Suhakam risks being downgraded

KUALA LUMPUR: Suhakam, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission, risks an imminent international downgrading unless the Government acts immediately to amend the laws and make it more independent.

Suhakam had recently been asked to provide a written notice within a year giving reasons and documents as to why it should not be downgraded from its current Grade A to Grade B.

The downgrading, non-governmental organisations said, would be a slap in the face for Malaysia and Suhakam, which is hosting the four-day Asia Pacific Forum on National Human Rights Institutions (APF) beginning Monday.

If downgraded, Suhakam loses its member right to participate in United Nations Human Rights Council sessions. It would also be stripped of its full membership in AFP and be relegated to a non-voting member.

"It will also make a mockery of Malaysia's 2006 pledge to the UN that it will continue to take proactive and innovative measures to further promote and protect human rights," said Jerald Joseph of Pusat Komunikasi Masyarakat (Komas).

The notice came from the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC), which recently reviewed Suhakam's human rights compliance and found it was not up to par with the Paris Principles.

Grade A means compliance with the Paris Principles and ICC rules; Grade B downgrades the body to an observer status for not being fully compliant; while Grade C means total non-compliance.

Paris Principles are a set of core basic recommendations adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1993 on the status and functioning of national institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights.

These include being independent of the Government, being pluralistic in roles and membership, having adequate power of investigation and being open to the public.

The ICC in its report, said Suhakam's independence needed to be strengthened by clear and transparent appointment and dismissal process in the founding legal documents, to be more in line with the Paris Principles.

The committee also noted that the two-year tenure for Commissioners was too short, highlighted the need for pluralism to ensure the representation of different segments of society as Commissioners and the importance in engaging with international human rights' system.

On Friday, a group of 44 NGOs signed a joint statement calling on the Government to immediately amend the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999 to make Suhakam truly independent and effective in accordance to ICC.

"Suhakam has been confined by the provisions of the Act and has disappointingly fallen short in its mission to promote and protect human rights," said Joseph on the statement.

Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng said the government should adhere to the ICC's recommendations and show that they do have the political will to protect human rights in the country and not otherwise.

The NGOs outlined six measures including getting Suhakam to report to Parliament instead of the Prime Minister's Department, establishing an independent search committee and having clear criteria when selecting Commissioners.

They also called for wider powers for Suhakam, the debating of Suhakam reports in Parliament and extending Commissioners' tenure from two to five years.

FLORENCE A.SAMY
Star Online
25/07/08