PETALING JAYA: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has urged the government to adhere to the international non-refoulement policy in the case of former Bangladesh ambassador Mohamed Khairuzzaman, who is facing charges in Dhaka for alleged corruption while he was posted here over a decade ago.
Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph, whose second term ended yesterday, said Khairuzzaman was a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) refugee card holder who feared for his life if he were sent home.
He said Khairuzzaman submitted a memorandum to Suhakam yesterday seeking its help to stop any attempt by the government to extradite him to face the “trumped up” corruption charges which surfaced suddenly.
“Khairuzzaman is an asylum seeker and a legitimate UNHCR refugee card holder, which means the world body recognises the danger he would face upon going back to Bangladesh.
“Under these circumstances, we hope the government will respect the international non-refoulement policy and uphold it.
“When someone flees his country with legitimate reasons, we have to be careful with requests from the home country for deportation. Due checks must be done in accordance with international principles,” Joseph told FMT.
Under international human rights law, the principle of non-refoulement guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm.
Joseph said it was good that the government released Khairuzzaman unconditionally a week after his arrest in February by the immigration department, which had wanted to accommodate a Bangladeshi government request for his extradition.
“Malaysia should have checked the facts of all the claims against him before making the arrest. Suhakam will also be seeking an explanation from the Bangladesh government on the pressures applied to get him back,” he said.
In his memorandum, Khairuzzaman said he was grateful that the Malaysian government had been sympathetic to him for the last 12 years.
“Now, the government of Bangladesh is again on the verge of prosecuting me on a new-found corruption charge, allegedly committed during my tenure in Malaysia in 2007. This is after more than 14 years.
“The government there even unilaterally shortened the procedure of filing the case from at least three months to less than two weeks, showing its urgency to get me back at any cost.
“The case, which is now pending with the Special Sessions Court of Bangladesh, may translate into a new agenda of deporting me back and eventually executing me,” he said.
Khairuzzaman said Bangladesh was making another fabricated and mala fide charge against him to convince Malaysia to deport him, and urged Suhakam to stop this human rights violation.
“In view of this, my family and I are in mental and psychological anguish and are traumatised. We hope Suhakam will urge the government to stop any plans to send me back to Bangladesh.”
Khairuzzaman was picked up in February by the immigration authorities for allegedly being without valid documents despite him being in possession of a UNHCR refugee card. But after pressure from the UNHCR and global human rights NGOs, he was released a week later.
The former envoy was recalled to Dhaka two years after his appointment as high commissioner in 2007 by the Awami League government which won the election then. He then sought the help of UNHCR to declare him a refugee after he told them his life was in danger if he returned to his country. - FMT
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