Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Malaysia to repeal all laws and policies which discriminate against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

NONE In a letter to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, the international NGO sought the repeal of Section 377 of the Penal Code on 'carnal intercourse against the order of nature'.

It also suggested that the provision on non-consensual relations be replaced with a gender-neutral rape law.

HRW said in a statement that “revoking Section 377 would free Malaysia’s legal system from a colonial past and historical prejudices".

Najib must end projects aimed at the conversion, marginalisation, or stigmatisation of LGBT people, it added, and instead initiate a public awareness campaign aimed at ending hostility towards the community, in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“By doing so, Malaysia would take a giant step toward becoming a rights-respecting ‘modern democracy’, a goal Najib has repeatedly endorsed,” the statement reads.

NONE The NGO also highlighted several other rights-violating actions and policies adopted by the federal government, such as the shutdown of the November 2011 Seksualiti Merd eka Festival,  a government programme to train volunteers to “convert gays”.

Another aspect was the recommendation by Deputy Education Minister Mohd Puad Zarkashi to educate parents to recognise “symptoms” of gay or lesbian orientation to curb the increase of this “unhealthy phenomenon among students”.

Najib's claims 'ring hollow'

The NGO condemned statements by the premier last June and July, which not only vilified the LGBT community, but also facilitated discriminatory activities by government and police officials.

“Najib’s claims to promote unity in diversity in Malaysia ring hollow when he publicly calls for discrimination against the LGBT community," it said.

azlan “And Najib’s actions against LGBT people are a glaring contradiction to his self-proclaimed profile as a ‘global moderate’ leader," HRW deputy Asia director Phil Robertson was quoated saying in the NGO's statement.

During the launch of his book 'Agenda Islam dalam Transformasi Negara' (Islamic Agenda in National Transformation’ last June, Najib labelled the practice of LGBT as a threatening “ deviant culture ” which has no place in Malaysia.

Last July, in front of thousands of imams and mosque committee members, he stated that the "LGBT community, along with liberalism and pluralism, are enemies of Islam ".