Suaram to Obama: You’re wrong about Malaysia

Human rights watchdog sends a letter to President Barack Obama to debunk his claim that Malaysia is a model of "diversity, tolerance and progress".

KUALA LUMPUR: Human rights watchdog Suaram has told US President Barack Obama that his views on Malaysia being a global model for “diversity, tolerance and progress” was far off the reality.

In a letter sent to the American president today, Suaram listed Malaysia’s various defects and shortcomings under the leadership of  Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

The purpose of the letter was to rebut Obama’s statement on Oct 11 that Malaysia was a global model for “diversity, tolerance and progress”, said Suaram’s executive director E Nalini today.

In the letter, Suaram told Obama that he had ignored the history of racism, religious extremism, corruption, electoral fraud and various other criminal activities the nation had endured under the continuous Barisan Nasional rule for 56 years.

Suaram highlighted the spiralling violence, electoral fraud, corruption and serious human rights abuses that have taken place, and continued to be committed, under Najib’s leadership.

“PM Najib’s office has overseen the demonisation of Malaysia’s non-Malays, whose ‘crime’ was voting for the opposition.

“The Malaysian government has also selectively deployed repressive legislation such as the Sedition Act 1948, the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and the Penal Code to suppress protests against the election result by human rights defenders, opposition leaders and Malaysians from various religions and ethnicity,” said the letter.

Obama was also informed of the passing of the amendments to the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) which allowed detention without trial.

“Suaram said in the letter that there was no doubt Najib had publicly backtracked on a commitment made in 2011 to do away with detention without trial and that such a policy reversal represented anything but progress,” said Nalini.

Suaram’s letter also highlighted Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s recent announcement that police had the right to “shoot to kill” without question any person suspected of being a criminal.

The letter also recorded that, on the religious front, the judiciary remains infamously compliant to the BN government, citing the Oct 14 Court of Appeal ruling which banned the word ‘Allah’ from being used by a Christian publication.

The watchdog then urged Obama to “revisit an ill-considered and dangerous complicity with PM Najib’s regime.”

Suaram also expected Obama to formally reply to the letter, which it claimed was written on behalf of millions of long-suffering Malaysians.

Obama was supposed to visit Malaysia earlier this month but the visit was cancelled at the last minute due to the US’s government’s partial shut down.

Najib’s administration has been claiming that the prime minister enjoys a good relationship with Obama. The bilateral ties between the two countries are also said to be at all time high.