LETTER | Amendment to Suhakam Act too good to be true

LETTER | CSO Platform for Reform congratulates the government for finally tabling the amendment to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) Act 1999 (Act 597), but we see that the amendment does not have the depth needed to be implemented.

The CSO Platform for Reform expresses deep concern over the latest developments regarding the amendment to the Suhakam Act presented by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said.

The amendment to the Suhakam Act, passed in the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 29, is a major amendment that gives Suhakam independence but unfortunately, it looks too good to be true.

This is because the amendment made under Clause 2 that touches on the authority of Suhakam to carry out its function to visit any institution and place, other than places of detention, according to the written law of the institution, is completely meaningless because in the end, the commissioners still need to adhere to the existing bureaucratic practices to conduct any visits.

CSO Platform for Reform feels that unannounced visits will be impossible to carry out since the matter is not included in the amendment to the Suhakam Act.

Suhakam commissioners should be given full freedom at any time to conduct unannounced visits to obtain clear evidence in the event of human rights violations committed anywhere.

However, we welcome the amendment to appoint commissioners with at least 30 percent female representatives and one person with disability.

No politicians in Suhakam

Nevertheless, we feel that the method of selecting Suhakam commissioners is still the same, and firmly urge that the commissioners be chosen based on their competence and extensive knowledge of human rights.

We also insist that the commissioners need to be appointed full-time and not temporarily. Besides, the number of commissioners can be from seven to nine to maintain each other’s competency.

We also welcome the amendment under Section 5 of Act 597 which states that people who are actively involved in politics should not be appointed as Suhakam members.

Therefore, we urge that Hasnal Rezua Merican Habib Merican and Nazira Abdul Rahim resign from their positions immediately as soon as this act is enforced because it is proven that they are involved in one of the political parties in the country.

We also assert that Suhakam, an independent body, should not have people actively involved in politics.

We welcome the amendment to Section 13, subsection 2, whereby the authority or the relevant person shall inform the commission of any action taken by the authority or the relevant person about violation of human rights so that it guarantees the effectiveness of the institution.

This amendment is important to ensure that the issues raised and the recommendations made by the commissioners can be looked into as soon as possible.

We emphasise that the notification period to the commission must be accompanied by a time frame of 30 days so that it can avoid the problem of waiting for answers in the next five years.

Finally, we urge Suhakam to focus on transparency in its organisation. It should play a role in promoting human rights to the community at large, and not abolish existing human rights.

CSO PLATFORM FOR REFORM is a coalition of 60 civil society organisations (CSOs) focusing on institutional reform.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.