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Covering events from January - December
2000MALAYSIA
Malaysia
Head of state: Sultan Salahuddin
Abdul Aziz Shah Alhaj
Head of
government: Mahathir
Mohamad
Capital:
Kuala Lumpur
Population: 22.2 million
Official
language: Bahasa Malaysia
Death penalty: retentionist |
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The authorities launched politically motivated
prosecutions against leading opposition party members. Former deputy Prime
Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his co-accused Sukma Darmawan were convicted of
sodomy after an unfair trial. Demonstrations in support of Anwar Ibrahim
and of political reform (reformasi) were violently broken up
by police. Reports of ill-treatment of detainees by police were not
adequately investigated. Two people were executed and at least 13 people
were sentenced to death.
Background
Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad reaffirmed his dominant political position following the ruling
alliance's election victory in November 1999 and the prolonged tensions
sparked by the dismissal and charging of Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. Despite
this,
the authorities continued to apply laws
restricting rights to freedom of expression, association and
assembly.
Politically motivated
prosecutions
In January the authorities
launched selective, politically motivated prosecutions under the Sedition
Act and the Official Secrets Act (OSA) against leading opposition party
members. None of the prosecutions had concluded by the end of 2000.
- In a prosecution which had grave implications for the
independence of lawyers in Malaysia, Karpal Singh, Anwar Ibrahim's
defence lawyer and deputy chairman of the Democratic Action Party (DAP),
was charged under the Sedition Act on account of statements he had made
in court about the alleged poisoning of his client.
- Marina Yusoff, vice-president of the Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN), National
Justice Party, was charged with sedition for comments allegedly
provoking racial tensions made at an election rally in 1999. PKN Youth
leader Mohamad Ezam Mohamad Noor was charged under the OSA for
distributing allegedly classified documents about official corruption to
journalists.
Press
freedom
Using its powers under the Printing
Presses and Publications Act, the authorities imposed restrictions on news
media regarded as pro-opposition. From March, Harakah, newspaper of the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), Islamic Party
of Malaysia, was allowed to
print only twice a month instead of twice a week. Other pro-reform
publications, including the magazines Detik and Eksklusif,
had the renewal of their permits arbitrarily
denied.
- In January sedition charges were brought against
Zulkifli Nordin, editor of Harakah,
and its publisher, Chia Lim Thye, for publishing
an allegedly seditious article which had reportedly been written by an
opposition leader. Chia Lim Thye pleaded guilty and was fined, while
proceedings against Zulkifli Nordin continued at the end of
2000.
Anwar
Ibrahim
After a year-long trial Anwar Ibrahim
was convicted in August of sodomy and sentenced to nine years'
imprisonment, to be served consecutively with a six-year sentence imposed
in April 1999 for alleged abuse of ministerial powers.
Anwar Ibrahim's co-accused, Sukma Darmawan,
was also convicted of sodomy and sentenced to six years' imprisonment and
four strokes of the cane. He was granted bail pending
appeal.
Anwar Ibrahim was a prisoner of
conscience as he was prosecuted and imprisoned in order to remove him from
public political life. His trial was unfair in several respects: public
statements by government leaders undermined the defendant's right to be
presumed innocent, detainees were ill-treated to coerce confessions and
defence lawyers were intimidated.
In
addition,the independence of the court in this case was in doubt, as the
prosecution received permission for a series of amendments to the charges
in relation to the date of the alleged offence, whereas Anwar Ibrahim was
refused permission to call certain witnesses and to present evidence
considered crucial by the defence.
The
judiciary
Domestic and international legal and
human rights groups, including AI, expressed concern about the lack of
independence of the judiciary in politically sensitive cases. In
politically motivated prosecutions, the courts failed adequately to defend
human rights principles enshrined in the Malaysian Constitution and in
international human rights law.
- In September the Court of Appeal upheld a three-month
prison sentence for contempt of court against Zainur Zakaria, one of
Anwar Ibrahim's defence lawyers. He had filed an affidavit in 1998
alleging that two public prosecutors had attempted to fabricate evidence
against his client. Zainur Zakaria filed a final appeal.
- In July the High Court struck out a defamation suit
against the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and
lawyers, Param Cumaraswamy, upholding the immunity from prosecution of
the Special Rapporteur, as confirmed in 1999 by the International Court
of Justice.
