Moderately Truthful

By: Natalie Shobana Ambrose

theSun, Malaysia (pg 12) October 17, 2013

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/columns/onpointe

Imagine reading a memoir that comes with the fine print "that's mostly true". It can be infuriating as memoirs are supposed to be accurate, needing no fine print.

It's frustrating because even if some bits of the memoir were truthful, you'll be second guessing everything because of all the half-truths peppered into the story.

That's how our national report for the Universal Periodical Review reads – moderately truthful.

In exactly a week, it will be Malaysia's turn to deliver this already public document to the Human Rights Council in Geneva and you might find yourself in the same predicament trying to decipher the truths from the half truths.

The report states that there is a "strong commitment to the rule of law, to upholding respect for human rights and a commitment to continue widening the democratic space" – that is what this re-elected government is strongly committed to.

Let's just look at these three elements juxtaposing them to some realities of today's Malaysia.

STRONG COMMITMENT TO THE RULE OF LAW

The 2012 Auditor General's Report, which was prepared in March 2013 was only released in October.

Putting aside questions as to the delayed release, the report states the many misappropriations of public funds, from wall clocks that cost RM3,810 instead of the budgeted RM100 a clock to a four-day study trip that cost over RM300,000, a K-Pop concert that the government paid over inflated prices (but claimed it was sponsored) and the "lost-at-sea" firearms to name a few.

As per previous years, nothing will come of it. Every year, the public get up in arms about the blatant corruption proof that the AG's report exposes and yet, year after year nothing happens to those who siphon public funds.

If there truly was a strong commitment to the rule of law, why has no one been investigated – the proof is in the report and yet nothing has been done. Somehow this is also missing from the section in the report titled "Good governance".

Another glaring injustice is custodial deaths. In July 2013, Amnesty International reported that there were 12 custodial deaths since the beginning of the year and till today their deaths and the bruises on their bodies remain a "mystery".

Then there are those who are still detained without trial deprived of a day in court, denied justice and their right to freedom.

These are just some of the many more real examples of violations to the rule of law. Using the words "strong commitment" seems like a half truth when measured against these convenient lapses.

UPHOLDING RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

In the UPR report, Malaysia touts the repealing of the Internal Security Act (ISA) as legislative developments related to civil and political rights.

But what about the Prevention of Crime Act of 1959? Of course since the recent amendments to the PCA (which allows for people to be detained without trial) was made after the report was published, the PCA is conveniently not mentioned in the report.

Even Suhakam has stated that the PCA is inconsistent with fundamental human rights principles, yet we are patting ourselves for a half truth that the ISA has been repealed.

Add to that the fact that Malaysia still refuses to sign and ratify without reservations core UN conventions which makes a mockery of our seat on the UN Human Rights Council.

Never mind about that for now, what about statements about Malaynisation of Sabah natives, forced assimilation policies or the lack of respect for native rights, native customary lands, land rights and rights to ancestral lands.

Then there are the other issues of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Not only have we violated international protected prohibition against refoulement, the report states that documented non-skilled foreign workers "enjoy protection under various domestic laws".

Do we really protect migrants from unpaid wages, harassment and other hazardous situations? We might want to reassess that statement based on the fact that we have not ratified International Labour Organisation Convention No: 189 neither do our domestic laws and practice reflect such "enjoyment".

One also has to wonder where the terms "Chinese tsunami", "shoot to kill policy" and the issue of franchising language based on religion fits in to the section about upholding "respect for different cultures, languages and religions of its people …"

A COMMITMENT TO CONTINUE WIDENING THE DEMOCRATIC SPACE

Let's talk about how the report states that "The Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 [Act 736] (PAA) was enacted to breathe life to Article 10 of the Federal Constitution to enhance the implementation of the right to assemble peaceably as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution."

I'm not sure prohibiting, sorry I mean regulating, street protests is the same thing. Judging from the burns from the tear gas used during 2012 Bersih rally this must be another half-truth couched in flowery language.

Then there is the Sedition Act and the amendment 114 A to the Evidence Act which are not mentioned in the UPR report.

The report peddles the use of indelible ink as an electoral reform, but fails to state that the ink used was not silver nitrate but food colouring.

While we still have a Printing Presses and Publications Act, which requires government licensing of publications, one amendment (namely the removal of the "Home Minister's 'absolute discretion' in relation to granting of permits and also abolished the requirement for annual licence renewal" has suddenly turned this draconian law into a progressive, positive move premised on the right to be heard and the right to freedom of expression according to the report. I'll be damned!

This report is clearly filled with disinformation, not just misinformation.

In an address via video last week, US President Barack Obama lauded Malaysia saying "Malaysia's diversity, tolerance and progress can be a model to countries around the world."

The most dangerous of countries are the ones labelled progressive because they preach of being moderates yet suppress every citizen while the rest of the world place them on a pedestal.

Natalie is exhausted from reading through a "mostly true" report.          

Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

http://www.thesundaily.my/node/227291

What Is In A name?

By: Natalie Shobana Ambrose

theSun, Malaysia (pg 12) October 3, 2013

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/columns/onpointe

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet was Juliet's rebuttal in the Shakespeare love story. Some may not agree but perhaps it matters not what the name of something is, but its essence is of utmost importance.

When the Internal Security Act was repealed, many applauded. Sceptics, however, knew such forward measures would be short lived and they are right.

This week Parliament debated on the return of preventive detention adding revisions to the Prevention of Crime Act to lower the crime rate – so it seems. The problem is there is no surety that these laws will not be open to abuse.

