Is Rahmat Mohamad prepared to convene an emergency meeting of Suhakam Commissioners to draw up a special Suhakam programme with time-line for the ratification of the six international covenants, including ICERD, as well as the Rome Statute

As the Suhakam Chairman Rahmat Mohamad said he is not an opponent of ICERD and the Rome Statute, is he prepared to convene an emergency meeting of Suhakam Commissioners to draw up a special Suhakam programme with time-line for the ratification of the six international covenants, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), and the Rome Statute on the International Criminal Court?

In the Suhakam programme, Suhakam commissioners should conduct a campaign to educate Malaysians, including all political parties, to understand that the ratification of the six international human rights covenants (including ICERD) and the Rome Statute have nothing to do with being anti-Malay, anti-Islam or anti-Royalty.

At present, Malaysia together with Brunei are the only two countries in the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) which have not ratified ICERD which was adopted 57 years ago in 1965.

Does Suhakam under the chairmanship of Rahmat Mohamad think Malaysia should compete with Brunei to be the last OIC nation to ratify ICERD?

Muslim countries in the OIC which have ratified ICERD includes Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Bahrain, Turkey, Egypt and Indonesia.

Does Suhakam subscribe to the view that only the one per cent of Muslims in the world in Malaysia and Brunei are true Muslims while the 99 per cent of the world’s 1.9 billion Muslims in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Indonesia and other countries are not true Muslims because Malaysia and Brunei have not ratified ICERD?

How long does Rahmat Mohamad need to convince the majority of Malaysians, particularly the political parties, that the ratification of the six international human rights covenants and the Rome Statute is not anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Royalty?

The six human rights conventions are:

• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
• UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; and
• International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.