The international community is taken aback by Malaysia's insistence on stopping the Bersih rally.
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted that Malaysia has always been perceived as a reasonable country that welcomes dialogue and negotiation.
But the government’s severe crackdown on rally organisers and supporters have now run contrary to this sentiment and is likely to tarnish Malaysia’s reputation within the United Nations Human Rights Council.
HRW’s deputy director for Asia, Phil Robertson, said that none of Bersih’s demands has warranted the spate of arrests, threats of Internal Security Act (ISA) or bringing out the army on July 9.
“For some reason the Malaysian government has decided to make this rally a test of its power,” Robertson told FMT. “It almost seems like it has a screw loose. It’s very clear that this is a campaign of intimidation.”
“I have heard that a number of foreign diplomats have attempted to pacify the Malaysian government, but the exact details of those talks have been kept confidential.”
“Malaysia is in fact bound by Article 21 of the United Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) to allow this rally. Bersih is asserting its right under Article 21 and that right should be respected.”
Article 21 states that “the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the government: this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures”.
Robertson also dismissed accusations that Bersih is politically motivated due to the support by opposition parties. He stressed that even a member of a political party still has the rights of a citizen.
“The issue here is freedom of peaceful assembly,” he said. “If a NGO and a political party decide to walk hand-in-hand, that is their right. The government is just churning out excuse after excuse to stop the rally in the hope that the people will believe at least one of them.”
Thailand is not the bogeyman
The Bangkok-based Robertson also defended Thailand against the Election Commission’s (EC) portrayal of the country as one that is mired in chaos because “people are campaigning for one rejected leader”.
EC deputy chairman, Wan Ahmad Wan Omar, had made this earlier remark to draw parallels between Thai support for ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and Bersih’s alleged support for opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim.
Thailand goes to the polls tomorrow in its 26th general election but Robertson assured that no chaos or violence is expected.
“Malaysia is fond of painting Thailand as the bogeyman which isn’t credible at all,” he said. “The reality is that Thais broadly believe that the country’s electoral procedures are actually good.”
“They believe that when their names are at their polling booths, the confidentiality of their votes will be maintained; they are able to complain if their names are missing and there won’t be any electoral violations like the stuffing of ballot boxes at the eleventh hour.”
He added that Thailand has since invited international observers to monitor its elections. Among these observers are the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and EC chairman, Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.
Aziz revealed last night that the EC too is looking into the possibility of inviting international observers for the 13th general election. His statement has been met with both support and opposition but the international community is inclined to applaud it.
“It isn’t unusual for international election monitoring to take place,” Robertson said. “Confidence in the electoral process is fundamental to any functioning democracy. If people believe the election process is unfair, then that perception will pemeate every other aspect of the country.”
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