Government actions against fundamental human rights can no longer be acceptable by Malaysians, said the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) in its maiden annual report for 2000, released in Kuala Lumpur today.

"The growth of a politically conscious Malaysian civil society has meant that government action that infringes the fundamental rights of its citizens is no longer unchallenged," said the report presented to Parliament this afternoon.

"The demand for a transparent and accountable government that respects human rights is a fundamental concern of Malaysian civil society today," it added in a chapter entitled 'The State of Human Rights in Malaysia'.

The 63-page report, which is available to the public, also noted that as the Malaysian populace becomes more sophisticated politically, fulfillment of economic needs in no longer adequate.

"As Malaysia develops and its citizenry becomes better educated and more sophisticated, the demand for civil and political rights has become louder. For increasingly larger segments of Malaysian society, a full stomach is no longer enough," it stated.

Disproportionate violence

The report also addressed other issues such freedom of assembly, detention without trial, freedom of expression, right to a fair trial, the failure of the government to annul four proclamations of emergency, discriminatory laws against women and the ratification of international instruments.

On the issue of assemblies, the report states that though both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the Federal Constitution guarantee the right to assemble peacefully, "the Police Act requires that an application for a police permit be made" and that an amendment to the Act "empowers the police to break up large gatherings ... if they are deemed a threat to national security".

The report criticised these restrictions claiming that they infringed on a fundamental liberty with double standards being applied and police resorting to 'disproportionate force and violence' in breaking up gatherings.

On March 27, Suhakam concluded a four-month long inquiry into alleged police brutality during the opposition organised Nov 5 '100,000 People's Gathering' at the Kesas highway in Shah Alam. However, its findings will only be published in its 2001 annual report.

The current report also rapped the government for not taking any action despite repeated promises to review and amend the infamous Internal Security Act (ISA).

"It has been argued that the ISA, which was enacted in 1948 for the sole purpose of fighting the communist insurgency has outlived its purpose since the Malayan Communist Party laid down its arms in 1989," the report said.

Last Wednesday, the commission had issued a press statement condemning the arrest of seven reformasi activists under the ISA for allegedly planning to overthrow the government by 'militant means'.

Underage girl

Suhakam's report also stated that the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) and the Official Secrets Act restricted freedom of expression, particularly Section 8A(1) of the PPPA where government critics may be 'silenced' for 'malicious publication false news'.

"Action taken under this Section included one case involving the printing of pamphlets which alleged official mishandling of a statutory rape case and another involving a report of alleged systematic abuse of migrant workers in detention," the report said.

In 1997 former DAP MP Lim Guan Eng was found guilty under the PPPA and the Sedition Act for distributing pamphlets alleging former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik was involved with an underage girl.

Irene Fernandez of reform group Tenaganita was also charged under the PPPA for publishing a report that alleged that migrant workers were tortured and abused in the country's detention camps for migrant workers in 1996.

The report said that Suhakam had also received complaints that applications for publishing permits or renewals were being denied by the Home Affairs Ministry, particularly those for publications belonging to the opposition.

Emergency declarations

On another matter, the report noted that since independence, the government has made four emergency declarations, including one during the May 13, 1969 incident, but none of have been revoked.

"This perpetual state of emergency enables the government to promulgate emergency regulations even though Parliament is sitting and the events that occasioned the states of emergency have come to pass," the report said.

Emergency proclamations permit the executive branch of government to pass laws that do not require parliamentary assent in the name of national security.

The reports also highlighted the fact that the Federal Constitution allows the foreign wives of Malaysian men to be easily naturalised but denies Malaysian women the right to confer citizenship on their foreign husbands.

Native rights

On the topic of Native Customary Rights, the report said that peninsular Orang Asli and the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak have complained of state-sanctioned erosion of their rights by such activities as logging, plantations, crop cultivation, construction of dams and other development projects.

"As presented to Suhakam, the main concern of the indigenous peoples is that their customary rights to land have been substantially eroded by the federal and state governments despite the protection provided for them in the Aboriginal People's Act, the Land Ordinance of Sabah and the Sarawak Land Code," the report said.

The report, written in English, also covers the formation of Suhakam in April 2000 and its activities until the end of 2000. A Bahasa Malaysia version will be produced later.

Suhakam was created through the Human Rights Commission Act tabled in Parliament in 1999.

Its 13 commissioners are Musa Hitam (chairperson), Harun Hashim (deputy chairperson), Anuar Zainal Abidin, Mehrun Siraj, Zainah Anwar, Chiam Heng Keng, Mahadev Shankar, Hamdan Adnan, Simon Sipaun, Lee Lam Thye, K Pathmanaban, Mohammad Hirman Ritom Abdullah and Dr Salleh Mohd Nor.

The commission is divided into four working groups which include education, law reform, treaties and international instruments, and complaints and inquiries.