Within the last weeks there have been many arrests because people criticized the government or Islam. It is really easy for the government to remove political dissidents, even if these people are physcially not harming anyone. Certain laws legitimize these actions.
Former Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad.
One law, which allowed detention without trial was the “Internal Securiy Act”. It was especially used during Mahathir bin Mohamads (former Prime Minister) reign. 60 days were seen as investigation time. I wonder, if it is really necessary to detain someone for such a long time without real evidence? After the passing of these 60 days, the Home Minister had the power to extend the arrest for another two years. And guess what? After that, the detention could be extended again and again and again. How can a single person be given so much power?
After Najib Razak became Prime Minister, he removed ISA. However, the act is not really gone, because it was replaced by the Security Offences Special Measures Act (=SOSMA). SOSMA was originally implemented to “provide special measures relating to security offences for the purpose of maintaining public order and security and for connected matters.” But the definition of this law, already indicates that it can be applied completely arbitrary. Moreover, it appears that its just another law to control and silent people and to arrest those, who are not following the government´s wishes.
Many Malaysians told me that it is dangerous to criticize the government or the judicial system while you´re in Malaysia and that other people gave up on it, because nothing would change anyway.
Ambiga Sreenavasan - human rights activist, feminist, lawyer, former president of the Malaysian bar council - a true power woman!
I admire the people who are involved in the human rights scene, although they have been arrested or have experienced how friends or family members were arrested and convicted for their political opinions and activities. Nevertheless, these people still believe in change and did not give up on fighting for a better future.
At the same time, it will be difficult to change the country and the mindset of its people. To reach effective reforms, the majority of Malaysian politicians should be exchanged by people who are willing to give everything for the well-being of its people rather than just looking for their personal benefit.
People should never stop believing and losing faith – no matter how bad a situation might look like.
At the same time, their concerns are – of course – reasonable. Even with a change of government, it is not ensured that things turn out for the better. For example, due to the different parties in Pakatan Rakyat, different aims are pursued and represented in the coalition. While the common goal is to remove “Barisan Nasional”, one party demands a total implementation of Syariah law and another one the abolishment of Bumiputera rights. How are these demands combineable?
Furthermore, it will be difficult to solve economic problems. How do you want to implement reforms if the necessary financial resources are missing? However, the opposition is also promoting free education, which could be a great step regarding an improvement of the economy. The more people are educated in a professional manner, the more they can contribute to the betterment of a country.
While the opposition consists of contrary parties, Barisan Nasional implemented a campaign named Satu Malaysia! (= One Malaysia) which was designed by the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in 2010. The campaign aims at furthering racial harmony, fighting racism end combating corruption – a major problem in the country. Although a tax system is in place, it seems that a black hole is absorbing the taxpayer´s money.
Funds of “1Malaysia!” are invested in “1Malaysia!” shops in which you can purchase really cheap products. Sounds nice, but actually the money – once again – goes to the government, whereas small shop owners are not able to compete with the “1Malaysia!” model.
Furthermore, I am also wondering: How shall harmony and equality of all Malaysians be guaranteed if Bumiputera rights – based on ethnicity – still exist? I do not think that the “1Malaysia!” campaign is the right way to go. It neither improves the economy, nor the country´s stability. It would be more efficient for the economy and everyone living in it to just fix the prices instead of permanently incrasing them.
An important key role in the entire context comes to civil society organizations, which also rely on international support. However, the international focus is not placed on Malaysia, probably because the human rights violations are not serious enough. This also shows the flow of donations, which have decreased drastically throughout the last years. The ignorance has gone so far that Malaysia was elected into the United Human Rights Council on May 13th, 2010. Of course, also more authoritarian countries play significant roles at an international scale but the question “what about?” is not helping at all. Human rights are human rights and if one government is not behaving according to these ratified declarations, they should first of all not have a saying and second of all be monitored by international institutions.
It is no secret that I fell in love with Malaysia in 2012. The country and its people have been an important part of my life until today. Of course, there have been ups and downs, but also this is natural for friendships. To strenghten this love, I decided to do an internship for a local Human Rights Organisation.
Malaysia has a lot of potential, but this potential is overshadowed by the current political system. Human rights are violated continously and the economy has decreased within the previous years. While living costs have been increased massively, the salary has remained the same. Consequently, the crime rate has increased a lot, too, which should not be surprising if one consider that people have to get food for their families and themselves. It is often claimed that laws are tightened in order to combat the increasing crime rate.
If you love, you sacrifice. The question is how much you give up on yourself.
