hisham

Malaysia minister blasts US "hypocrisy" on human rights

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (AFP) - A minister Wednesday blasted US "hypocrisy" in criticising human rights standards in Malaysia and said it should remedy its own abuses before preaching to others.
"In which country are over 31,000 people killed a year in gun-related incidents?" said Hishammuddin Hussein, youth and sports minister and head of the ruling party's youth wing.

Hishammuddin said minorities in the US faced discrimination and constant harassment. He said the richest one per cent of the population enjoyed between 20 and 25 per cent of the national income while more than 12 per cent live below the poverty line.

The minister, quoted by the official Bernama news agency, was responding to a US State Department report last month which cited "significant problems" in human rights in Malaysia.

The report was part of the department's annual worldwide survey.

It described ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim as a political prisoner.

The state department also cited a decline in judicial independence, police abuses and curbs on the press and public assembly.

It said there were "significant restrictions" on opposition parties' ability to compete effectively with the ruling coalition.

Hishammuddin described the report as biased.

He said the criterion should be whether rights abuses are so pervasive in a particular country that a significant number of people live in fear and whether citizens can vote the government out of office.

The minister said major gains for the opposition in the 1999 election showed people could exercise their votes freely.

Hishammuddin, as quoted by Bernama said the "hypocrisy and double standards" of the US knew no bounds.

He cited the bombing of Iraq and sanctions against Baghdad while little was done to prevent Israeli "crimes" against Palestinians.

From: DAP MALAYSIA <dap.malaysia@p...>
Date: Thu Mar 8, 2001 3:47pm
Subject: [BUNGARAYA] Human rights: Hishammuddin protests too much

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Media Statement by DAP National Chairman Lim Kit Siang in Petaling Jaya on
Thursday, March 8, 2001:

Hishammuddin should ensure UMNO Youth protects and promotes human rights in
Malaysia instead of protesting too much about the US State Department Report
on Human Rights Practices 2000
=======================================================

The Minister for Youth and Sports, Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein, who is also
UMNO Youth leader, has accused the United States of hypocrisy and double
standards for its reports on human rights practices in other countries.

He said although he readily conceded that human rights practices in Malaysia
were far from perfect, the same was also true for the United States.

He said: "Given the fact that the US has its own share of significant human
rights abuses, may I ask on what basis does the world's only superpower believe it has the moral authority to judge other countries like Malaysia?''
Hishammuddin is protesting too much about the US State Department Report on Human Rights Practices 2000 when he should have ensured that UMNO Youth is in the forefront to protect and promote human rights in Malaysia.

Instead, UMNO Youth has acquired notoriety and infamy as one of the greatest threats to human rights in the country as evidenced by UMNO Youth's unruly, abusive and gangsterish demonstration at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur on 18th August 2000 threatening to burn down the building if there was no apology and withdrawal of the 83-point Suqiu election appeals and the lawless and gangsterish UMNO Youth break-up of the Second Asia-Pacific Conference on East Timor (APCET) in Kuala Lumpur in November 1996.

Hishammuddin took strong objection to the US State Department 2000 human
rights report which harshly criticised Malaysia's handling of the case against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, saying it was politically motivated.

Is UMNO Youth prepared to support an independent nation-wide public opinion
poll to ascertain whether the majority of Malaysians are of the view that Anwar had been harshly, unfairly and callously treated?

I am convinced that an independent and professional public opinion poll would show that the issue is not whether the US State Department 2000 human rights harshly criticised Malaysia's handling of the case against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim but that the overwhelming majority of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion and political beliefs, believe that Anwar had been treated unfairly and callously. This is why Anwar has become the crowning symbol of the injustice and human rights violations of the Mahathir government.

No Malaysian would object or disagree with Hishammuddin's criticisms of
human rights violations in the United States - or the latest expose of such
violations which appeared in today's press from Amnesty International USA's
damning report that sexual abuse is rife in women's prisons in the United States.

However, two wrongs cannot make a right, and the violations of human rights
in the United States cannot be used as a shield to justify human rights violations in Malaysia or to challenge the right of the United States to report on human rights abuses in Malaysia - just as the United States government would have no right to try to shut up Malaysian criticisms about human rights violations in the United States just because of the existence of human rights violations in Malaysia!

Where the US State Department 2000 human rights report is right about human
rights violations, Hishammuddin and the government should be courageous to
admit to these transgressions and take active steps to clean up the human
rights abuses, such the following comments in the report:

бд Opposition parties actively contest elections, but face significant obstacles in competing with the long-entrenched ruling coalition.

бд The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, government action, constitutional amendments, legislation, and other factors undermine judicial independence and strengthen executive influence over the judiciary.

бд The police report to and are under the effective control of the Home Minister. Some members of the police committed human rights abuses.

бд The Government generally respected its citizens' rights in some areas;
however, its record was poor in a number of other areas, and significant
problems remain.

бд Police committed a number of extrajudicial killings; however, authorities prosecuted the perpetrators in some of these cases. Police on occasion tortured, beat, or otherwise abused prisoners, detainees, and demonstrators.

бд Government restrictions, pressure, and intimidation led to a high degree
of press self-censorship.

бд The Election Commission's lack of independence impedes it from effectively enforcing election results and monitoring elections

Hishammuddin should explain what UMNO Youth has done to protect and promote human rights in the following three recent cases:

бд To uphold the fundamental right of Malaysians to peaceful assembly, or
does UMNO Youth arrogate to itself the sole right not only to peaceful assembly but to unruly and gansgsterish assembly as illustrated in the APCET II and Suqiu instances?

бд To protect the right of free expression of university lecturers by demanding that local university authorities should not issue show-cause letters to lecturers for speaking the truth on the ground that this could embarrass the government, as highlighted by the pending case of University of Malaya lecturer Associate Professor Chia Oai Peng for speaking the truth about the "hijacking" episode in the the Damansara school controversy.

бд To uphold press freedom to stop the Home Ministry from harassing foreign
media by withholding approval for their circulation and sale in the news-stands as is happening to Far Eastern Economic Review and Asiaweek.

If UMNO Youth and the Barisan Nasional government actively aid and abet in
the violation of human rights, how could they protest with credibility about the hypocrisy and double standards of the United States on human rights issues when it is equally guilty of similar transgressions?

- Lim Kit Siang -