Sin Chew Daily

Suaram’s Human Rights Report 2019 said the PH government had not done enough to improve the country’s human rights records since it came to power last year, with some 2,437 people arrested without trial this year, up from 2,093 last year.

Human rights is one of the issues that have received tremendous attention in any democratic society, and is one of the indicators for a country’s civility.

Human rights are being oppressed in autocratic countries, while in a civilised state, human rights are often respected.

As a democratic country, Malaysia should strive to protect human rights and safeguard the citizens’ interests and dignity.

There have been calls to defend Malaysians’ human rights in recent years but the progress so far has been sluggish and unsatisfactory.

The previous BN administration did not perform up to the mark in safeguarding human rights. Malaysians had very high expectations for the new PH government to improve the situation but have been largely disappointed.

Before the 2018 general elections, PH pledged to review and abolish draconian laws but so far none of the draconian laws have been abolished while the promised reviews have been repeatedly deferred, showing that the PH government lacks a strong political will in this matter.

PH once declared that it would repeal the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA), but the government now says it will only make some amendments to the act and will not abolish it.

To make things worse, the police are still arresting people under these laws. The police have recently detained 12 individuals suspected of LTTE involvement under SOSMA, sparking tremendous outcry in the society. Without a fair trial, the freedom and human rights of the detainees are being denied.

To be fair, the PH government is not doing nothing at all, where human rights are concerned. Last week, the Dewan Rakyat debated and adopted for the first time the human rights report submitted to the Parliament by Suhakam.

Minister in the prime minister’s department for legal affairs Datuk Liew Vui Keong said subsequently that the adoption of the annual human rights report means the government would need to implement the recommendations proposed in Suhakam’s report.

Malaysians generally welcome the government’s initiative to promote human rights development in the country, but saying it alone is not enough and the government needs to put in some effort to bring about the substantial changes.

While debating the human rights report in the Parliament has some degree of significance, the government must take real actions to fulfil its promise to improve the situation of human rights in this country.

In other words, the government must expedite the judicial process to repeal the unpopular laws to show its sincerity.

Human rights can only move forward, not backward.