Since I am in Malaysia I realized that I did at least five things which are offcially regarded as “illegal”. It took some time for me to get used to theses circumstances since no one in Germany would invest time, money and energy in investigating things like:
… Facebook posts, which are criticizing the government
… Attending demonstrations
…Signing petitions
… Being part of foto campaigns
… writing a blog, which is questioning decisions of UMNO
Being in Malaysia, I have tried my best to not think too critical or to talk openly about my thoughts. I was still told that I am not careful enough and that I could get into trouble, but with this German mindset it is difficult to adapt. I was taught by my famiy that critical thinking is important and this way of thinking is also furthered by the German education system.
These different ways of thinking result in conflicts, such as that you never know who you can trust, that some people end political discussions to protect themselves, that it is a taboo to speak about topics, like the Arab Spring or that foreigners are not allowed to attend demonstrations.
“Suara” means “voice”. Currently, my deepest wish is to be able to raise my voice but contrary, I only feel how my voice is getting weaker. I hope it never silents completely.
“If evidence shows the plane was shot down, then we demand the responsible party to be brought to face justice.” – Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak
This statement was made by the Malaysian Prime Minister- Najib Razak- after the disappearance of Boeing 777 while the Malaysian news showed politicians, like Barack Obama, claiming that there would be consequences if Russia was responsible for the crash.
The missing airplane came as a shock to many Malaysians and different kind of feelings could be sensed: grief, anger, dissappointment, etc. Simultaneously, conspiracy theories were intensified. While my host mum talked about possible consequences, like a war between Russia and the Ukraine leading to World War 3, my host brother (8 years) started laughing, because the imagination of a war amused him. While I got angry, I also started blaming movies which are shown in the cinemas and which glorify violence and war. It has always been interesting for me that romantic and sexual scenes (even Twilight) have been censored while the same rules have not been applied to movies containing a lot of brutality.
One example is “The Expendables”, which I watched in the cinema while I heard a child crying.
Continuing the conversation with my host mum, I was told that the education ministry decided to replace history lessons by teachings of Islam. I think that it is absolutely eminent to get to know other religions and cultures and to constantly broaden your horizon, but was shocked to find out that actual historical events and characters were banned from education. While important aspects of education are excluded, also the media is not free to report about current political happenings, i.e. the Arab Spring.
As many say: Children are the future but why are govenments not investing in this future – our future? Probably because the fear persists that people might start rebelling – like it happened in Arab countries. I guess this argument is also interconnected to lacking history classes: If people were aware of fundamental changes resulting from the greatest revolutions of time, they could get the incentive to rebel as well. By blocking necessary information flows and sanctioning unwanted statements and actions, a government can remain its power. Like a friend of mine determined „The government attends to keep our people dumb.“
Najib Razak- the Prime Minister (left) and Anwar Ibrahim- the opposition leader (right).
As example serves the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat. Its power has steadly been growing so that the alliance nearly won GE13. The backlash has not been long in coming and was expressed in the continuation of the trial against the oppostion leader Anwar Ibrahim. So far, a 68-year-old man has been accused of sodomy and corruption. Funny, that a country effected by corruption to the core is now blaming a single man – a man who represents a real danger to the current government and the head of state – Najib Razak.
Oh yes, I love them! Barisan Nasional is the one coalition, which has ruled Malaysia since its independence in 1957. Therefore, Malaysia has been the country longest ruled by the same coaliation at an international scale. How B.N. has managed to get re-elected each time again and again is traceable to massive electoral conduct – just take a look at the outcome of the General Elections 2013. Funny fact: The government is not even interested in hiding electoral fraud, i.e. how come there were blackouts during the previous elections?
The flag of Barisan Nasional. The photo was taken during my trip to Malaysia in 2013, shortly before the election started.
Malaysians talk a lot about politics and exchange stories, but mostly in private since it is too dangerous to talk about these things in public. It is rather questionable if this should be the case in a country which defines itself as democracy. I personally belive that people should be granted the freedom to talk about their opinions without the risk or even the fear of getting arrested.
It has been frustrating to see how the government treats its own people. Due to my internship with a local Human Rights Organisation, I talked to some locals about the political situation in Malaysia. These conversations were really eye-opening and showed how injustice can take place in so many different ways and shapes. However, generally speaking I noticed that too many people are indeed dissatisfied with the current political developments but do not know how to stand against it. The following examples are quite diverse but give a pretty good overview of the current situation in the country:
One invididual complained about the standing of homosexuals in Malaysia which can be sanctioned with a jail term of 25 years. Just imagine, this is also the jail term for murder in other nations.
