This year's World Human Rights Day tomorrow will be "depressing" due to the declining commitment to human rights in both Malaysia and around the world as a result of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, said an opposition leader today.

DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang said even US and Britain, who previously prided themselves as bastions for democracy and human rights, have resorted to draconian legislation.

"(Their compromise on human rights) was done to the extent that Malaysian government could preen itself on having the foresight to have repressive laws such as the Internal Security Act.

"Our government even claimed that Malaysia must continue to lead the world in having the most draconian laws by tightening up existing repressive laws," said Lim in a statement.

However, the veteran politician said it was wrong to assume that new US legislation to combat terrorism was worse than Malaysian security laws as claimed by several national leaders.

"Although the US Patriot Act 2001 represented a grave violation of civil liberties, it is pure intellectual dishonesty for anyone to claim the new US laws are more controversial and extreme than the ISA," he said.

Differences

Lim pointed out that there are differences between the Patriot Act and the ISA, among others is which that the former allows a time-frame for a review of the law, ranging from 15 months to five years.

Apart from that, unlike the ISA, the Patriot Act functions within existing criminal laws and permits judicial review, he added.

More importantly, Lim said, "The Patriot Act is limited to foreign immigrants and not used on their own citizens."

Recently, Minister in Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim described the Patriot Act as "more controversial and extreme" than the ISA. while Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced a proposed amendment to existing security laws to deal with "modern-day terrorism".

A total of 4,190 people have been detained under the ISA since it was passed in 1960 to battle a communist insurgency then. Some 69 people are currently being held under the law for between two to four years.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had repeatedly said the West, which was previously a staunch critic of the government's use of the ISA and other security laws, is now learning from Malaysia on how to deal with terrorism.

The Patriot Act was signed by US President George W Bush in late October to allow the US government to tap telephones, track Internet usage and monitor the way online data is shared among different agencies, in the hunt for terrorists.

The Act has made US civil groups uneasy. They say the surveillance measure was passed in haste and law enforcement agencies could collect private information on people on the periphery of investigations.

Last month, President Bush also signed an executive order to allow the trial of foreigners accused of terrorism by special military tribunals instead of civilian courts.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested in the US without charge since the Sept 11 attacks.

Suhakam rapped

Lim said in his statement today he felt sad that the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) did not play a vigilant role in ensuring the Malaysian government did not use the Sept 11 incident as an excuse to clamp down on fundamental rights.

"Instead, we hear voices from Suhakam saying democracy and human rights should take a back seat now," he said.

Lim was referring to a statement by Suhakam chairperson Musa Hitam recently that national security should reign over other priorities such as human rights.

Musa subsequently clarified that his controversial statement was made in his personal capacity as a former deputy prime minister.

Lim also called on all politicians to look beyond their different parties to unite and promote human rights.

"We should reject the notion that human rights are a luxury which Asian countries cannot afford in a trade-off between development and security," he said.