NGOs to boycott Suhakam event over Mahathir invite
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has incurred the wrath of some thirty major non-governmental groups in the country over an invitation it has forwarded to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad to address a human rights conference scheduled for this Friday in Kuala Lumpur.
Human rights NGO Suaram, in an open protest letter endorsed by 29 other outfits, said the conference could not gain any credibility if it featured a leader who perpetrated extensive human rights violations during his 22-year political reign.
Given that Malaysia has now been independent for 48 years, the government of the day must bear full responsibility for every human rights violation perpetrated by the state. The Mahathir-led government inflicted some very serious harm to human rights in Malaysia. We have not recovered
from its effects, the protest letter - a copy of which was hand-delivered to Suhakam this morning - read.
A Suhakam spokesperson confirmed the letters receipt and informed malaysiakini that it had been passed to Dr Chiam Heng Keng, who is one of its commissioners.
The commission had no further comment on the issue.
The letter, endorsed by NGOs such as Aliran, Fomca, Sisters in Islam and Tenaganita, also listed Mahathirs alleged abuses and violations.
This list, which is by no means exhaustive, is a good reminder of what the Mahathir-led administration has not been made accountable for, said the NGOs in the document.
Brand of ethnocide
Among the allegations levied against Mahathir was the use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) to silence dissidents - particularly during the infamous Operation Lalang in 1987 - by arbitrarily arresting and detaining them without trial.
More
than a hundred innocent peace-loving Malaysians were arrested and detained without trail and (their) allegations of torture have never been investigated, stated the letter.
Mahathir, who is now adviser to national corporations Proton and Petronas, was said to have also orchestrated a Machiavellian assault on the judiciary to suppress an uprising against him in Umno of which he was president. The attorney-general and accessory to the assault on the judiciary, during that time, happens to be the present Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman. He was personally appointed by Mahathir into both positions, said the groups.
The Bakun Hydro-Dam project in Sarawak - which displaced 10,000 indigenous people - was used as another example of the ex-premiers abuse of human rights.
The organisations called on Mahathir to bear
responsibility for what they described was a brand of ethnocide created by the Bakun Dam project with its displacement effect.
The sacking and subsequent jailing of Mahathirs former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was also placed on the list. The lack of an apology by the ex-premier to his now-released ex-right hand man was also highlighted by the groups.
Three to boycott meet
Suaram, Hakam and Aliran also said they have informed Suhakam that they would not be attending Fridays Human Rights and Globalisation conference. (We) will not be attending the conference this year as we are of the opinion that the invitation to Mahathir was extended without regard to (his) long and tainted record of suppressing human rights and fundamental liberties in Malaysia, said S Arutchelvan when contacted.
The programme coordinator for Suaram, speaking on behalf of the three NGOs, said he had sent the withdrawal letters to Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman.
The annual conference is also being held to mark Suhakams sixth anniversary, having been established on the same date in 1999.
Mahathir will be delivering a special address on globalisation. Two professors from Thailand and the UK, a former United Nations permanent representative from Malaysia and a director-general of a regional counter-terrorism group, are also lined up to speak at the event.
This is the second time local NGOs are boycotting Suhakam. In April 2002, a total of 32 NGOs suspended all engagements with the commission for 100 days beginning April 24 following the new appointments of commissioners, including the naming of Abu Talib Othman as the new chairperson.
The boycott was also initiated to protest the governments poor response to Suhakams numerous recommendations in its maiden report and its freedom of assembly report, thus creating the impression that Suhakam is nothing but a mere public relations tool.
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