Another individual started talking about an Australian company disposing nuclear waste -shipped from Australia to Malaysia – nearby Kuantan. Kuantan is a town in the federal state called Pahang and is located at the East Coast of Malaysia.Talking about Lynas, there is another deterrent example of oppressed resistance: In July an Australin girl – who demonstrated against this company – was jailed and deported afterwards. People are right who state that Pahang´s Minister signed the contract with the company but the question remains who´s benefitting most? An already rich man or the rakyat?
I love Malaysia´s multiculturalism, but clearly this is also connected to so much racism effecting particularly the Indian- and Chinese-Malaysian minorities. Due to a complex history – thanks to the British and their empire aka colonialism – the Malay population has special privileges (=Bumiputera rights ), for example scholarships or job opportunities. This results in Malaysians who feel like second-class citizens. Who can blame them?
Most of the people I talked to were also aware that certain human rights, like freedom of expression or religion or press freedom are not given at all.
It has been heartbreaking to see how desperate some people are talking about these things happening at a daily basis. It also seems that this apathy gets greater the more people feel powerless, supressed and canot find ways to help themselves.
This is strengthened by the fact that many bad things happening in Malaysia stay in the country, because every form of media is strictly controlled and censored. Namewee, a Chinese-Malaysian rapper who was forced to leave the country due to his criticim against the current government, might be an exception.
For readers who are not familiar with Malaysia yet, a good overview of the Human Rights situation in the country could be really helpful before starting dealing with this Blog.
Only recently I found a documentary summarizing human rights violations committed in the year 2013, which I perceived as quite useful. It was published by the local non-governmental organization „Suara Rakyat Malaysia“, which could be familiar to some of you guys.
Introduction
2013 was notably marked by the 13th General Elections which saw the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) getting 47% of the total popular vote while the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat got 52%. Malaysia´s May 5th general election came under intense scruntiny internationally. There were allegations of vote buying and other reported irregulartities. The government also enforced a media blackout, with Malaysia´s mainstream media refusing to give more than 10 minutes of air time to opposition parties during the election campaign.
The outcome of the 2013 General Elections was a manifestation of the popular aspiration for reforms and greater respect for human rights in the country. It had come through great disappointment with the increasing failure of state institutions, such as the police, judiciary and others to uphold justice, equality, human rights and democracy.
Independent election watchdog BERSIH (Coalition for free and fair election), formed a people´s tribunal to investigate the allegations of electoral fraud concluding that eye-witness accounts, photographs and video recordings have „led us to question the legitimacy of some of the results. We have no doubt that the election was not clean and fair.“ Moreover, BERSIH´s demands, especially regarding the cleaning up of the electoral rolls, have not been fully met.
Major events in Malaysia in 2013 included the landmark decision on the death of A Kugan in police custody in 2009; the open apology by NST to SUARAM, BERSIH, Centre for independent Journalism (CIJ) and Merdeka Centre for publishing untruthful and defamatory articles on 21st September 2012.
There were more arrests and detenions under the Sedition Act 1948, Peaceful Assembly Act (2012); amendments to the Penal Code and return of detention without trial in a new form, namely, the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) 1959. The year was marked also by Malaysia´s second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council.
Thus in 2013, we saw the same repressive trend in human rights observance as in previous years:
Detention without trial
In 2011, the Internal Security Act (ISA) and Emergency Ordinance (EO) were repealed. Despite the estimated 2000 EO detainees released when the law was repealed, the abolition of ISA didn´t have any effect on the people who were still detained under the act. Documentation and monitoring by SUARAM and the Abolish ISA Movement show that there were still six detainees behind bars, without charge or judicial review, who were arrested under this law.
Malaysia´s August 2013 state Universal Periodic Review report claims that „with the repeal of the ISA, the practice of preventive detention was effectively ended.“ However, in practice, preventive detention continues with the Internal Security´s replacement, the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (SOSMA) and the amended Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) which were passed in June 2012 and in October 2013 respectively. Although the three proclamations of emergency have been lifted by the Prime Minister, some laws that allow for detention without trial remain.These include the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Mearues) Act 1985 (DDA) and the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (PCA).
Police Abuse of Power
Police violence.
Abuse of power by the police remained unchecked while the Government continued to drag in feet in setting up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) that had been recommended by the Royal Police Commission in 2005.
In 2013, SUARAM recored 12 cases of death in police custody while a total of 124 people were shot dead by the police from 2009 to August 2013.
Press freedom
Press freedom continued to decline in world rankings with Malaysia place at an all-time low position of 145 out of 179 countries, the country´s worst showing since 2002.
