NGOs slam Suhakam's flawed appointments
A network of Asian NGOs concerned with human rights has expressed grave concern over the secrecy and delay in the selection of members of Malaysia's national human rights institution (Suhakam).
A network of Asian NGOs concerned with human rights has expressed grave concern over the secrecy and delay in the selection of members of Malaysia's national human rights institution (Suhakam).
They feel it contravenes the 1993 Paris Principles - a set of guidelines and responsibilities - that governments must adhere to when setting up their national human rights institutions, failing which, the institution may be downgraded.
Bangkok-based Forum-Asia human rights defenders programme manager Emerlynne Gil (left), said the NGOs find that the lack of political will by Malaysia to strengthen Suhakam may impede the institution's effectiveness.
"The Malaysian government left Suhakam without any commissioners for more than a month and this demonstrates its lack of commitment towards human rights," said Gil, speaking on behalf of 27 NGOs across Asia.
"This is despite being recently elected into the UN Human Rights Council and having unambiguously pledged commitment towards strengthening Suhakam during its candidature to the Council," she added, when contacted by email.
Rights violation reports piled up
The previous batch of commissioners ended their terms on April 23, since then, the commission has received more than 136 complaints of human rights violations.
The government only appointed new commissioners on June 7.
Gil urged the newly appointed commissioners to immediately look into all pending complaints of human rights violations filed in the interim period.
Besides the delay, Malaysian civil society organisations have also pointed out that the selection process has been flawed since the beginning, with little or no regard paid to the principles of openness, transparency and inclusiveness.
Recently, Suaram coordinator John Liu (left) said the selection did not reflect the views of civil society, and totally disregarded demands by 29 organisations for a proper selection process.
He slammed the government for hiding the identities of the five-member selection committee that advised Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on the new appointments.
The prime minister announced the new commissioners on June 7, with Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR) executive chairperson Hasmy Agam as the new Suhakam chairperson.
