SUARAM’s 2009 Human Rights Report

We cannot still be looking and evaluating the actions of the UMNO-led BN government at the Federal level (and in the states they govern), we really also must be looking  at the states governed by the Pakatan Rakyat since March 2008. It is good that they intend to do so - but there seem to nothing said about the Pakatan State government - maybe it is in their full report.

It disturbs me that SUARAM seem to be not calling specifically for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

With regards to death in custody - it is certainly much higher than stated. 7 died in police-lock-ups, 1 in MACC, What about those who died in other places of detentions? 

SUARA RAKYAT MALAYSIA
Address: 433A, Jalan 5/46, Gasing Indah, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Telephone: +6 03 7784 3525 Fax: +6 03 7784 3526
Email: suaram@suaram. net Web: www.suaram.net

Press release: 21 July 2010

SUARAM’s 2009 Human Rights Report:

Najib’s First Year as PM Tarnished by Culture of Impunity, Heightened Intolerance, and Resistance to Change

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) released its “Malaysia Human Rights Report 2009: Civil and Political Rights” in Kuala Lumpur today, 21 July 2010.

SUARAM’s report highlights several key trends in human rights in 2009, including: (1) the increasingly serious and repeated cases of abuses of power by the police and law enforcement agencies with impunity; (2) the heightened intolerance towards dissent; and (3) the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s resistance towards reform and greater compliance with human rights standards.

1. Increasingly Serious and Repeated Abuses of Power by Law Enforcement Agencies

At its launch, SUARAM noted the serious and repeated abuses of power – not only by the police, but now increasingly rampant in other law enforcement agencies, such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

SUARAM also noted that there were at least two international reports published in 2009, exposing the collusion of Immigration Department authorities in the trafficking of refugees to the Malaysia-Thailand border.

8 Deaths in Custody in 2009

In 2009, there were 7 deaths in police custody, according to official statistics. Another death occurred in the custody of the MACC on 16 July 2009, when Teoh Beng Hock, an aide of a politician from the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP), fell from the 14th floor of the MACC building when he was there for questioning by the Commission.

While deaths in police custody have been a major problem in previous years, this was the first time that a death occurred in the MACC’s custody. Still, the MACC has also had a tarnished record in the past. In 2007, SUARAM documented the case of a man who died three weeks after being brutally assaulted during an interrogation by officers of the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA), as the anti-corruption body was then known.

The recent case of alleged torture of former Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) officer Tharmendran by military intelligence officers in connection to the theft of two jet engines is a manifestation of the systemic problem of torture, abuse of power and culture of impunity in the country. Tharmendran claimed that he was hit with a golf stick, forced to strip and stand on a block of ice to an hour at a time, and threatened with death.

The fact that Malaysia has to date refused to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT) despite being repeatedly urged to do so only goes to show that the government accepts torture as a form of punishment in this country!

88 People Shot Dead by the Police in 2009

Equally as worrying are the cases of deaths caused by police shooting, which have occurred rampantly with impunity. 88 people were shot dead by the police in 2009, with not a single police officer known to be held accountable for any of those deaths. The high number of deaths caused by police shootings in 2009 is indeed alarming, considering that there were only 13 such cases, according to official sources, in 2007.

These cases continue to occur at an alarming rate in 2010, including in the case of 15-year-old Aminulrasyid who was shot dead by the police on 26 April 2010 when he was in a car in Shah Alam, Selangor. As recent as 5 July 2010, another case was reported, where four suspected robbers were shot dead by the police at the residence of an executive councilor of the state of Pahang.

2. Heightened Intolerance towards Dissent

In 2009, there were mass arrests of participants of public peaceful assemblies in numbers which significantly exceeded those in previous years, signalling the government’s increasing intolerance of dissent. Close to a thousand people were arrested by the police for various acts of peaceful protest, including by holding candlelight vigils, wearing black and even participating in a hunger strike!

Close to a Thousand Arrested during Peaceful Assemblies in 2009

In May alone, 167 people were arrested in relation to protests against the unconstitutional takeover by the BN of the Perak state government. On 1 August 2009, 589 people, including minors, were arrested during the massive anti-ISA rally in Kuala Lumpur – possibly the greatest number of persons arrested in a single public assembly in recent years.

