[asia-apec 685] Re: Malaysia and human rights

[jkellock at amnesty.org]

               AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

AI INDEX: ASA 28/19/98                             News Service 183/98  18
September 1998 -- For Immediate Release


MALAYSIA:  A crossroads for human rights and the rule of law?

Events in Malaysia following the dismissal of Anwar Ibrahim as Deputy Prime
Minister on 2 September 1998 have reinforced Amnesty International?s
longstanding concerns over the imposition of unjustified restrictions on
the exercise of fundamental human rights - particularly the right to
peacefully express opinion free from the threat of arbitrary arrest and
detention.

     Shortly after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad dismissed Anwar Ibrahim,
the police announced publicly that the former Deputy Prime Minister was
under criminal investigation for sedition and other crimes. The police
lodged at the High Court a number of affidavits, affirmed by the
Attorney-General, alleging that Anwar had been involved in acts of sexual
impropriety, tampering with evidence, bribery and threatening national
security. Although the affidavits were unsubstantiated, and no charges have
been filed against Anwar, the judge chose to allow their entire contents to
be made public.

     Attorney-General Mohtar Abdullah has stated that, subject to
investigations, Anwar could be charged under the Internal Security Act
(ISA), the Official Secrets Act (OSA), the Penal Code,  the Women and Girls
Protection Act and the Prevention of Corruption Act.  Five of Anwar's
associates have been arrested. Two of them, businessman S Nallakarrupan and
journal editor Munawar Anees, have been charged under the Internal Security
Act (ISA),  which allows indefinite detention without charge, and Amnesty
International is calling for them to be immediately released or charged
with a recognised criminal offence.

     As large crowds of supporters continued to gather at Anwar?s residence
and during his visits outside the capital the police also threatened to
invoke the Police Act, which prohibits gatherings of more than three people
without a permit and prescribes a punishment of up to six months
imprisonment.

     These events come on top of other prominent cases involving the
government?s selective application of restrictive laws and apparent misuse
of judicial procedures, in particular the imprisonment of opposition
parliamentarian and prisoner of conscience Lim Guan Eng, now entering the
fourth week of a 18-month sentence, for sedition and printing ?false news?,
and the trial of women?s rights activist Irene Fernandez, charged for
publishing ?false news? about the ill-treatment of detainees in camps for
migrant workers.

     These cases have had a chilling effect on freedom of expression in
Malaysia as those in power signal that the space for the dissenting
political opinion is limited, and that the penalties for alleged
transgressions severe.

     While Amnesty International is not in a position to ascertain the
truth of the allegations against Anwar or his associates, the government's
actions have galvanized reaction within Malaysia society to the apparently
politically-motivated misuse by government leaders of state institutions
and judicial procedures. The timing and nature of statements and actions by
the Royal Malaysia Police and the Attorney-General?s office have prompted
charges of political bias which appears at odds with their professional and
constitutional duties to uphold the law equally.

     More and more Malaysians, including politicians, lawyers, social and
human rights activists and ordinary citizens, have stressed how recent
government actions against Anwar and his associates pose a threat to the
rights of all in Malaysia.

     Amnesty International is monitoring developments in the wake of
Anwar's dismissal and is urging the Malaysian authorities to ensure that
Malaysian law is applied at all times in accordance with the basic human
rights principles, enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution and in
international human rights instruments, and is not misused to detain or
imprison people solely for the non-violent expression of critical political
views.

.../ENDS