Rome treaty being used to play on Malay fear, argues Syed Husin

Elements of race and religion were injected into Putrajaya's ratification of the Rome Statute by certain leaders to solidify their own position, said academic-turned-politician Syed Husin Ali.

Syed Husin, a former anthropology and sociology professor, said such leaders were playing on the fear of the Malay community about their position.

"Malays are the majority but, unfortunately, they are in fear.

"Certain leaders are struggling to strengthen the position of their own kind as well as themselves; that is why they use the issue of race, religion and now with the Rome Statute," he told a forum at Universiti Malaya today.

The former Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) president, who led the party to a merger with Parti Keadilan Nasional to form PKR, said as a result, such leaders used the issue to solidify both their position as well as the royalty.

The government had maintained that the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which deals with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes of aggression, will not affect the position of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

However, Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim had argued otherwise, saying that it would affect the position of the monarch, Malays and Islam.

He had also lobbied the Conference of Rulers to reject the Rome Statute, which eventually forced the government to reverse its ratification.

Umno and other Malay right-wing groups have also taken a similar position.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had blamed "one particular person who wants to be free to beat up people" for the withdrawal from the Rome Statute.

Syed Husin said Mahathir's friction with the royalty was not new and even Umno founder Onn Jaafar had friction with the palace.

Onn was exiled to Singapore for criticising the Johor ruler at the time. He later returned to lead Umno and lobbied the rulers to recant their endorsement of the Malayan Union.

The forum today was organised by student activists to promote dialogue on the Rome Statute.

The students had accused four academics of giving a biased view of the Rome Statute to the Conference of Rulers.

They were International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) law professor Shamrahayu Abdul Aziz, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (Usim) law lecturer Fareed Mohd Hassan, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) law professor Rahmat Mohamad and Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (Usim) law lecturer Hisham Hanapi.

The four were invited to the forum but did not turn up.

Others present at the forum were Attorney-General Tommy Thomas, G25 member Noor Farida Ariffin, constitutional expert Shad Saleem Faruqi and lawyer Lim Wei Jiet. - Mkini