Charles Santiago

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Letter to Secretary Clinton Posted: 16 Jul 2011 09:21 AM PDT July 15, 2011 The Honorable Hillary Clinton Secretary of State 2201 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20520-0001 Re: Malaysian Government's Crackdown on Rally and Detention of Opposition Leaders Dear Secretary Clinton: We are writing to express our grave concerns regarding the brutal crackdown by Malaysian authorities on the "Walk for Democracy" rally organized by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) that was held on July 9, 2011 in Kuala Lumpur. As a country with close economic and political ties to Malaysia, the United States government cannot remain conspicuously silent in the wake of this crackdown on basic civil liberties and human rights. We urge you to send a strong public message to the Malaysian government that this type of behavior is not consistent with democratic principles and is contrary to Malaysia's obligations as a member of the UN Human Rights Council. We ask that you call upon the Malaysian government to protect the rights of all Malaysian citizens to freely exercise their fundamental rights to expression, association, and assembly, and to peacefully express dissent in the future without threat of arrest or reprisal. Specifically, the U.S. government should publicly demand that Malaysia end the campaign of harassment and prosecution against Bersih supporters and other groups that advocate peacefully, lift the ban on Bersih and other groups, and launch an independent, impartial and transparent investigation into the crackdown and hold accountable those officers who are found to have used excessive force. In the weeks leading up to the rally, over 200 people were arbitrarily arrested, detained, charged, or summoned for questioning for simply wearing Bersih's trademark yellow T-shirts or distributing its literature. Among those arrested were six staff members and one volunteer of the coalition, which is chaired by one of Malaysia's leading human rights lawyers and the former president of the Malaysian Bar Council, Ms. Ambiga Sreenevasan, whom you honored in 2009 with an International Courage of Women Award. On July 1, the Home Affairs Minister declared Bersih an illegal organization under the Societies Act, an action which was condemned by Frank La Rue, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, who said "Declaring Bersih illegal based on claims that it is trying to topple the government or is a risk to national security and public order – in the absence of any credible evidence to substantiate such claims – is also an unnecessary restriction of civil and political rights." 2 Ahead of the rally, police set up roadblocks shutting off all major arteries into Kuala Lumpur. Those who managed to get into the city were attacked with tear gas, batons, and chemically-infused water cannons. Numerous protestors were injured and opposition party member Mr. Allahyarham Baharuddin Ahmad allegedly died because of suffocation induced by excessive tear gas. On the day of the rally, 1,667 people were arrested including two coalition leaders and 18 minors. Additionally, online newspaper Malaysiakini, which provided extensive coverage of events leading up to the demonstration, was subjected to a sustained distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack. Malaysia's actions, which fundamentally violate the basic rights to free assembly and expression, are particularly reprehensible given its membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council. In response to the Malaysian government's intimidation ahead of the rally, on July 8, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. had communicated to Malaysia the importance of respecting human rights, including freedom of expression and assembly. During a state department press briefing she said, "We consider it incumbent on all sides to refrain from violence."Additionally, at a press briefing held on July 13, deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said with regard to the situation in Malaysia, "Well, we do have some concerns. Obviously, we stand for – as we have elsewhere stood for and continue to stand for the right for people to freely express their democratic aspirations and express their views freely. I would stress that those must be peaceful demonstrations. So we did have some concerns; we continue to monitor the situation closely." As the official response of the U.S. government to this crackdown, these comments are lukewarm at best and send a very weak signal regarding the United States' commitment to human rights and democracy. We are particularly concerned that six members of the Parti Socialist Malaysia (PSM) still remain in police custody awaiting a court hearing on July 22 for their habeas corpus application filed on July 6.These six individuals are being held under section 3(1) of the Emergency Ordinance (EO) that allows for detention without charge for 60 days and can be renewed at the discretion of the Home Ministry for a period up to 2 years. Additionally, under Section 48(1) of the Societies Act 1966 and Section 29 (1) of the Internal Security Act, twenty-four PSM activists were charged on July 4 for their involvement with Bersih activities. These activists, originally detained by authorities in late June, have since been released but now face jail terms of up to five years and/or hefty fines under these provisions. We urge the U.S. government to:  Press for the immediate release of the six PSM members from preventive detention under the EO and drop the charges against the twenty-four other PSM activists.  Publicly call on the Malaysian government to immediately end all use of preventive detention to hold Bersih, PSM supporters, and other groups that advocate peacefully and stop using laws that provide for preventive detention for political reasons, including the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance, the Internal Security Act, the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985, the Societies Act 1966, and the Restricted Residency Act 1933.  Take into account the seriousness and timeliness of the government of Malaysia's response to these concerns when considering a possible visit by President Obama to Malaysia during his trip to the East Asia Summit in Bali later this year. The State Department should press the government of Malaysia to address these concerns in a serious and time-bound manner and consistently raise these matters in discussions with the Malaysian government in the coming days. We thank you for your attention to this important matter. Sincerely, T. Kumar Director of International Advocacy Amnesty International USA David J. Kramer President Freedom House Sophie Richardson Advocacy Director, Asia Division Human Rights Watch Hans Hogrefe Chief Policy Officer/Washington Director Physicians for Human Rights cc: Assistant Secretary Michael Posner, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell, East Asian & Pacific Affairs