It may be easy to look at the amendments as curbing crime but on the reverse, it can be used to impede civil society and civil movements. What does that mean?

According to reports, one can be placed in detention for up to two years (renewable) and without the right to legal representation with a limited scope of appeal.

Let's take all that legal jargon and put it into a real life simulation. Say the suspect in question is a proven thug who has a criminal record. Such a law will put the suspect behind bars without trial for up to two years. Now if the suspect is held for two years, there is a chance the detention can be renewed.

Yay! Our streets are safer, but what if the suspect has been rehabilitated, picked up because he "looks like a thug" but not proven to be one any more? Or what if the suspect is a she and was at the wrong place at the wrong time and was picked up because she refused to be intimidated by the authorities?

If you're one for being hard on criminals, let's look at this from another perspective.

What if the crime was a protest against corruption or a civil society movement against environmental damage or a big bully stealing your land to build a dam? Forget about kicking up a fuss because these amendments can be broadly interpreted and someone you know may be held without trial for years.

The PCA amendments cannot be looked at in isolation either. The Penal Code is also being beefed up with the government proposing that 5-15 year prison terms be made mandatory for promoting a false national flag and "vandalism", the definition of which includes the displaying of banners or placards without permission, to carry a three-year prison term. There also seems no way out of this as the proposal includes curtailing the judges' powers to favour the minimum mandatory sentences.

So if some company decides to throw toxins into your waterway and you've no other choice but to peacefully protest, think again.

But you might say, that's not going to happen because we've got an oral assurance that such abuse will not happen. See, that's the funny thing about gentlemen's agreements – not many of the people giving us these assurances are gentlemen.

Even if they are, what will happen when they are no more in power to give such assurances? The bottom line is that the law supersedes as it should and this is the very reason why such amendments should ring alarm bells because repealing the ISA and adding such amendments to the PCA only begs the question "what is in a name?"

In exactly three weeks, Malaysia will deliver its National Report at the Universal Periodical Review in Geneva. The public report screams of another Shakespearean quote: "I was searching for a fool when I found you".

Under section 3(103) titled General Elections, we tout the use of indelible ink patting ourselves on the back for such big leaps of election reforms while quietly omitting the fact that our indelible ink was edible and we paid RM7.1 million on food dye instead of silver nitrate.

It's hard to read point 148 in the report which highlights the government's commitment to "ensuring the promotion and protection of all human rights in the country" – listing down the rights of refugees and undocumented migrants when we out rightly rejected all attempts to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Sadly, the report is far from a true reflection of the state of our country, yet exercises like these highlight our shortcomings and may be a catalyst for some change, at the very least we know the world is watching, even if it's just for one part of an afternoon in cold beautiful Geneva.

Natalie's fridge is peppered with Shakespeare insults and one that resonates through and through is "My tongue will tell the anger of my heart" – in this case, her pen will do the talking.

Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

Migrant Issues Come To A Head

By: Natalie Shobana Ambrose

theSun, Malaysia (pg 14) September 19, 2013

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/columns/onpointe

He would have paid a large sum of money to an agent for legal documents before entering Malaysia as a documented migrant worker. Yet last week, debt-ridden and jobless, he climbed the rooftop of a two-storey building in an affluent neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur and ended his life.

A group gathered, took photos and video footage. Some of the bystanders thought the public needed to be "educated" and posted their photos and videos – after all if the papers were publishing it why not them on social network sites.

Perhaps what came after was far worse – the comments made in bad taste, one of which (to paraphrase) was "jump and get it over with".

A man died but because he was a migrant worker, it seems of less importance and value.

But what drove him to climb that rooftop and think that his only option was to die?

According to news reports, he was brought to work in a kopitiam which closed for a month and that added drastically to his mounting debts. Where was his protection as an employee and what are the responsibilities of his employers when they closed shop?

Migrants legal or illegal arrive on our shores debt-ridden.

Promised good salaries, many are cheated and forced into what is now defined as modern-day slavery. Not only are they to pay off the debts they owe for making that journey here, they are here to earn for their families back home, yet they may not even make enough to live, let alone send home.

Even though migrant workers are a critical part of our economy (they make up 30% of the workforce according to Human Rights Watch), little is done for their protection. If this is the predicament of documented migrants, what more the illegals?

We may have our own opinion about illegals not having rights but there has to be some form of protection of the human being from abuse.

Time and time again, those who champion migrant rights have called for our government to (at the very least) ratify the Migrant Worker Convention and we are no closer to signing it. Yet we sit on the United Nations Human Rights Council and allow such abuse to happen on our soil?

We cherry pick as we please. When we need migrant workers to do the work that we refuse to do – the rubbish collection, waiting tables, cleaning, construction and security jobs, that is when they are of use to us but we close our eyes to the abuse by recruitment agencies.

We then blame them for the high crime rate in the country. Not only do our laws allow for them to be abused with little recourse for justice, we then blame them for societal ills – ignoring that many of the crimes are carried out by Malaysians.

So at the beginning of this month, the Home Ministry launched a crackdown on undocumented immigrants. There are real fears that the crackdown will also affect refugees. A fear that is warranted as Malaysia has not ratified the Refugee Convention and vacillates on refugee status. Being identified as a transit country for trafficking, and put on the Tier 2 of the US Department of State human trafficking watch list, protection of the human being needs to be of upmost concern.

In October, Malaysia will stand before the world and present the universal periodic review of our country's human rights track record. How will we fare?

Natalie hopes that Malaysians and those in authority will value the people who are helping to build our nation, even if they may not look like the Malaysians we know.

Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

                   

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