreed. Such a plan will help to improve and strengthen the promotion and protection of human rights by placing human rights in the proper context of public policy. It is hoped that quick action will be expedited towards the realisation of the NHRAP.

Land rights of indigenous peoples (IP)

Since Suhakam became operational on April 24, 2000 it has been receiving many complaints in the form of letters, memorandum and in persons related to land issues from the Orang Asli and Orang Asal of Sabah and Sarawak. As the problems did not show any indication of being resolved any time soon, Suhakam decided for the first time to hold a national inquiry into the land rights of the IP of Malaysia.

More than 6,500 IP attended the consultation exercise held throughout the country. A total of 892 statements were recorded and 43 public submissions were received. Suhakam in now in the process of finalising the report which includes recommendations to the relevant authorities.

The IP of Sabah and Sarawak continue to be marginalised and experience being displaced from their traditional territories. When the land which they have been living for generations become accessible to modern infrastructure such as roads, water and electricity supply their land naturally become commercially attractive. That is the time when their existence is very threatened. When the original land occupiers apply for the land, more often than not they do not get any response or if they do it will be one of rejection. Very often the same piece of land is alienated to others who have better influence and connection with people in position of authority.

Another category of IP is usually accused by the authorities of encroaching on forest reserves. Some have had their houses burnt by enforcement personnel. Many IP claim they were there before the area was gazetted as forest reserve.

The majority of IP in Sabah and Sarawak still live in the rural areas, mostly surviving as subsistence farmers. It is also in the rural areas where poverty is rampant and access to educational, medical and health facilities is either limited or non-existent.

There is another very important factor which affects Sabah especially, and that is the unusually large population of illegal immigrants who have now outnumbered Malaysians of Sabah origin. They are quickly changing the social, economic, cultural and political landscape of the state. The UNDP and the World Bank have described Sabah as the poorest state in the country and that at least 50 per cent of the total number of poor people in the country are in Sabah. That is the bottom line. No amount of adjectives could cover such sad state of affairs.

* Presented as input by the Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) to the UN Human Rights and Development Theme Group as NGO input for the UPR process. The report was adopted by Proham members at its meeting held on September 29, 2012

* Tan Sri Simon Sipaun is the chairman of Proham.