For
Immediate Release
Malaysia:
Rights Reforms Abandoned
Stop
Suppressing Speech, Harassing Groups, Targeting Politicians
(New York, January 29, 2015) – Prime Minister Najib Razak
abandoned his pledge to revoke Malaysia’s
repressive sedition law and oversaw a wave of arrests of opposition politicians
and social activists, Human Rights Watch said today in its World
Report 2015. The authorities continued their politically motivated
prosecution of parliamentary opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim for sodomy.
In the 656-page
world report, its 25th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights
practices in more than 90 countries. In his introductory essay, Executive
Director Kenneth Roth urges
governments to recognize that human rights offer an effective moral guide in
turbulent times, and that violating rights can spark or aggravate serious
security challenges. The short-term gains of undermining core values of freedom
and non-discrimination are rarely worth the long-term price.
“Prime Minister Najib’s shameful reversal of his pledge to
end sedition shows his willingness to put politics over human rights,” said Phil Robertson, deputy
Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Malaysia’s human rights are in a downward
spiral because the government evidently believes that continued rule depends on
suppressing speech, harassing opposition groups, and targeting prominent
figures with legal action.”
During 2014, Malaysian authorities arrested dozens of people
under the Sedition Act for making remarks critical of the government, its
political leaders, the ruling party, and Malaysia’s sultans. At least 20 people
were charged, including four senior opposition members of parliament. The
crackdown generated public opposition from the Malaysia Bar Council and other
organizations, and a lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of the sedition
act.
Najib, who in 2012 had promised to repeal the Sedition Act,
announced on November 27, 2014, that the law would instead be revised and
strengthened to penalize those who violate the sanctity of Islam and other
religions or call for the secession of Sabah and Sarawak from Malaysia.
The Malaysian authorities also continued their politically
motivated prosecutions to cripple the political opposition. In March, an
appeals court overturned a 2012 not guilty verdict against parliamentary
opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim on sodomy charges and sentenced him to a
five-year prison term in a rushed judicial proceeding. Should the Federal Court
uphold his conviction, he faces imprisonment and loss of his seat in
parliament. The government’s repeated prosecutions of Anwar under the sodomy
law (penal code article 377), invoked only seven times since 1938, highlights
the dangers this discriminatory law poses so long as it remains on the books.
The Royal Malaysian Police continued to abuse rights of
detainees in police custody with impunity. There were at least 10 new cases of
custodial deaths in 2014, and police used excessive force during apprehension
of suspects. However, police stymied proposals for an effective and independent
external oversight such as an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct
Commission.
Malaysia’s image as a moderate Muslim country was tarnished
by new government restrictions on freedom of expression and association in
2014. The government-controlled Registrar of Societies tightened its
restrictive oversight on civil society groups seen as critical of the
government, refused newspaper licenses to critical outlets, and prosecuted an
activist on film censorship charges.
The government continued to vilify lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender (LGBT) people. However, in November 2014, in an unprecedented
action, the Negeri Sembilan appeals court unanimously ruled that a Sharia law
ordinance prohibiting cross-dressing was unconstitutional. Senior national and
state government officials criticized the decision as “anti-Islamic,” with a
senior minister calling for Muslims to defend Islamic teachings “by any
method.”
“The Malaysian government appears to be resting its global
reputation on its new term at the UN Security Council rather than addressing
the country’s serious rights problems,” Robertson said. “The government will
need to reverse course on rights in 2015 if it wants to truly bolster its
international standing.”
To read
Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2015
chapter on Malaysia, please visit:
For more
Human Rights Watch reporting on Malaysia, please visit:
For more
information, please contact:
In San Francisco, Brad Adams (English): +1-347-463-3531
(mobile); or adamsb@hrw.org
In Bangkok, Phil Robertson (English, Thai): +66-85-060-8406
(mobile); or robertp@hrw.org. Follow on Twitter @Reaproy
In Washington, DC, John Sifton (English): +1-646-479-2499
(mobile); or siftonj@hrw.org. Follow on Twitter @johnsifton
In New York, Mickey Spiegel (English): +1-212-216-1229; or
spiegem@hrw.org. Follow on Twitter @MickeySpiegel
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