Malaysian human rights report card bright red
"Bright red," said litigation lawyer Tommy Thomas at a human rights forum organised by Universiti Sains Malaysia's academic and administrative staff in Penang on Saturday.
"It is myth that we now enjoy better civil and political rights compared to when we were under the British regime," he said.
Thomas, who was the Malaysian Bar Council's secretary from 1995-97, said that during the British administration, political parties, such as Umno, were allowed to be registered, public rallies were held and books were not banned.
He said the British used the Internal Security Act (ISA) to contain the communists but the present government, since the 1960s, have detained about 20,000 people for up to three years and more although they had nothing to do with communism.
He added that since Merdeka, Parliament has passed 14 Acts which impinged on human rights and gave sweeping powers to the executive.
These, among others, were the Prevention of Crime Act, the Trades Union Act, the Official Secrets Act, the Sedition Act and the Universities and University Colleges Act.
He also cited several cases of ISA detentions brought to the courts but where the judiciary dismissed the habeas corpus applications arbitrarily.
"All of us are to be blamed," said Thomas. "What have we done to correct this situation? Citizens of this country get the kind of human rights they deserve".
Feudal ideology
Lawyer and representative of Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), Mohidden Abdul Kader, however, disagreed with Thomas about Malaysians having more civil and political liberties under the British.
"Many laws were from the British. It was the British who built the Batu Gajah detention camp and arrested many patriots," Mohideen told the 100-odd participants who attended the forum entitled 'A Report Card on Human Rights Malaysia - Red or Blue?'
"Detention of people and banning of books are not new. It was the British who taught Singaporeans and Malaysian leaders to rule by law and not rule of law" he added.
On judicial independence and its relation to human rights, Mohideen said the country needed a judiciary that was confident of its position and not dependent on the government or prime minister.
The problem was due to a "feudal ideology" strongly entrenched in the judiciary, he added.
However, Mohideen said he was happy to see people responding to the current state of affairs and coming out to voice their concerns against injustices and human right abuses.
Human development
Businesswoman and president of the Young Malays Nationalist Organisation pro-tem committee Raihan Hj Sulaiman Palestin agreed that the report card on the human rights situation in the country was red.
She said students now perceived the country's leaders as untrustworthy because they preferred to safeguard their positions, reputations and financial positions instead of the people's interests.
"Our organisation will help students evaluate the country's leaders both from the opposition and the government. All leaders have the right to share their ideas," said Raihan.
"Leaders today have more time to meet with business people rather than academicians. What is the point of progress if we cannot balance it with human development?" she asked.
She said society had the right to learn about the truth but the Official Secrets Act had violated that right and people are bound to rebel.
State of fear
Women's Development Collective representative Maria Chin Abdullah, who did not make it to the seminar due to flight problems, but presented a paper, said it was a shame to boast of economic progress when domestically, Malaysians, were in a state of fear.
The abuses carried out by the police against peaceful demonstrators, the arbitrary use of the ISA and the silencing of differing views have become part of a system of state violence against the people, she added.
"This state violence is sanctioned by our political leaders and they have steadfastly defended it except for some individuals in Gerakan," she said in her paper.
"By remaining silent, we, as citizens, are also giving tacit approval to state violence. We are accepting that violence can be used arbitrarily," she added.
Maria said people had to take a step and say 'No' to the ISA and 'No' to state violence.
"We want peace and justice and these values do not tolerate violence," said Maria Chin.
