| Tuesday April 3 M’sian gov’t attacks on civil society rising, says delegate Leong Kar Yen 2:02pm, Tue: A Malaysian delegate addressing a United Nations (UN) conference in Geneva, Switzerland yesterday, said the condition of human rights in Malaysia has not improved and the country is witnessing intensified attacks on civil society despite the formation of the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam). Elizabeth Wong, a member of Malaysia’s delegation to this year’s UN human rights commission session said, “Fundamental questions of human rights in Malaysia have seen no improvement throughout the year, despite the formation of the much awaited Suhakam.”. “Ironically, there has been an intensification of attacks on the opposition, pro- reform activists, the independent media and further restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association,” Wong added. In her speech, Wong, who is also the secretary-general for the National Human Rights Society, touched on the issues pertaining to jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, the Internal Security Act (ISA) and police brutality. She also talked about the recent communal clashes in Petaling Jaya Selatan and the revival of the massive Bakun hydroelectric dam project in Sarawak. “Question marks remain etched on the independence of the Malaysian judiciary in the conviction and the imposement of a heavy sentence on Anwar and his adopted brother Sukma Dermawan for alleged sodomy,” she said. Police brutality Meanwhile, Wong also told the commission that since July last year, 65 members of Al-Ma’unah Islamic militant extremist group had been detained under the ISA for trying to ‘overthrow’ the government. “Meanwhile. in Sept last year, three Acehnese residing in Malaysia were detained under the ISA and the act was invoked a month later against four men for practising the Shiite faith,” she said. Wong, in her speech rapped the Malaysian police and explained the suffering endured by Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua in their hands. “Tian Chua who has been subjected to arbitrary detentions, police brutality and torture since 1998 was arrested again on Aug 8 last year and singled out for assault while in police custody,” she said. “Pro-reform demonstrators bear the brunt of police brutality. Demonstrations calling for democratic reforms and fundamental human rights are regularly put down with tear gas truncheons and chemically laced water cannons,” she said. Wong also cited the Nov 5 100,000 People’s Gathering last year as an example. Many demonstrators had alleged police brutality and this led to an inquiry by Suhakam. Native rights On the Petaling Jaya Selatan clashes, Wong told the delegates that a “highly racialised” New Economic Policy was the root of the problem. She also addressed the disregard for native customary rights. “The underlying assumption in official policies is that the indigenous peoples’ cultures and way of life is backward and they are rarely consulted over development projects on their land and their fate is tantamount to ethnocide. “This includes indigenous communities forcibly displaced for the Bakun hydroelectric and Sungai Selangor dams,” she said. The UN human rights commission session is held annually among the 53 member states of the commission. It was formed in 1947 to draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1995, present Suhakam chairman, Musa Hitam had chaired the session. Meanwhile, Anwar’s daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, left for Geneva yesterday and is scheduled to address the commission’s present session on the condition of her father who has been warded at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital for a spinal injury. |
| human rights |