Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak may have come into office in 2009 with the promise of better recognition for human rights but the BN government has since slid back into its old habits, according to the Suaram's 2013 Malaysian Human Rights Report.

 

Last year was plagued by a series of human rights violations and the start of 2014 was no better, with Najib earlier this month coining the term "extreme human rights" and calling humanism, secularism, liberalism a threat to Islam, said human rights group Suaram adviser Kua Kia Soong.

 

Among the highlights in 2013 involved Suaram itself, as the government mobilised six agencies to harass the rights group over its finances and Umno-linked  New Straits Times  accusing the organisation of receiving funding to bring down the government.

 

"After many months of relentless harassment of Suaram, the government agencies were forced to admit that their allegations didn't have a leg to stand on," he said in a statement.

 

And to crown it all, New Straits Times  had to eat humble pie and make an abject “mother of editorial apologies” to Suaram and the other NGOs that had been maligned by the newspaper as 'foreign agents," he added.

 

On the judiciary, the murder Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaaribuu, an associate of Abdul Razak Baginda who a former advisor to the prime minister went unpunished.

 

Moreover, her accused murderers chief inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Azhar Umar, both former bodyguards to the premier, were freed by the Court of Appeal. Her death came amid allegations of kickbacks in a multi-billion ringgit submarine deal.

 

Malaysia fails to live up to pledges

 

At Malaysia's second Universal Periodic Review by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, it was noted that Malaysia failed to implement many of the recommendations it made in 2009.

 

"Despite an initial pledge made in 2009 to 'consider ratification' of key international human rights instruments, Malaysia has yet to ratify core human rights treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the UN Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Uncat), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Cerd), and the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (Icescr).  

 

"Malaysia has also yet to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the 1951 Refugee Convention, nor the International Convention on Protection of Migrant Workers and their Families," said Kua.

 

Other highlights of human rights violation in 2013 include:

  • reintroduction of detention without trial through an amendment to the Prevention of Crime Act 1959.

 

  • Preventive detention under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 and the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985.

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  • 12 deaths in police custody in 2013

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  • 124 shot dead by police from 2009 to August 2013

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  • Denial to access to broadcast media for opposition during the 13th general election (GE13)

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  • Distributed denial of service attack on online media critical of the government during GE13, while critical radios jammed

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  • 33 charged for unlawful assembly and 17 charged for rioting under the Penal Code for participating in post-election rallies.

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  • Refugees and asylum seekers rights continue to be unprotected and are open to abuse

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  • Heightened politicisation of race by the ruling coalition.
    • "To conclude, the 2013 Malaysian Human Rights Report once again reveals the misconduct of a recalcitrant government that is not prepared to govern according to the international human rights principles it has committed to," said Kua.