Putrajaya has been urged to ratify six major human rights treaties before the next Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2018.

A roundtable discussion by organised by human rights watchdog Proham and the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) yesterday concluded that doing so would help Malaysia's progress towards developed nation status and prove Malaysia's commitment towards human rights.

Currently, Malaysia is a signatory to only three out of nine major international human rights treaties. The three treaties are as follows:

- Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw)

- Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

- Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities (CRPD)

The remaining six treaties are:

- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)

- International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)

- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

- Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)

- International Covenant on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICRMW)

- International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED)

Running short of time

Moderator of the event and GMM CEO Saifuddin Abdullah said Malaysia is placed among the bottom 10 countries in terms of the number of human rights instruments ratified.

"We were informed that we are placed 187 out of 195 countries in the United Nations because most of the countries had ratified four or more of the international convention," said Saifuddin, who was formerly the deputy higher education minister.

He said that the government had repeatedly stated that society was not ready for the remaining six treaties because it was against the values and culture of Malaysians.

During the UPR on Oct 24 in Geneva, 80 out of 249 recommendations made to Malaysia by United Nations member states was for the ratification of the six treaties. A quarter of the 80 recommendations were from OIC nations.

Malaysia was reportedly the most talked about country by the UPR working group after China.

"The deadline is upon us, we had gone through the UPR in 2009 and 2013, and 2018 is just four years away. Furthermore, 2020 is where we are supposed to be a developed nation...

"Seven years down the road, we can't be repeating the answers (to the UPR)," he said.

NONE Among the speakers at the roundtable discussion were former Suhakam commissioner Denison Jayasooria ( right ), former UN coordination specialist Lin Mui Kiang, constitutional expert Shah Salim Faruqi, Universiti Malaya centre for civilisational dialogue director Raihanah Abdullah, Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute CEO Michael Yeoh and moderated by Global Movement of Moderates CEO Saifuddin Abdullah.

Meanwhile, the participants also recommended that Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) be given prosecution powers and a national human rights blueprint.

Also mooted was human rights education in schools, but Denison said that such a course should be made compulsory for politicians.

"It is important for the politicians to learn because they are the legislative people. A human rights culture is needed in the government," he said.