Civil society flings more flak at Suhakam’s new team

 

Criticism has mounted after the appointment of a new Suhakam chairman and six other human rights commissioners.

PETALING JAYA: A coalition of 102 societies says it fears that the reputation of Suhakam, the human rights commission, will be “sullied by a team of weak commissioners”.

They said the majority of the newly appointed human rights commissioners did not inspire confidence that they would be able to uphold human rights in the country.

“The last commissioners defended the accreditation of Suhakam status well, and we fear that will now be sullied by a team of weak commissioners at play,” said the CSO Platform for Reform.

The coalition said Malaysia could stand proud at the UN Human Rights Council while “playing weak domestic politics” to the detriment of human rights in the country.

Criticism of the new Suhakam team has mounted after Rahmat Mohamad was appointed as Suhakam chairman. He is reputed to have co-authored a paper convincing the Conference of Rulers to reject Malaysia’s accession to the International Criminal Court.

Another commissioner, former Jakim director-general Nordin Ibrahim, came under fire for cancellating a gender and sexuality conference in Kuala Lumpur.

The coalition said two other commissioners, Nazira Abdul Rahim and Hasnal Rezua Merican Habib Merican, are active politicians in Umno, while the commissioner representing Sarawak, Dr Chew Chee Meng, had no known background on human rights work.

The coalition called for an independent process of appointing Suhakam commissioners, whose appointments are currently made through the Prime Minister’s Department. - FMT