John Liu

SUARAM's annual Human Rights Report on Malaysia is widely recognised as the most objective, comprehensive and dependable source of information on the state of human rights in Malaysia. It documents the human rights violations as well as the struggles of human rights defenders that take place in Malaysia during the year.

In this 2008 report, we note that the new political realities brought about the the unprecedented results of the 12th General Elections, in which the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) suffered its biggest loss in Malaysian electoral history since 1969.

Despite this setback, the BN government continued to use outdated and draconian laws such as the Internal Security Act (ISA), the Emergency Ordinance (EO) and the Dangerous Drugs Act (DDA) to detain individuals without trial. Other restrictive and repressive laws, including the Police Act, the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and the Sedition Act continued to be invoked by the government to suppress voices of dissent and curb basic freedoms of expression, assembly and association.

The establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) as recommended by the Royal Police Commission a few years ago remained unfulfilled. This has led to numerous abuses of power by the police throughout the year.

2008 also saw growing religious intolerance, mostly clearly demonstrated in warnings issued by Muslim leaders against non-Muslims who discussed matters relating to Islam and the ban on non-Muslims from using certain words deemed to be the exclusive right of Islam. The rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants continued to be seriously violated by the government.

Malaysia's credibility at the international level took a further blow for its lack of commitment in promoting and protecting human rights, as illustrated in the possible downgrading of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) by an international governing body.… (plus d'informations)