Human Rights Day: nothing to celebrate in Malaysia

When it comes to discussion on human rights in Malaysia, many are not excited.

Is the topic really boring? It could be so in Malaysia, simply because the government is not excited about it at all. Rather, they worry about the potential impacts that human rights could have on the people.

The concept of human rights is simple. It is those rights that are inherent to us, and most importantly, all of us are entitled to these rights without distinction.

Unfortunately, in Malaysia, not all us get to enjoy our rights. What’s making it worse is that not all us realise that we are entitled for these rights.

Many perceive human rights as a complex concept and look at it cynically. But human rights can be as simple as the right to water and sanitation.

Where human rights are concerned, Malaysia is ranked lowly in many areas.

Since 1995, