16
by Edmund Bon Tai Soon
THIS year marks the 60th
anniversary of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR). While we celebrate it, it
is also a time to reflect on some
milestones in respect of civil and
political rights in the country this
past year.
» 12th General Election
On March 8, the nation saw for the
first time in 51 years, a significant
rise in the number of opposition
members of parliament to 82 seats
out of 222 seats in the Dewan
Rakyat. Five state governments fell
to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in the worst
showing for the Barisan Nasional
(BN) governing coalition.
Despite the historic win for
the Opposition, allegations of
corruption, discrepancies and
phantom voters in the electoral
system continue to be raised by
Bersih, a coalition of opposition
parties and NGOs. PR claims that
if the problems had fairly been
dealt with and the electoral system
properly reformed, the Opposition
would have taken the federal
government.
Whether our electoral
system is genuine, free and fair
remains debatable. Until the
EC comprehensively deals with
the criticisms of the system, the
perception that our national
elections are unjust for being
unduly weighed against the
Opposition will persist.
» Continuing state of emergency
It is a little-known fact that
Malaysians still live under four
emergency proclamations – the
1964 Proclamation as a result of
the confrontation with Indonesia,
the 1966 Sarawak Proclamation
following a constitutional standoff
there, the 1969 nationwide
Proclamation after the May 13
riots and the 1977 Kelantan
Proclamation following a political
crisis there. The Malaysian Bar
has called for the repeal of these
proclamations.
As a result of the proclamations,
a raft of legislation were enacted
giving untrammelled powers to
the executive to legalise preventive
and arbitrary detention, regulate
trade unions and evict urban
settlers. These powers circumvent
due process principles and the
rule of law. They were meant
solely to deal with specific conflict
circumstances which no longer
exist.
The government has justified
in Parliament the continued use
of its emergency powers to keep
the peace. In the same answer, the
government noted that the conflict
situations which necessitated the
four proclamations have ended.
Under international human
rights law, states of emergency
may only be declared in
exceptional circumstances which
threaten the life of a nation and
to the extent strictly required
by the situation. The fact that
Malaysia is in what appears to be
a permanent state of emergency is
by itself a gross violation of
international law.
It is incredulous
that in 2008,
peaceful Malaysia
is still considered
a nation wrecked
by irrepressible
conflict
necessitating
emergency rule.
» Use of
preventive
Road show ... Participants of the Jerit campaign (above), an anti-ISA protester (below, left) and Fernandez, who was freed after 13-year legal battle.
Fight for rights far from over
detention laws
Preventive detention laws such
as the Internal Security Act 1960
(ISA), the Emergency (Public
Order and Prevention of Crime)
Ordinance 1969 (EO) and the
Dangerous Drugs (Special
Preventive Measures) Act 1985
(DDA) continue to be used against
suspects. Recommendations for
reform and/or repeal of the said
laws by Suhakam, BN component
parties, the Malaysian Bar and civil
society have fallen on deaf ears.
Torture, inhuman and
degrading treatment continue to be
inflicted on detainees.
The recent story of former ISA
detainee Sanjeev Kumar Krishnan
is a case in point. His allegations
of being forced to drink urine and
being subjected to sexual acts have
yet to be properly investigated.
Sanjeev is now confined to a
wheel-chair.
Even the usually conservative
were enraged when the ISA was
recently used against a blogger,
a journalist and a member of
parliament. All have since been
released after a tough fight in the
public sphere and in the courts.
Pressure by civil society
groups appears to have been
yielding results with a slow but
continuing process of releases of
ISA detainees. The home minister
has said that as in March when he
was appointed to the position, there
were 75 detainees but the number
today is 46. Many more are
detained under the EO and DDA.
» Freedom of speech curtailed
The right to freedom of
speech and expression
contained in Article
10 of the Federal
Constitution
yet again came
under attack.
Unjustifiable
restrictions have
found their way into
our laws, curtailing
individuals and the
media from speaking out
against the government
and its policies.
The year saw the
arrest of two
bloggers – Raja Petra Kamaruddin
(who writes on Malaysia-Today)
and Syed Azidi Syed Aziz (who
writes on Kickdefella). Threats to
use sedition laws have continued
to engender the climate of fear.
The print media have not
been spared as well. Newspapers
theSun, Sin Chew Daily and Suara
Keadilan were asked to show cause
in relation to reports on “sensitive
issues” and for breaching printing
guidelines – reminiscent of the
infamous crackdown about 20
years ago.
Open and honest inter-faith
dialogue is still an illusory ideal
despite the prime minister’s call
for greater understanding and
discussion on matters of faith and
ethnicity.
What appears to be most
disconcerting is the perception
that the authorities adopt selective
prosecution in dealing with free
speech issues. Under international
rights norms, there is a clear
prohibition of speech which
incites and advocates racial or
religious hatred that constitutes
discrimination and hostility. Voices
of the intolerant such as politician
Datuk Ahmad Ismail who made
disparaging remarks about the
Chinese community are not met
with more justifiable and serious
action whereas political dissent
and discussion not amounting to
discrimination or hostility are.
» Freedom of assembly crushed
Over the year, we saw
various peaceful
NEXT: Roller-coaster year for economy/ Judicial reform
theSun
assemblies disrupted, and
participants arrested. This is a
continuation of the trend from
2007 and represents little hope for
greater police co-operation with
assembly organisers.
In January, a rally against the
petrol price hike ended with many
arrests. In October, Hindu Rights
Action Force (Hindraf) supporters
were arrested when attempting
to deliver a letter to the prime
minister. In November, an anti-ISA
candlelight vigil was broken up
by force. A member of parliament,
an assemblyman and a lay person
were injured. Malaysiakini.com’s
videographer was also arrested,
and his video-camera confiscated
and recording tampered with
before being returned to him.
As I write, the Ride for Change
bicycling campaign by grassroots
movement, Jerit, is being blocked,
and its cyclists arrested and
harassed by the police at almost
every leg of the nationwide tour.
The campaign calls for a Minimum
Wage Act, a repeal of the ISA,
comfortable housing for the people,
price control of goods, return
of local council elections and a
discontinuation of privatisation of
basic amenities such as water,
healthcare and education.
These issues have
been widely debated
in the public domain,
yet are still deemed
“sensitive”.
» Human rights
defender released
Social activist Irene
Fernandez finally
won her case after
a 13-year battle.
However, her appeal
against her conviction
was not decided on the
merits but rather
on the basis
that the
trial court
records
were not
| FRIDAY DECEMBER 26 2008
complete for her appeal to be
heard. The prosecution as such did
not oppose her appeal.
While Irene’s case highlighted
fundamental deficiencies in our
judicial system necessitating much
needed reform, her investigations
and findings into the plight of
migrant workers in detention
camps continue to be ignored.
The government has failed
to live up to the aspirations of
civilised nations even after being
elected to sit on the prestigious
United Nations Human Rights
Council. There are many more
problems – not just in relation to
civil and political rights – but with
regard to the economic, social
and cultural rights of our people.
Of real concern is the widening
income gap among our people
highlighting the need to re-think
our economic policies.
Awareness and education about
human rights norms is far from
satisfactory though there are signs
that Malaysians are waking up
from their slumber.
Edmund Bon is the chairperson of
the Human Rights Committee, Bar
Council. More information
about the work of
the Committee
may be found at
http://www.
malaysianbar.
org.my/
human_
rights/. The
Committee
was
recently
nominated
for the
Suaram
Human
Rights Award
2008.