MALAYSIA: Conviction Shows that Space for Dissent Remains Limited

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia, Oct 17 2003 (IPS) - The 12-month jail term handed down this week to a human rights activist for "maliciously publishing false news" – about atrocious conditions reported from immigration detention camps – signals that little has changed in the space for dissent and activism in Malaysia.

The 12-month jail term handed down this week to a human rights activist for "maliciously publishing false news" – about atrocious conditions reported from immigration detention camps – signals that little has changed in the space for dissent and activism in Malaysia.

The trial of Irene Fernandez of the non-government group Tenaganita was said to be the longest-running criminal trial in Malaysian history.

The proceedings centred on the allegations in a memorandum Fernandez had circulated seven years ago alleging torture and deaths in camps, forced stripping of detainees, lack of proper diet, denial of medical treatment, filthy toilets, and corruption.

The magistrate, however, concluded Thursday that Fernandez had written her memorandum based on the information from former detainees without "effort to obtain the truth in their statements". The court nonetheless allowed Fernandez a stay of execution pending appeal to the High Court, setting bail at 3,000 ringgit (790 U.S. dollars).

”It is not easy to bear witness to the truth but it will be done," Fernandez told IPS after the verdict. ”I will continue my struggle.”

The rights activist was arrested in March 1996 and charged under the Printing Presses and Publications Act for circulating a memorandum entitled, ‘Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Treatment of Migrant Workers at the Detention Camps’. The maximum penalty for this offence is a three-year jail term or a fine of up to 20,000 ringgit (5,277 dollars).

”What is worrying is that the sentence is meant to be a deterrent to the NGOs not to be active in human rights,” laments Fernandez. ”It will create fear among people about associating with human rights groups.”

In a statement Friday, Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM Asia) a rights network on migration and related issues, said: ”It is highly regrettable that Irene Fernandez/Tenaganita was even charged for asking attention for an important public interest issue (problems of migrants).”

The guilty verdict coincided with the opening of the Organisation of Islamic Conference in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

While the proceedings were going on in court, outgoing Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad was welcoming delegates to the OIC summit in the new administrative capital Putrajaya. ”Our countries must be stable and well-administered, must be economically and financially strong, industrially competent and technologically advanced,” he told delegates. Ironically, migrant workers played a key role in constructing the grand, imposing monuments that dot Putrajaya. But despite their immense contributions in transforming the skyline of the nation, migrant workers remain vulnerable to exploitative working conditions and harassment.

They are also at the mercy of employment agents and have to fork out huge amounts of commissions ranging from 450 to well over a thousand U.S. dollars to these agents before they can come to Malaysia to work.

More often than not, they arrive on Malaysian shores indebted to family or friends, or after having sold off personal property to finance their trip.

In other instances, they are lured to Malaysia with promises of attractive salaries only to be shocked when they receive wage slips showing significantly lower take-home wages, usually after a host of deductions.

In a landmark decision on Jun. 20, the High Court in the northern city of Penang ruled in favour of 52 Indian migrant workers who were duped by false promises of high wages when they were recruited for employment in Malaysia.

Despite this decision, rights workers point out that migrant workers often lack awareness of their rights. Many often cannot afford lawyers to take up complaints against errant employers. Immigration laws are stacked heavily in favour of the employers, who can easily get their workers’ permits revoked.

Activists have been lobbying for Malaysia to endorse the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families.

The convention entered into force in July this year, 13 years after it was adopted by the United Nations in 1990.

Fernandez’s jail term has also placed the spotlight on a law that many human rights groups consider undemocratic: the Printing Presses and Publications Act. Critics argue that this law has been used to stifle freedom of expression and press freedom.

Under the Act, publishers have to apply for a publishing permit for each periodical they publish – and they must apply for a new permit every year. Publishers – and anyone distributing memorandums like Irene did – can also be prosecuted for publishing "false news".

Conspicuously missing in the uproar that greeted Fernandez verdict was the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), which has been roundly criticised as a public relations arm of the government in dealing with human rights abuses.

The Fernandez verdict has once again thrust the country’s judiciary under the glare of international attention. The judiciary has never really recovered from watershed events in 1988, when the top judge and five other senior judges were suspended ahead of a politically sensitive case that potentially could have threatened Mahathir’s position. It plunged to a new low in 1998-2000, with the widely criticised trials of Anwar Ibrahim.

Fernandez, a supreme council member of Anwar’s opposition party Keadilan, was a prominent figure in the ‘reformasi’ movement that emerged in the wake of Anwar’s ouster.

She could be disqualified from contesting in the next general election if the 12-month jail term is upheld upon appeal. The election is widely expected to be held in the first half of next year.

The jail term handed down on Fernandez is likely to have a chilling effect on activism in the country and may deter apathetic Malaysians from getting involved in human rights work.

”The stifling of the freedom of expression of a migrant support organisation/advocate first through the charge of publishing false news. . . is a gross violation of fundamental rights that have far reaching implications for the health of migrant and non migrant populations in the region,” CARAM-Asia added in its statement.

The verdict has shown that the human rights climate is not likely to change during the political transition to Mahathir’s successor, Deputy Premier Abdullah Badawi, who is also home affairs minister.

The sentencing ”is a harsh reminder that Malaysia is not on the threshold of a spring-time for democracy and human rights with the impending change of Prime Minister in two weeks’ time,” said veteran opposition politician Lim Kit Siang.