Human rights don’t take a holiday, says ex-Suhakam commissioner

 

Former members of Suhakam said a delay in appointing human rights commissioners has happened before.

PETALING JAYA: The government was criticised today for its delay in appointing new members to Suhakam, the human rights commission of Malaysia, with one former commissioner saying “breaches of human rights do not take holidays”.

Former commissioners Jerald Joseph and Mah Weng Kwai said the delay showed the lack of importance attached to human rights by the government.

Jerald said: “It’s happened before. Even with the previous two rounds, there was a two-month delay (in appointments).”

He said he was unsure of the reason behind the delay, as applications for the posts had started in October last year.

He said the absence of commissioners hindered Suhakam’s ability to function properly.

Another former commissioner, Mohd Hishamudin Yunus, said there had been a similar delay when his batch of commissioners was appointed three years ago.

“Matters pertaining to human rights, sadly, are not given priority, which should not be the case,” Hishamudin said. “We should place human rights, which are enshrined in our Federal Constitution, on a high pedestal.”

Mah said the terms of all Suhakam commissioners expire on the same day, causing a lapse in Suhakam activities.

“Without new commissioners, you can’t have new policies being decided on, you can’t make statements or hold training sessions.”

He questioned what justifications the authorities could have for not having prompt appointments.

“Is it because there are no candidates? I doubt so. Could it be that the selection committee is too busy to meet again? Again, I doubt so.”

He said there should be no break in the monitoring of human rights. ‘Breaches of human rights do not take holidays,” Mah said. - FMT