LYING AGAIN! NGOs slam govt for sending report of "HALF-TRUTHS" to the UN

The Coalition of Malaysian NGOs (Comango) has slammed the government for submitting a report of "half-truths" on the national human rights situation for assessment by fellow United Nations (UN) countries on Oct 24 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Honey Tan, who heads one of the non-governmental organisations, Empower, said the government's report concludes that all accepted recommendations in the previous UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2009 have been implemented, which is far from the truth.

These include ways to address discrimination and violence against women, the plight of migrant workers, racial and religious discrimination, indigenous rights, discrimination against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transsexual (LGBT) community.

"There are no specifics on how these issues were addressed, how effective were the methods ... ," Tan told a press conference today.

She said the report is so grossly different from reality that if it was read with the Stakeholder Report prepared by Comango, "it feels like two different countries (are being reported)".

Comango's report has been submitted to the UN and is endorsed by 54 NGOs ranging from civil rights groups and welfare societies.

Bar Council human rights committee chairman Andrew Khoo said the government's report "is weak, superficial and unsubstantial", with 20 pages but only 18 footnotes.

He said the government never mentioned how the human rights situation in Malaysia has improved, citing human trafficking as an example, where Malaysia has remained on Tier 2 (Tier 3 being the highest risk) for three years straight on the US Human Trafficking Watch List.

As for the government's claim of consultative process in producing the report, he said: "I was there. They asked what should be in the report rather than what should be done to improve human rights."

Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) executive director Masjaliza Hamzah said claims of improvements in the freedom of assembly and the press were also untrue.

"The report talks about the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, but does not mention the Bersih 3 rally, where several journalists were beaten up by police and had their equipment confiscated.

"It also mentions amendments to the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, but does not say the home minister still has the power to grant or revoke licences (to publish)," said Masjaliza.

The Sundaily