Cabinet should present a White Paper on the Suhakam report and recommendations to form the basis for a special parliamentary debate in the current meeting

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Media Conference Statement
by Lim Kit Siang 

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The Suhakam report and the government’s White Paper response should then form the basis for a special parliamentary debate on Suhakam first annual report on  human rights in the country, which must be for at least two days, before the end of the current meeting.

Malaysians find the reaction of the Foreign Minister,  Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar to the Suhakam report most extraordinary and mere nit-picking when he questioned its contents, claiming that Suhakam had used the wrong channel to make recommendations to the government.

Syed Hamid wanted Suhakam to submit “specific recommendations complete with details, proper analysis and arguments” to his Ministry to “review, repeal or abolish certain laws and practices or to ratify international statutes or covenants on Human Rights” and not just put them  in the Suhakam report to Parliament.

The Foreign Minister should stop nit-picking and focus on the Suhakam report and recommendations, such as:
 

• That Malaysia ratifies as soon as possible the following international instruments:
1. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
2. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
3. The Convention Against Torture
• Amendment to  Article 8(2) of the Federal Constitution to include "sex" as a prohibited ground for discrimination.
• Legislative reforms -
1. bills should be referred to a select committee of parliament and state assemblies after the first reading to allow  experts, public interest groups and other concerned individuals with the opportunity to give their views and inputs into Bills that will have a direct impact on their lives.
2. the authorities cease the common practice of declaring draft legislation as official secret before it is tabled in the legislative bodies.
3. major legislation should be drafted in consultation with public interest groups with the benefit of a well-informed public debate.
• Freedom of assembly
1. Application for permits to hold static assemblies (as opposed to processions) in premises such as private properties, be approved as a general rule, without restrictions on freedom of expression. The organisers are to ensure that no disturbance  to public order occurs.
2. Other specific outdoor areas /compounds/spaces be determined by the authorities for the holding of peaceful assemblies. These should include locations and public spaces in major urban centres, including Kuala Lumpur.
3. The procedure for applying permits be simplified by using a standard form to be issued to organisers.

The Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday should overrule Syed Hamid’s obstructive position that the government can ignore the Suhakam recommendations by merely  “take note” of them  unless Suhakam makes formal recommendations to the government through his Ministry.

Malaysians do not want nit-pickers or  empire-builders as Cabinet Ministers, but people who will act on urgent national issues - and the first annual report of Suhakam to Parliament should be sufficient weight for the Cabinet to act and respond without any  unreasonable government foot-dragging as in demanding that  Suhakam reformulate its recommendations in a specific communication to the government.

I have read the  Suhakam annual report and although I can understand the praises which have been heaped on it, I am personally rather disappointed by it which reasons  I will give in the coming weeks.

(21/4/2001)