Activists fear Malaysia can’t walk its talk as Asean chair

 

Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights Malaysia representative Edmund Bon said Malaysia cannot support human rights abuses, even if it means going against long-standing conventions in Asean.

PETALING JAYA: 

Activists have expressed concern that Malaysia will not be able to walk the talk as it assumes the Asean chairmanship this year.

Some of the participants at the inaugural Malaysian Human Rights and Environmental Rights Dialogue at the foreign ministry today said Malaysia needs to prove its commitment to human and environmental rights at home before espousing it on the Asean stage.

“As a Malaysian, I am really worried about the threat to Malaysia’s legitimacy and reputation (as Asean chair), because there is a huge gap between what the foreign ministry says and what the home ministry does,” said human rights activist Debbie Stothard.

Stothard said the Rohingya here face the threat of deportation by Malaysian authorities despite the ethnic group facing a second wave of genocide.

“It could make Malaysia seem like a poor example, two-faced or even disorganised when the foreign ministry says one thing but the home ministry does another,” she said.

Lawyer Andrew Khoo said that under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, foreigners are barred from attending or organising peaceful assemblies.

“If we are really serious about doing something at the Asean level, we also need to empower Asean citizens in Malaysia in need of expressing their concerns about what is happening in their home countries without fear of being deported,” he said.

He cited the case of Nuon Toeun, a Cambodian domestic worker who was deported on Sept 30 last year because she allegedly criticised the country’s former leader Hun Sen on social media.

Khoo, who is a member of the Committee on Orang Asli Rights, also pointed out that indigenous communities, not just in Malaysia but elsewhere in Asean, face the problem of land being taken from them by both the private sector and state corporations.

He said Putrajaya is not doing enough to assert its judiciary obligations to indigenous peoples against the states’ fight for more land.

“This ultimately affects sustainability because some of the criticisms foreign governments have against our oil palm trees is that they are planted on land taken from indigenous communities, making (the palm oil) unsustainable.

“So when we want to talk about inclusiveness and sustainability, can we focus on issues affecting land rights and indigenous peoples both in Malaysia and in the region?” he said.

Khoo said there is an urgent need for the government to introduce anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) laws to prevent companies from abusing their vastly larger economic power to threaten indigenous communities and human rights defenders.

Mageswari Sangaralingam said there has been an absence of transparent processes and comprehensive consultation with all interest groups in the tabling of the Crop Seed Quality Bill in Parliament.

“We can talk about (environmental rights) on the Asean level, but we do not practise transparency locally,” said the Consumers’ Association of Penang CEO and Sahabat Alam Malaysia honorary secretary.

The dialogue today was chaired by the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights Malaysia representative Edmund Bon, who welcomed various views presented by representatives from government agencies, civil society organisations, businesses, academia and public policy institutes.

Bon said Malaysia cannot support human rights abuses, even if it means going against long-standing conventions in Asean.

“I would rather we (Malaysia) violate conventions or practices than protect human rights abusers,” he said. - FMT