Freedom of Expression
Malaysia´s 13th general election saw increased attacks on freedom of expression. In April 2013, just days after parliament had been dissolved and new elections declared, various alternative media websites including „Free Malaysia Today“, „Malaysiakini“, „The Malaysian Insider“ and „Sarawak Report“ were targeted by sustained DdoS attacks. Independent radio stations „Radio Free Sarawak“ and „Radio Free Malaysia“ also had their broadcasts systmatically jammed. Despite past statements by the BN government to repeal this unjust catch- all law.
Freedom of Assembly
The Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA 2012) was enacted by the government apparently „to uphold, protect and promote freedom of assembly“ in 2012. The Act is riddled with incosistencies. For example, there are contradictions in the definition of a moving assembly and street protest. At least 26 people were charged under the PAA 2012 during the post-election rallies and 33 others were charged under Section 143 and 17 people were charged under Section 147 of the Penal Code for unlawful assembly and rioting.
Refugees, Migrants and Asylum Seekers
Refugees and asylum seekers continue to be arrested, detained, imprisoned, whipped and deported by law enforcement authorities with governmental sanction.
The efforts and ability of the UNHCR to protect refugees and asylum seekers are limited and restricted by the government´s refusal to accept any recommendations pertaining to refugees and their recognition. It is not uncommon for UNHCR officials to be denied access to detainees to verify if they have legitimate refugees claims, as happened in June when, sectarian clashes between Myanmar nationals prompted authorities to detain foreign workers at the Selayang wholesale market and charged them with entering the country illegally.
Racial and religious intolerance
Najib Tun Razak.
The year also saw the perpetuation of racial and religious intolerance as a result of heightened politicisation of race and religion by the BN Government after its loss in the 13th general election. Throughout Malaysia´s modern political history, the race based ruling coalition has continued to invoke the „spectre of racial conflict“ to consolidate power and to justify its control of power especially in times of political crisis especially during the UMNO party election. Thus, after the BN coalition´s poor showing in the 13th General Election, there were challenges to the leadership of Najib Tun Razak.
The growing criticisms of Najibs´government both from within and without had major implications for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Malaysia.
International Standing on Human Rights
Malaysia´s credibility at the international level took a further blow at the second review of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council on 24th October 2013. Malaysia´s recent pledge to „keep pace with progress made on economic, social and cultural rights“ was castigated as an empty promise by Amnesty International and SUARAM in a joint statement issued on 31st October 2013.
Say “No!” to death penalty.
The 103 UN- member states at Malaysia´s second Universal Periodic Review (UPR) highlighted the fact that many of the previous recommendations made during the 2009 UPR were still not met while new areas of concern are emerging. Human Rights concerns include Malaysia´s poor ratification record on core international human rights treaties; restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly; the preventive detention of criminal suspects for long periods of time without charge or access to a judge; human rights violations at the hands of the security forces including torture and other ill-treatment; and the retention of the death penalty, particularly mandatory sentencing for drugs and other non-violent offences.
Other concerns include the treatment of migrant workers, indigenous peoples, refugees and asylum- seekers, as well as freedom of belief and religion,LGBT rights and discrimination.
Despite an initial pledge made in 2009 to „consider ratification“ of key international human rights instruments, Malaysia has yet to ratify core human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the UN Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Malaysia has also yet to ratify the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, the 1951 Refugee Convention, nor the International Convention on Protection of Migrant Workers and their families.
After the 2009 UPR, the Malaysian government stated that it was „progressively studying the proposal to ratify the ICCPR and CAT and would be in a position to do so once major issues related to the legislative framework has resolved.“ Yet, four years later, Malaysia has yet to ratiy these treaties.There was no mention of any progress on this during the second UPR.
Source: Suara Rakyat Malaysia (2013). Malaysia Human Rights Report 2013- Civil& Political Rights. Suara Inisiatif Sdn Bhd: Petaling Jaya.
Funds of “1Malaysia!” are invested in “1Malaysia!” shops in which you can purchase really cheap products. Sounds nice, but actually the money – once again – goes to the government, whereas small shop owners are not able to compete with the “1Malaysia!” model. 
ependent election watchdog BERSIH (Coalition for free and fair election), formed a people´s tribunal to investigate the allegations of electoral fraud concluding that eye-witness accounts, photographs and video recordings have „led us to question the legitimacy of some of the results. We have no doubt that the election was not clean and fair.“ Moreover, BERSIH´s demands, especially regarding the cleaning up of the electoral rolls, have not been fully met.
Politics and Human Rights in Malaysia 