Rais Yatim should not produce a fictitious  International Recognition of Judicial Process to defend Malaysia from criticisms of the  United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and European Union nations  over  Anwar’s trial and sentences

(Petaling Jaya, Wednesday): In Langkawi on Sunday, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Dr. Rais Yatim accused the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union nations of violating the  International Recognition of Judicial Process in attacking Malaysia over its handling of the criminal cases against former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. (Star August 14, 2000).

He said that under the United Nations-approved  "understanding,'' no country should criticise the legal  process of another member country.

He said the nations which had criticised the Malaysian Judiciary recently were clearly violating such an  agreement although they were all signatories.

Rais Yatim’s claim had produced an all-round astonishment as nobody has ever heard of the so-called "International Recognition of Judicial Process". Can Rais make public the contents, signatories and when this United Nations agreement was adopted?

I have never  heard of such an United Nations agreement barring countries from criticising the legal process of another member country. Intensive search on the Internet has failed to produce such a United Nations instrument. I have asked legal experts knowledgeable in this field and nobody has ever heard of it. I have even checked with the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Dato’ Param Cumaraswamy who has been occupying this important international  office for the past six years since 1994 and should know more than any othe person in the world about such an instrument.

Param tells me that he had also been trying to discover the existence of the International Recognition of Judicial Process since the press report of Rais’ statement on Monday. He had even contacted the United Nations in New York but has not been able to find such an instrument.

Rais Yatim should not produce a fictitious international instrument supposedly known as the   International Recognition of Judicial Process to defend the Malaysian government  from criticisms of the  United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and European Union for its political persecution of Anwar.

Rais Yatim should realise that such an instrument would make a mockery of various international human rights instruments and declarations, in particular the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights unanimously adopted by 171 United Nations member states including Malaysia which declared that "the promotion and protection of all human rights is a legitimate concern of the international community".

As the right to justice, the rule of law and a competent, independent and impartial judiciary is one of the most important human rights, and a precondition to protect and promote the whole spectrum of other human rights, how can there be an international instrument as claimed by Rais which negates the principle that the  promotion and protection of human rights is a legitimate concern of the international community by barring countries from criticising the flagrant violations of the just rule of law and a truly independent judiciary of another country?

Rais had  also blasted Australia for criticising Malaysia by saying that Australian leaders had no right to comment on  the country's Judiciary.

He said:

"They have a lot of cases involving Aborigines which have attracted brickbats from many parts of the world. But Malaysia did not say anything because it respected the country's law process."

Malaysia should uphold the principle entrenched in the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action  that "the promotion and protection of all human rights is a legitimate concern of the international community" and add its voice to international opinion and pressure to demand that Australia respect Aboriginal rights and in particular pay fulsome compensation to the "stolen generation".

This is particularly pertinent as the judge, Justice Maurice O'Loughlin who dismissed the claims for monetary compensation had also said:

"Neither the evidence in this trial nor the reasons for judgment deny the existence of the 'stolen generation'."

This will tantamount to an international conspiracy to subvert  the principle propounded  in the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action that  "the promotion and protection of all human rights is a legitimate concern of the international community".

The Malaysian government  should be a strong voice in the international arena to uphold human rights, including the Aboriginal rights in Australia, but it should pay heed to national and international outrage at the system of justice in Malaysia as highlighted by the Anwar Ibrahim and Lim Guan Eng cases and take immediate steps to reform the judiciary to restore public confidence in its independence, impartiality and integrity.
 

(16/8/2000)