Shocking for Malaysia to abstain in UN vote on Russia - Suhakam commissioner

 

Malaysia’s abstention from voting to suspend Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council is shocking, said Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakan) commissioner Jerald Joseph.

He said the right to life and sovereignty were sacrosanct and they must be defended at all costs.

“Invasion during such modern times is unthinkable and one would expect negotiations would be the preferred approach to prevent loss of life and avoid committing gross human rights violations.

“Malaysia must first see that ‘serious and gross violations’ are in fact, serious and gross violations.

“Malaysia cannot be sitting on the UN Human Rights Council and ignore these violations,” he stressed.

Speaking to Malaysiakini, Joseph expressed his disappointment that many Asean countries including Malaysia abstained from the vote at the UN General Assembly on Thursday (April 7).

Nevertheless, the assembly succeeded in passing the resolution to suspend Russia with 93 votes in favour and 24 against.

Malaysia and regional neighbours such as Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia were among 58 countries that abstained from the vote.

Myanmar and the Philippines were the only Asean countries that voted in favour, while Vietnam and Laos voted against.

Joseph said Malaysia’s choice to abstain came as a shock because “we voted in favour of the UN resolution on aggressions against Ukraine in early March this year.”

On March 3, Malaysia voted in favour of the 11th Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly which adopted that resolution.

Malaysia declared its vote affirmed its long-standing commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes.

‘Cannot ignore gross violations’

Joseph urged the government to change such voting patterns and called for the leadership to stand tall.

“As a UN Human Rights Council member ourselves, we must recognise that war is a systemic violation of the citizens’ human rights.

“We cannot continue to ignore gross human rights violations,” he said.

To those waiting for fair and credible investigative reports before deciding to act, Joseph said during a war, actions should move concurrently with investigations because the more time passes means the loss of lives.

“Especially not when the UN was already reporting with photos that 12 million people would need relief and declaring the death toll had exceeded 1,400.

“Our efforts must be the same even if it was to save just one life.

“Countries big and small must stop playing it safe and make a clear stand against warfare,” he added. - Mkini