Keynote Address and Official Opening by Dr. Syed Husin Ali

Let me first of all thank the organizers and the Bar Council for inviting me to officiate the opening of your Human Rights Day celebration tonight. Truly, I feel deeply honoured. In our society it is indeed extremely rare for a person outside the political mainstream and not holding any high official position in government to be invited to perform this role. Small as it may seem this gesture is indeed significant because it shows time is indeed achanging.

Secondly, I must congratulate you young lawyers of the Bar for celebrating this Day by organizing a debate amongst students. This is an innovative if not a creative move. I understand that this is the first time the Bar Council celebrates the Human Rights Day in this manner. I am told that the debate has attracted about 150 student participants from various schools inside and outside the country. I do not know if it is also the first competition of its kind in the whole world. Be that as it may, I salute all of you.

We celebrate the Human Rights Day to commemorate the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). As we all know, the UDHR was declared by the United Nations Assembly full sixty years ago on 10 December 1948. Following the proclamation the Assembly beseeched member countries to disseminate, read and expound the declaration especially in schools and other educational institutions.

The debates, which are scheduled to last for three days, are in keeping with this spirit. I hope that all participants will not treat them merely as a competition to score points over rivals and to emerge ultimately as the champion. More important, I hope all debaters as well as members of the audience will consider the debates as providing opportunity to fully appreciate, internalize and uphold the UDHR. More important still they should help to strengthen our resolve and commitment to fight for basic human rights in this country.

The UDHR, in essence, “was to set a standard of rights for all people everywhere – whether male or female, black or white, communist or capitalist, victor or vanquished, rich or poor, for members of a majority or a minority in the community” (Peter Bailey, The Creation of the UDHR). The declaration is a short and easy to read document. It was intended to be so by the commission responsible for formulating it, that was chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Roosevelt of the United States. It is made up of thirty compact and precisely written articles.

Nearly two-thirds (17) of these articles deal with political and civil rights, while less than a third (8) deal with economic and social rights. Out of the UDHR emerged two covenants, namely, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Since these covenants define the obligations of each state, not a single government ratified them, until after18 years in 1966.

Even now, there are still some governments that have not ratified these two covenants, one of them being the Malaysian Government. It is no surprise, therefore, that it often rides roughshod over some human rights issues?

Among the civil and political rights enumerated and to be strived under the UDHR “as a common standard for all peoples”, no one should be subjected to: “torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (Article 5); “arbitrary arrest, detention or exile” (Article 9); and should have the right and freedom of “opinion and expression” (Article 19); as well as “peaceful assembly and association” (Article20).

I consider the above to be the inherent rights and freedoms of all individuals. They are universal and consistent with the teachings of all great religions and good human values. They are, in fact, upheld in the Malaysian Constitution. But, unfortunately, they have been violated by many an act and regulation that have been legislated by government and inhuman actions of various law enforcers.

Many arbitrary arrests and detentions have been perpetrated under the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA). Those arrested can be detained for indefinite periods without being brought to court on mostly false allegations. There is no justification for this act now, because originally it was meant to be directed against militant communism, which is no more in this country. It is an unjust act which can and has often been used to cripple political parties and politicians regarded by the ruling parties as enemies. It is also against the teaching of Islam, the religion of the Federation and other great religions.

There have been many reports and also books written about the severe experiences of torture and inhuman treatment perpetrated by some police officers on detainees or suspected criminals especially during their interrogations. Look at the case of what the ex-DPM Anwar Ibrahim had to suffer under the hand of a former IGP. Some detainees have even died allegedly as a result of being tortured during police custody.

I have described many instances of torture and inhuman treatment experienced by some political detainees in my book, The Two Faces. Sadly, it appears as if almost all the perpetrators have been accorded protection and so managed to escape investigation and punishment.

Cases of people being denied the right and freedom for peaceful assembly are well known. The police ought to protect such assemblies as happen under many civilized governments. Instead, here they provoke violence on peaceful demonstrators by shooting water cannons spiked with dangerous chemicals and beating up and arresting them while dispersing.

Regarding freedom of association, there seems to be blatant double standards. All political parties as well as other organizations are required by law to register. While political parties that are known to be aligned with government are given almost instant registration, those suspected of being anti-government have to wait for as long as ten years or never getting it.

As for the right and freedom of opinion and expression, one really wonders if it exists at all in this country. The right to disseminate information is one of the main prerequisites for democratic electoral process. The mainstream media are almost exclusively controlled by the governing political parties or their nominees here. They not only deny coverage to parties and politicians in opposition but also deliberately distort what they do or say. The Publishing and Printing Presses Act (PPPA) requires application for permit that must be renewed annually or they can be revoked any time. Press freedom is very much constrained.

Turning now to the economic, social and cultural rights, the UDHR guarantees everyone, among other things, the right of equal access to public service (Article 21 (2)); “just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity” (Article 23 (3)); “to form and join trade unions” (Article 23(4)); “a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care …” (Article 25(1)); free and compulsory education at least at the elementary level (Article 26(1)); and “freely to participate in the cultural life of the community (Article 27(1)).

In practice, on the basis of Malay special position as guaranteed by the Malaysian Constitution, there is a quota that favours Malays to non-Malays in the ratio of 3:1. In my view, there is no harm reviewing this, provided at the same that there is also a review of Malay participation in Chinese-controlled business and industry. Absolute poverty still exists among all ethnic groups in various economic sectors, especially in rural agriculture. Here the Malay poor constitute the majority of all living in poverty. Relative poverty is growing, partly caused by concentration of wealth which widens the socio-economic gaps.

Poverty affects adversely the access to food, housing, medical care and education available to the poor. A number of laws like the Trade Union and Employment acts, obstruct the formation of unions (e.g. for electronics workers) and makes it very difficult for workers to go on strike for pay rise and improvement of their living conditions. Quite a significant proportion of private and public sector workers live under the poverty line. They do not enjoy minimum wage, although it has been fought for quite some time.

We see that to improve the condition and status of civil and political rights in this country, there is need to fight for the removal of several acts and regulations that restrict or deprive rights and freedoms for all categories of people. Many of them have been inherited from colonial days and a number have been amended to become even worse (e.g. ISA, AUKU and PPPA).

As regards the economic and social rights, some aspects can be corrected by introducing just laws. What is more important is for each and everyone of us to struggle for wider democracy and social justice, based on greater concern for improving the plights of the poor and guaranteeing justice for all.

Finally, we need much greater commitment from individuals, NGOs and political parties to fight for and defend basic human rights and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. With that note I declare the UDHR@60 debates open.

Dr S Husin Ali (husinsa23@yahoo.com)