Opposition and Critics of the Government Targeted for Harassment

Opposition politicians, critics of the government and media (both of the opposition and independent ones) have also been attacked and harassed, using repressive laws such as the Sedition Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act throughout 2009 despite the initial show of commitment towards free speech by Najib Razak when he announced the lifting of the ban on opposition mouthpieces Suara Keadilan and Harakah on the very first day of his premiership.

Freedom of speech and expression, especially that of opposition politicians and critics of the government, has become one of the most seriously and frequently violated human right in Malaysia, and this trend has continued in 2010. Mouthpieces of the opposition political parties – Suara Keadilan, Harakah, and Rocket – were all given show-cause letters in the month of July in 2010.

3. BN Government’s Resistance to Change, More than a Thousand Still Detained without Trial

Despite the continued momentum of demands for change and better compliance with human rights principles, the BN government has continued to resist change. Despite growing calls for the ISA to be abolished, for example, the government has continued to detain people without trial throughout the year.

At the end of the year, there were nine ISA detainees still incarcerated without being tried in the courts, while more than a thousand people were still being held under the two other detention-without- trial laws, the Emergency Ordinance and the Dangerous Drugs Act.

Even recommendations made by commissions set up by the government, for example the Royal Commission on the Police and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), have mostly failed to be implemented by the government to date.

Malaysia’s human rights record was reviewed by the international community under the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review. During this review, the Malaysian government received numerous recommendations from United Nations member states to improve its human rights record, including by abolishing all detention-without- trial laws, respect freedom of expression, and recognise the status and rights of refugees. However, most of the more substantial of these recommendations were not accepted by the Malaysian government.

This reluctance to heed the international community’s calls, nevertheless, did not stop Malaysia from seeking election into the United Nations Human Rights Council in May 2010.

4. Increasing Human Rights Awareness: Biggest Anti-ISA Demonstration Yet

Despite the increase in human rights violations in 2009, SUARAM nevertheless noted the rise in human rights awareness in the country. This was perhaps most evident in the biggest ever anti-ISA demonstration held in Kuala Lumpur on 1 August 2009, which was attended by more than 30,000 people. Encouraged by the groundswell of popular calls for change, SUARAM stressed that it will continue to work towards keeping up this momentum with the aim of improving the situation of human rights in the country.

5. SUARAM’s Report Launch Gives Voice to Victims of Detention without Trial

Continuing its tradition of giving voice to victims of human rights violations, SUARAM invited Mat Sah Satray (former ISA detainee, 2002-2010) and the parents of Jagendran Panir Selvam (a minor who was detained without trial under the Emergency Ordinance from January to March 2010, and is currently held under restricted residence) as guest speakers at the launch of its report.

6. Demands Reiterated

Based on the testimonies of violations provided by Mat Sah and the parents of Jagendran, as well as documentation of numerous cases in previous years, SUARAM strongly urged the government to repeal all detention-without- trial laws, pointing out that these legislations severely violate fundamental human rights. SUARAM also reiterated several other longstanding demands to the government, including:

1. The immediate setting up an independent and effective oversight monitoring body to ensure accountability in the police force and other law enforcement agencies;

2. The repeal of repressive legislations and/or provisions in laws which undermine freedom of speech, expression and assembly, namely the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Sedition Act, and Section 27 of the Police Act;

3. The recognition of the status and rights of refugees and asylum seekers;

4. The ratification of all remaining core international human rights treaties, noting that Malaysia has only ratified two of the nine core treaties – and even so, with reservations; and

5. The strengthening of SUHAKAM’s independence and effectiveness, and the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations.

In response to the increasingly serious human rights abuses and the heightened intolerance towards dissent and opposition as witnessed in 2009 and 2010, SUARAM noted that it will also heighten its role as a watchdog of the BN federal government as well as both the BN and Pakatan Rakyat state governments, and further warned that failure to heed the increasingly popular calls for human rights compliance would result in the unpopularity and eventual downfall of any government in power.


For inquiries, please contact John Liu, Documentation and Monitoring Coordinator of SUARAM at +60377843525 or suaram@suaram. net.