In 1995, four defamation suits
had been filed against the Special Rapporteur on account of comments he
had made in his official capacity.
Freedom
of assembly
The authorities responded to
periodic, peaceful public demonstrations in support of Anwar Ibrahim and
reformasi by dispersing
them violently, arresting protesters and filing charges of illegal
assembly. Senior members of opposition parties were also arrested on
suspicion of incitement ahead of planned demonstrations. Police permits
for public meetings by opposition parties were issued or refused
arbitrarily and selectively.
- In November, 125 people were arrested at a
demonstration in support of Anwar Ibrahim and at least 26 reported
injuries from beatings sustained during and after a violent police
dispersal. After five days in remand detention, 124 were released but
faced possible charges of illegal assembly.
- In November, three PAS activists were jailed for a
month for illegal assembly after refusing to pay a fine for
participating in a demonstration against a visiting Israeli cricket team
in 1997.
Torture/Ill-treatment
There were reports of excessive use of force by police in
dispersing demonstrations, and of beatings of protesters on arrest and in
detention. Investigations into the ill-treatment of detained
demonstrators, and of others arrested since 1998 in connection with the
Anwar Ibrahim case, remained inadequate. No police officers were reported
to have been brought to trial except the former Inspector-General of
Police, who, after the original charges were reduced, was convicted in
March of assaulting Anwar Ibrahim in custody in 1998. He was sentenced to
two months' imprisonment but remained free pending
appeal.
Former migrant workers from Bangladesh
who testified for the defence in the trial of women's rights activist
Irene Fernandez detailed torture and sexual abuse in camps for migrant
workers in 1994-1995. Irene Fernandez' trial began in 1996. She was
charged with ''maliciously publishing false news'' in a report describing
ill-treatment in camps for detained migrant workers.
There were also reports of ill-treatment and unlawful deaths in
police custody of ordinary criminal suspects.
Internal Security Act
Opposition parties
and civil society groups repeated calls for the repeal of the Internal
Security Act (ISA) which allows indefinite detention without charge or
trial. At least five Shi'a Muslims were reportedly detained under the ISA
for allegedly posing a threat to Muslim unity. In July at least 27 people
suspected of links to the Al
Ma'unah Islamic martial arts group, which seized
arms from a military base and killed two hostages, were detained under the
ISA. Twenty-nine Al Ma'unah
suspects were charged with ''waging war against the King'' (treason) under
the Penal Code. The fairness of their trial was compromised by the
Attorney General's application of emergency regulations restricting normal
rules of evidence in designated security cases. Six of the accused pleaded
guilty to a lesser charge, while 15 faced the death penalty if
convicted.
National Human Rights
Commission
In April the Human Rights Commission
of Malaysia was established. It met representatives of local human rights
groups and began to receive complaints, mostly allegations of police
brutality against demonstrators.
Although
concerns over its effectiveness continued to be expressed, the Commission
asserted the right to peaceful assembly, sent monitors to observe
demonstrations and held hearings into reports of police brutality. Other
issues considered by the Commission included human rights education for
police and for youth, and the need for reform of restrictive laws,
including the ISA.
Death penalty and
corporal punishment
In the first reported
executions since 1996, two men accused of drugs trafficking were executed
in November. At least 13 people were sentenced to death. Caning, a cruel,
inhuman and degrading punishment, was imposed throughout 2000 as an
additional punishment to imprisonment.
Communications to government
In January
AI issued a series of appeals Human rights
undermined - Appeal cases (AI Index: ASA
28/013/1999) related to application of the ISA, the torture, ill-treatment
and unfair trial of Anwar Ibrahim and his associates, the arrest and
ill-treatment of peaceful demonstrators, the trial of Irene Fernandez, and
the threatened prosecution of students and teachers. AI also expressed
concern at the arrest and charging of Karpal Singh and other opposition
leaders and called for reform of the Sedition Act and other restrictive
laws. In June AI stated its grave concerns at the verdict in the sodomy
trial of Anwar Ibrahim and Sukma Darmawan, reiterated its calls for Anwar
Ibrahim's release as a prisoner of conscience and again called for full,
independent investigations into credible reports of ill-treatment to
coerce confessions.
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