MM Online - Global rights group fears Pakatan going the wrong way on reforms
By Yiswaree Palansamy
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Human Rights Watch’s deputy director for Asia, Phil Robertson, speaks during a press conference in Petaling Jaya May 8, 2019 Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri |
PETALING JAYA, May 8 — The Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed disappointment today with the pace and focus of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government’s pledged reforms.
In a press conference to announce its assessment of the pact’s first year in power, HRW deputy director for Asia Phil Robertson also expressed worry that PH may be regressing in the area.
“We move very quickly in the HRW. Sent a long letter to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on May 21 last year, urging him to push through the reforms that were promised in the first three to six months, because we know from experience that the momentum for reform is highest at the very beginning of the government and frankly, that hasn’t happened
“We have not reached the worst. Let me be clear about that, but it feels like we are heading in the wrong direction, and if I were to use one word to sum up HRW’s feelings with regards to human rights reform in Malaysia, it has to be disappointment. I mean really profound disappointment. Very deep disappointment,” he said with emphasis.
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still the same man who necessitates Reforms in Malaysia |
Robertson added that HRW was excited about the reform pledges made by PH in its election manifesto, but was subsequently disappointed with the slow pace of progress
He claimed that in meetings, PH ministers regularly brush off concerns about their unfulfilled promises by saying the government will get to it eventually.
He claimed that in meetings, PH ministers regularly brush off concerns about their unfulfilled promises by saying the government will get to it eventually.
“Last October, I was here with a very senior human rights delegation. We met with the foreign minister, we met with the attorney-general and other senior officials, and we heard commitments to abolish the death penalty entirely. To dump the Sedition Act, to agree to ratify all the major international human rights treaties.
“Hope was really in the air and at that time I would say that the Pakatan Harapan government was doing pretty well. They had voted to repeal Najib’s disastrous Anti-Fake News law, and we still expect that the repeal will be finalised when the government finally controls the Senate later this year.
“We saw limited reforms on the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 to let students join political parties. We saw that as a downpayment on the Pakatan Harapan pledge to revoke the UUCA altogether. Of course that hasn’t happened,” Robertson said.
“Hope was really in the air and at that time I would say that the Pakatan Harapan government was doing pretty well. They had voted to repeal Najib’s disastrous Anti-Fake News law, and we still expect that the repeal will be finalised when the government finally controls the Senate later this year.
“We saw limited reforms on the Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 to let students join political parties. We saw that as a downpayment on the Pakatan Harapan pledge to revoke the UUCA altogether. Of course that hasn’t happened,” Robertson said.
He added that though the current government has made some impressive strides by correcting the “many immediate damages” done by Barisan Nasional (BN), the same cannot be said of its initiative to bring permanent changes.
“Quite simply at that time, the government took its foot off the neck of civil societies, but the problem is that very little has been done to bring permanent reforms that will ensure such repressions cannot be brought by different governments in the future,” he added.
Robertson said that he was constantly told to wait for the next parliamentary sittings every time he approached the government questioning is slow pace of implementation.
“Quite simply at that time, the government took its foot off the neck of civil societies, but the problem is that very little has been done to bring permanent reforms that will ensure such repressions cannot be brought by different governments in the future,” he added.
Robertson said that he was constantly told to wait for the next parliamentary sittings every time he approached the government questioning is slow pace of implementation.
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The Pakatan Harapan government |
He expressed concern on the yet to be established Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), highlighting that cases of custodial deaths were still ongoing with impunity.
He added that the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) which currently vets enforcement authorities is insufficient.
“A commission without the ability to discipline police officers for the abuses is useless. We already have the EAIC. It’s done nothing to change the culture of impunity for rights abuses that is rife within the Malaysian police,” he said.
He also highlighted the cases of enforced disappearances, and the recent damning findings by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission on the police’s role in the vanishing of Pastor Raymond Koh.
He added that the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) which currently vets enforcement authorities is insufficient.
“A commission without the ability to discipline police officers for the abuses is useless. We already have the EAIC. It’s done nothing to change the culture of impunity for rights abuses that is rife within the Malaysian police,” he said.
He also highlighted the cases of enforced disappearances, and the recent damning findings by the Malaysian Human Rights Commission on the police’s role in the vanishing of Pastor Raymond Koh.
not yet wrong direction, just dun know wheres the right direction.
ReplyDeleteHow to have quick reforms when the Cabinet is lead by a PM who's still stuck in his old ways of doing things and a mindset back to his reign of 22 years? TDM is good at politiking par non in Malaysia but sorely lacking in leadership and Statesman like qualities to lead even just Malaysia.
ReplyDeleteMalaysian politicians are only good at rhetorics of Human Rights abuses/violations in other countries and projecting themselves as holding the higher moral ground but does not even have the moral courage to endorse and implement the UN guiding principles and Conventions on matters like Human Rights like ICERD and the Rome Statutes.
Malaysians only think their country is the only special one with peculiarities and circumstances special to them which is just a smoke screen just like for all those countries which also refuse to endorse all those UN conventions on Human Rights and so make themselves look like pariahs as a member of the United Nations.
Isn't that called Double Talk face?
It would be less embarassing/insulting for Malaysians to also stop lecturing and condemning other countries for their Human Rights violations when they themselves do not have the moral high ground.
I for one am very , very glad that the UMNO-Kleptocracy is (mostly) gone.
ReplyDeleteI don't see Pakatan Harapan as going in the wrong direction. That is hyperbole.
I don't see PH has Gone Evil, yet.
Disappointed ...yes. They need the courage and determination to act in cases where it is the correct action, yet the 3R warriors may be opposed to it.
It is impossible to expect Mahathir has totally changed his ways, that is a practical impossibility. But change he has.
The space for freedom given is real , many statements that have been uttered since May 9 last year would have got people thrown into prison, with or without charge under the Old Mahathir
But NO repercussions under PH....
The persons punished for insulting the Prophet.....sigh...some things are still built in and cannot change. Don't push it too far.
A lot of things will become possible under improved economic conditions.
The economy has slowed down in the past year. Some PH had control over, some are purely external influences.
The crushing burden of Malaysia's debt inherited from BN under Najib is real, in spite of all the conventional economists hair splitting with Lim Guan Eng.
If you owe a dollar, you have the burden to repay a dollar, regardless how the accountant spins it around accounting rules.
Any key business executive or household breadwinner understands that.
The real currency is how much you need to repay in CASH, not accounting rules.
A lot of Malaysia's repayables (to avoid the controversy over the "Debt" word) was hidden (allowable) using Accounting Rules, but nevertheless repayable.
The Repayable is not going to go away, regardless how hard you attack Lim Guan Eng over Accounting rules.
As someone who was heavily involved in the management of a major business, I know very well institutionalised corruption exerted a heavy toll on Malaysia's economy. It is so heavily entwined in Malaysia, it will take time to cleanse out.
Semantics mah!
DeleteThe accounting type!
Just like some pet cat mourner's non-stop diatribes using his twisted understanding of sopo to massage his bruised ego.