Top police officers get lessons on human rights

comments     Claudia Theophilus     Published     Updated

About 120 police top brass and trainers will be educated on human rights issues in the first major dialogue-cum-workshop organised and conducted by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) starting today.

The two-day workshop will first hear from Suhakam vice-chairperson Harun Hashim, law lecturers Prof Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi and Nurhalida Mohamed Khalil and former Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee chairperson M Puravalen.

Harun will present a paper entitled "Human rights their nature and characteristics".

The plenary session will see presentations by Shad on "Human rights constitutional and international perspectives", Nurhalida on "International dimension of human rights" and Puravalen on the "Right to fair criminal process".

Tomorrow, Bar Council human rights sub-committee member Jerald Allen Gomez will brief participants on the workshop which is interspersed with dialogue and question-and-answer sessions.

This will be followed by a panel assessment comprised of Gomez, Suhakam commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan, KL Bar chairperson K Ragunath and assistant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sharon GS Daniel. Hamdan will wrap up the workshop.

First step

Earlier, Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman delivered a keynote address entitled "Overview of human rights situation in Malaysia".

Speaking at a press conference after the opening ceremony today, Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai said this was not the first dialogue between the police and Suhakam.

"We've had a few sessions on a smaller scale where our senior officers were exposed to human rights issues.

"We expect to take full advantage of this workshop," he said when asked whether the final outcome will be incorporated into police training modules.

On Suhakam's follow-up action after the workshop, Abu Talib said the first step towards promoting human rights is to hold dialogues, and having one with the police is important.

"The police are charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order. So this dialogue is an opportunity to exchange ideas with them.

"We will also be organising workshops with other bodies."

At this juncture, Hamdan interjected to explain that since the case-study method is the one used in this workshop, a curriculum is being developed by Suhakam to assist the police in their job.

"We want to develop this curriculum to help the police reach a better way of carrying out their duties," he said.

Apart from the presentations, the case-study also includes a compilation of local news clippings on human rights violations, court decisions and the relevant laws.



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