Suhakam faces an imminent downgrade in its UN status unless further amendments are made to the Human Rights Commission Act of Malaysia 1999.

PKR members of parliament, Tian Chua and R Sivarasa, told a media conference that Suhakam (Human Rights Commission of Malaysia) which has an 'A' accreditation will be downgraded to 'B' by the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC) unless the amendments are made soon.

According to the UN watch dog, amendments made to the Act last year are not enough and Malaysia has been given a last ditch repreive to make the changes, according to the opposition parliamentarians.

And the government only has until October to comply with the requirements.

tian chua sivarasa suhakam report parliament pc 160609 02 The MPs (Tian Chua right and Sivarasa extreme right) had brought the matter up following an accreditation review exercise by the ICC last year which deemed that Suhakam was not conforming to the Paris Principles.

The Paris Principles - adopted by the United Nations in 1991 - is the international benchmark set up to monitor the establishment and work of national human rights institutions.

When the amendments were rushed through Parliament in March, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz, accused opposition parliamentarians of delaying the passage and said that if Malaysia was downgraded it would "look bad on our country".

ICC wants changes to be made on the appointment of commissioners and to their performance indicators.

The commissioners are appointed by Agong on the advice of the prime minister. But the amendments require the prime minister consult a committee before advising the Agong .

The committee will be chaired by the chief secretary of the government and will have three other members who may be former judges or former members of the commission.

Not enough done

The international watchdog had also expressed its dissatisfaction with Suhakam's performance as a defender of human rights.

"Suhakam was set up in 1999 and in 2002 it applied to the ICC for accreditation.It was given 'A' status which means it is a fully participating member," said Sivarasa.

"But last March, the ICC decided to downgraded Suhakam unless certain changes were made to the Act. Malaysia was given one year to draft and pass the necessary changes so that it was in compliance to the Paris Principles," he said.

suhakam launch report on bmc incident 070109 02 However, nothing serious was put in place to ensure that the Malaysia's human rights commission was not downgraded.

"The amendments to appointment of commissioners failed to satisfy them (ICC), although they have told Suhakam and the government that this issue has to be addressed," he said.

"Secondly the government also have performance indicators, which are detrimental to commissioners and Suhakam as it can be used as a means of control.

"And thirdly, the ICC does not see Suhakam doing enough to promote human rights... they are basically saying to Suhakam .. 'you are a failure'," said Sivarasa.

He said that the final notice had been issued and the government has only until October to make the amendments.

"If they want to redeem Suhakam's image in the eyes of international human right committee, they must make amendments by the next Parliamentary session," he added.

Sivarasa also said that the fact that the Suhakam reported directly to the prime minister rather than to Parliament damaged the credibility of the commission.