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Christian group wants Pope to raise human rights with Dr M

An international Christian organisation has urged Pope John Paul II to raise the issue of human rights with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the latter's visit to Vatican City today.

Pax Romana Asia Pacific coordinator Jerald Joseph said this was necessary as there are many prisoners jailed under the infamous Internal Security Act which detains citizens without trial in Malaysia.

The Geneva-based Pax Romana is an international association of Catholic professionals and intellectuals.

"The reverence for the dignity of a person must be invoked in appealing to the leader of Malaysia," said Joseph in a press statement to malaysiakini today.

The Pope's meeting with Mahathir today has been touted by various quarters including the mainstream media as "historic and unprecedented".

It is considered historic because Malaysia does not have any diplomatic ties with the Holy See.

The Pope has visited neighbouring countries like Singapore, Philipines and Indonesia but has yet to receive an invitation from Malaysia.

Christian groups are hoping that the visit will pave the way for the Pope and other religious leaders to set foot in Malaysia in the future.

More importantly, these groups feel the need to highlight the controversial detention of several political activists as the incarceration is deemed a violation of human rights from the Christian perspective.

Since the Sept 11 attacks, the government has detained 70-odd people believed to be involved in militant activities to overthrow the government.

Stop using "terrorism" as political tool

On the issue of terrorism, Joseph said using the terrorism "card" as a political tool for oppression must stop.

"In Malaysia, many Muslims are detained without trial on suspicion of being militant — yet no evidence of their alleged 'crimes' had been made public.

"Human dignity goes hand in hand with respect for human rights. We therefore appeal to both parties to include the human rights perspective in issues to be discussed at the meeting," he added.

Meanwhile, Joseph criticised the politicisation of religions for political ends saying it makes a "mockery of religions and instill fear and suspicion" among people in the country.

This is evident, he said, when Mahathir announced during Gerakan's national delegates conference in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 29 last year that Malaysia is already an Islamic state.

This "jostling for the true Islam" between Umno and PAS, he added, makes efforts in promoting inter-religious dialogues more difficult.

"The state has also not made efforts to give equal opportunity and space to all religions in terms of education in school, access to national media for religious programmes, availability of burial lots, the approval of building of churches and temples," Joseph added.

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