Restoration of confidence of NGOs, Bar Council, Opposition political parties  and concerned Malaysians should be top agenda of the second-term Suhakam  


Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang

(Petaling Jaya,  Saturday)The final formal stand of the  Bar Council expressing its “grave concern” over the appointment of Tan Sri Abu Talib as the Suhakam  chairman and the non-reappointment of commissioners Tan Sri Annuar Zainal Abidin, Prof Mehrun Siraj and Datuk Dr Salleh Mohd Nor are most welcome and timely – as otherwise the credibility and integrity of the Bar Council itself would come under grave  national question.  

Abu Talib and the Suhakam Commissioners should take serious note and respond immediately and  positively to the Bar Council’s concern as the backgrounds of Abu Talib and the in-coming  might not be compatible to the task ahead of them or they did not have the experience or track record in the field of human rights; the 100-day disengagement protest by 32 NGOs led by Hakam, Suaram and Aliran because of the government’s contempt for  various Suhakam reports and recommendations and the undermining of the credibility, independence and integrity of Suhakam; as well as the reservations of Opposition parties and concerned Malaysians that the second-term Suhakam would be reduced to a pale shadow of the first-term Suhakam and be a mere alibi institution to justify the deteriorating human rights conditions in post-911 Malaysia. 

It does not bespoke of high regard for Suhakam or commitment to the principles of accountability, transparency and democracy that the government has still  kept mum on the numerous  questions raised about its attitude to the Human Rights Commission, such as why the three most industrious, committed and conscientious Suhakam Commissioners,  Annuar, Mehrun and Salleh had been axed and  why the Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar had usurped the statutory powers and duties of Suhakam and illegally hijacked the Suhakam annual report 2001 causing it to contravene the Suhakam Act 1999 to submit its annual report to the last Parliament.  

Yesterday, Suhakam  commissioner Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan, who heads the Complaints and Inquiries Working Group, said several contract officers will be appointed as legal and investigative officers to assist in Suhakam's duties and that four or five officers are being interviewed for two-year appointments starting this year.  

Malaysiakini reported that the move to appoint legal officers is intended to overcome the shortage of legal expertise among the new Suhakam team of commissioners after the contracts of Anuar and Mehrun were not renewed as apart from Abu Talib, all four other new commissioners did not previously serve in the legal profession. 

The appointment of the full-time legal and investigative officers however cannot be satisfactory substitutes to make for the conspicuous   absence of Commissioners like Anuar,  Mehrun and Salleh with the authority, experience and  expertise to probe in-depth into complaints about human rights abuses and violations.  

For instance, the new Suhakam Complaints and Inquiries Working Group, which is now headed by Hamdan, is a very weak team, comprising  Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Simon Sapaun, Dr. Mohamad Hirman Ritom Abdullah, Dato' Dr. Abdul Monir Yaacob, Datuk Dr. Raj Abdul Karim and Cik Zainah Anwar. 

If the government is serious in wanting to have a Suhakam which has “teeth” and not just a “white-wash” body, then it should re-appoint Anuar, Mehrun and Salleh as Suhakam Commissioners and the new Suhakam should invite the 32 NGOs conducting the 100-day boycott protest to a dialogue to understand  and meet their grievances. 

This is particularly important as the Paris Principles adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1993  as an international standard for national  human rights commissions stressed the importance of all human rights  commissions to recognize “fundamental role played by non-government organizations in expanding the work of national institutions” and to “develop relations with non-government organizations devoted to promoting and protecting human rights”. 

The restoration of the confidence of the NGOs, Bar Council, Opposition political parties and concerned Malaysians  should be top on the agenda of the second-term Suhakam.

(18/5/2002)


*Lim Kit Siang - DAP National Chairman