International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
Press Release
Malaysia: Authorities must cease violations of freedom of peaceful assembly and expression
Paris-Bangkok, 30 June 2011. The recent arrests and criminal charges against members and supporters of the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM), as well as the government’s refusal to grant permit for political rallies, constitute serious violations of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression, said the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisation Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM).
According to information gathered by SUARAM, 96 activists or supporters of the opposition have been arrested and 20 others have been summoned by the police for questioning since 22 June, 2011. They were arrested or summoned for their role and participation in activities in preparation for a mass rally on 9 July 2011 organised by Bersih 2.0, a coalition of civil society and political activists supportive of electoral reforms. In November 2007, a first Bersih march and rally had brought together approximately 60,000 participants.
Fifty of those detained have been released as of 28 June. On 29 June, the Bersih 2.0 Secretariat office in Petaling Jaya was raided by the police from the Selangor State Headquarters without a warrant. According to witness account, the police recorded the identity card numbers of employees, searched the premises and counted the number of Bersih T-shirts. The police officers then arrested six staff members and one volunteer as well as confiscated all Bersih 2.0 materials in the office.
30 PSM activists, including 14 women and 3 minors, have been remanded until Saturday 2 July after they were arrested on 25 June by police near Kepala Batas while traveling on a bus from Kedah for a planned Bersih 2.0 roadshow in Penang. They have been charged for “waging war against the King (Yang di-Pertuan Agong)” under Section 122 of the Penal Code, which is punishable by life imprisonment or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 20 years as well as a fine. The evidence presented by the police includes Bersih leaflets and 28 T-shirts, eight of which bore pictures of former Communist Party leaders. A number of activists were also arrested in other locations for selling or wearing yellow Bersih 2.0 T-shirts.
The 30 activists are being detained in Penang State Police Headquarters, Kepala Batas District Police station and Sungai Dua Police station. Their families have not been allowed to visit them and some have reported ill-treatment, including kicking and punching, and denial of needed medical care by the police. Seven of the detainees at Penang State Police Headquarters have been placed in solitary confinement.
On 27 June, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said in Hulu Selangor that these activists have a ‘hidden agenda’ and the planned rally could ‘jeopardize’ peace and lead to chaos. He also raised the possibility of invoking the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA) against organisers of various rallies on 9 July in order to address any “threat against public interest and national security.” The authorities have already declared they would not grant permit for the 9 July Bersih rally, despite the fact that an application has not been made.
The arrests, detention and summons for questioning, as well as accusatory statements made by leading officials, related to public events ahead of the planned Bersih rally are clearly politically motivated and are aimed at intimidating the political opposition and other activists who support electoral reforms. The charges against the 30 activists on the mere ground of possession of a few t-shirts and leaflets demonstrate a serious lack of respect for freedoms of peaceful expression and assembly, the right to which is guaranteed by Article 10 of the Constitution of Malaysia.
FIDH and SUARAM call on the Malaysian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all PSM activists, drop all unfounded charges against them and other Bersih activists and put an end to further acts that violate the right to freedom of peaceful expression and assembly. FIDH and SUARAM further call on Malaysia to enhance its institutional protection of human rights and the rule of law by signing and ratifying key international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and by bringing domestic laws into line with international human rights law.
“The Malaysian government should listen to and address the legitimate concerns of ordinary citizens in a manner that is respectful of internationally recognised and constitutionally guaranteed liberties,” said Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH President. “Reacting to criticisms and dissents with intimidation, arrests, detention and legal persecution is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime, not a country that calls itself a democracy; repression of civil and political rights is not a solution — it is a recipe for social instability and tension,” added Ms. Belhassen.
“SUARAM urges the government to look into the demands of the Bersih 2.0 instead of clamping down on their freedom of expression and assembly. If the Prime Minister Najib Razak is sincere in listening to the people and practicing the slogan “People First”, then he should not curb people’s rights and freedoms,” said Nalini Elumalai, Program Manager of SUARAM. “Malaysia has already a relatively poor record on democracy and human rights and it should not join the ranks of authoritarian countries notorious and infamous for their reckless disregard for the most basic human rights – human dignity and human life,” said Nalini.
THE NEW UMNO REIGN OF TERROR & DIRTY WAR BEGINS?
30 psm members detained under dubioius charge of promoting communism (wearing T-Shirts with pictures of communist party, 108 arrested, 70 “disappeared” after strange “arrest”.
The last incident must raise concern and alarm among social and political activists as people are starting to “disappear”.
Has UMNO started the DIRTY WAR?
This happened in Argentina when thousands were “disappeared” in the 1970s. It was a “dirty war” sponsored by the USA to destroy democratic opposition to the tyrannic regime of the time.
”The Dirty War (Spanish: Guerra Sucia) was a period of state-sponsored violence in Argentina from 1976 until 1983. Victims of the violence included several thousand left-wing activists, including trade unionists, students, journalists, Marxists, Peronist guerrillas[1] and alleged sympathizers, either proved or suspected.[2] Some 10,000 of the disappeared were Montoneros, and guerrillas of the People’s Revolutionary Army (ERP).[3][4][5] Estimates for the number of people who were killed or “disappeared” range from 9,000 to 30,000;[6][7] the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons estimates that around 13,000 disappeared.[8]
State terrorism was carried out primarily by Jorge Rafael Videla’s military dictatorship as a part of Operation Condor; the acts of repression, torture, and assassinations continued until the return to civilian rule in 1983.
The exact chronology of the repression is still debated, however, as trade unionists were targeted for assassination as early as 1973, and individual cases of state-sponsored violence against Peronism and the left can be traced back at least to the Bombing of Plaza de Mayo in 1955. The Trelew massacre of 1972, the actions of the Argentine Anticommunist Alliance since 1973 and Isabel Martínez de Perón’s “annihilation decrees” against left wing guerrillas during Operativo Independencia in 1975, have all been suggested as dates for the beginning of the Dirty War.”
The US also supplied hit lists to Soeharto’s killer squads in the killing of between 600000 to 1.2 million people in 1965.
http://www.enotes.com/genocide-encyclopedia/indonesia
http://www.hrsolidarity.net/mainfile.php/2005vol15no06/2465/
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=5410
The above commentary could be applied to our situation.
UMNO is sounding more and more desperate and hysterical and mentally distraught about the Bersih March. It has threatened a bloodbath …………………….
One can never know the depth to which UMNO can sink.
Comment by Anon — June 30, 2011 @ 11:43 PM |
What can be done next? I dont want the people to give up without a real fight…and I am not talking about weaponary fighting i am talking a fight with their hearts and minds. We know they must march…this is the year of true courage in the face of such outright evil from UMNO/BN and their cronies. They have the right to a peaceful march…..just because a few idiots from Perkasa and the government, which was elected by a small minority say it cannot go ahead and yellow is banned, it sdoes not mean they are right and we are wrong.
HAVE COURAGE TO MARCH FOR YOU RIGHTS, FOR YOUR CHILDRENS’ RIGHTS AND FOR THE FUTURE OF MALAYSIA
Comment by DORA THE EXPLORER — June 30, 2011 @ 2:46 PM |
UMNO SCARED STIFF OF BERSIH 2
Too bad UMNO is so scared of Bersih 2 that its has to arrest and intimidate the public and even citizens overseas to prevent them from demonstration.
It is not the challenge to UMNO but Bersih that the members and supporters must turn up and make a peaceful show of force on 9th July and reject the intimidation.
If UMNO is “clean” it would actually support the demo and or encourage their members to join in! But then that is to confirm that elections are dirty and need to be cleaned up!
Comment by Demo2011 — June 30, 2011 @ 2:33 PM |