The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) said that the government’s refusal to allow former Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng’s return to Malaysia was a political decision.

And they said that this political consideration should be kept out of the case in which Chin Peng has filed against the government to allow him to return home.

international lawyers observe chin peng case 220408 jitendra sharma IADL president Jithendra Sharma, who observed the Chin Peng’s application at the Court of Appeal yesterday, said in the first place, the 1989 Haadyai peace treaty between the CPM and the government was political in nature.

He added that Chin Peng, who has been barred from Malaysia due to his past as a guerilla leader, had never renounced his citizenship nor sought other citizenship.

“If he is not allowed into Malaysia (by the government), then I see no other reason that he cannot come back (other than a political reason),” said Jithendra, during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Citing numerous international documents such as the United Nations Human Rights Declaration and the UN International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights, Jithendra said Chin Peng’s return to Malaysia, was an individual human right and not a political issue.

“All these documents support the right of an individual to return to one’s own country,” he said.

Jithendra said his association hopes for a favourable outcome for Chin Peng.

"His petition that has been dismissed on grounds which are not legally sustainable should be restored and then he should ultimately be allowed to return," Jithendra said.

Rule of law

international lawyers observe chin peng case 220408 michael pearce His colleague Michael Pierce expressed the Brussels-based IADL’s concern whether the rule of law was being applied appropriately in Chin Peng’s case.

“What we hope is that Chin Peng has his rights under the rule of law (to be) respected. That’s what we expect to happen ultimately,” he said.

Elaborating, Pierce said the 1989 treaty conferred legal rights on all Malaysians involved in the communist movement to return to Malaysia.

“When I say the rule of law, everyone must obey the law, including the government. When the government enters into a legal agreement, it complies with the agreement.

“All Chin Peng is seeking in this proceeding, is to enforce the right that he has under an agreement with the government of Malaysia,” he adds.

chin peng and judiciary Chin Peng, 85, whose real name is Ong Boon Hua, had his application to return to Malaysia struck out by the High Court on July 31 last year. He is currently living in Thailand.

High Court judge Justice Mohd Zabidin Mohd Diah had rejected the application after Chin Peng failed to produce his birth certificate and citizenship papers.

The matter is now up for appeal at the appellate court.

Identity documents seized

His lawyer, Darshan Singh Khaira, told AFP that Chin Peng has demanded his right to return under a December 1989 peace agreement between the government and CPM members.

"The government should honour their obligations to Chin Peng and don't selectively apply it," Darshan said.

"Under the agreement, those of Malayan origin are allowed to return and Chin Peng was born in Malaya," he added.

"Many of Chin Peng's colleagues like Abdullah CD and Rashid Maidin have been allowed to return but he has not," he added, referring to his former commrades in arms.

Born in Sitiawan in Perak in 1923, Chin Peng left Malaysia in 1961.

Darshan made the comments after a hearing on Monday on his client's application to the Court of Appeal.

He had called for the rescinding of a ruling last year that said he had to produce his birth certificate and citizenship papers within 14 days or have his application review rejected.

"Chin Peng has already said that the authority of the day had taken away his identity documents and there are so many other ways to determine a person's origin, so the High Court should not have ruled in that way," he said.

"If the Court of Appeal rejects his application, we will go to the Federal Court (the highest court in the country)," Darshan added.

Chin Peng, who has been in exile for 47 years, won the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and two medals for helping the British fight the Japanese in Malaya during World War II.

He later led the communist party, backed by China, in a guerrilla campaign against the British colonial and Malay governments between 1948 and 1960, in which hundreds were killed.

The government in 2003 denied his request to return on grounds he was still linked to a banned organisation with a "history of perpetrating terrorism" in the country.