பிஎஸ்எம் 6: சாட்சியம் இருந்தால் நீதிமன்றத்தில் நிறுத்துங்கள், சார்ல்ஸ் சந்தியாகோ Posted: 16 Jul 2011 04:53 AM PDT 15 Jul | செய்தி| மலேசியாஇன்று அண்மையில் கைது செய்யப்பட்ட மலேசிய சோசலிசக் கட்சி (பிஎஸ்எம்) உறுப்பினர்கள் அறுவரையும் இன்னும் விடுதலை செய்யாமல் அவசரகாலச் சட்டத்தின் கீழ் வைத்திருப்பது சட்டத்திற்கு புறம்பான செயாலாகும் என கிள்ளான் நாடாளுமன்ற உறுப்பினர் சார்ல்ஸ் சந்தியாகோ கூறினார். மனித உரிமையைத் தட்டிகேட்டும் அவர்கள் நாட்டின் பாதுகாப்பிற்கு தீங்கு விளைவிக்க இருந்ததாக குற்றம் சாட்டப் பட்டு, அவசரகாலச் சட்டத்தின் கீழ் கைது செய்யப்பட்டு இன்று வரையில்,14 நாட்கள், சிறையில் அடைக்கப்பட்டிருப்பது மனித உரிமையை ஒட்டு மொத்தமாக குழி தூண்டிப் புதைப்பது போலாகும். தொழிலாளர்களின் சம்பள உயர்வுப் பிரச்னை, நிலப் பிரச்னை, குடியிருப்பு பிரச்னை போன்ற மக்களின் உரிமைக்காக குரல் கொடுத்த இந்தத் தலைவர்களை கைது செய்து இருப்பது மனதுக்கு மிக வேதனையாக இருக்கிறது என கூறிய சார்ல்ஸ், போலீசார் கூறுவதுபோல் அவர்கள் நாட்டின் பாதுகாப்பிற்கு அச்சுறுத்தலாக இருப்பதற்கான ஆதாரங்கள் இருந்தால் அவற்றை நீதிமன்றத்தில் காட்ட வேண்டுமே தவிர அவர்களைச் சிறையிலடைத்துக் கொடுமைப்படுத்துதலும் துன்புறுத்தலும் கூடாது என்றார். சந்தேகத்தின் பேரில் அவசரகாலச் சட்டத்தின் கீழ் கைது செய்யப்பட்ட அவர்கள் குற்றவாளிகள் என நிரூபிக்க  போலீசாரிடம் ஆதாரம் இல்லை என்றால், அவர்களை விடுதலை செய்ய வேண்டும் என வலியுறுத்திய சார்ல்ஸ், அவ்வாறு செய்யாமல் இருந்தால் உள்துறை அமைச்சர் ஹிஷாமுடின் மக்களின் கடுஞ்சினத்திற்கு ஆளாவார் என்று எச்சரித்தார் "சாட்சியம் இருந்தால், அந்த அறுவரையும் நீதிமன்றத்தில் நிறுத்துங்கள். இல்லையேல், அவர்களை உடனடியாக விடுதலை செய்யுங்கள்", என்று சார்ல்ஸ் உள்துறை அமைச்சரை கேட்டுக்கொண்டார்.

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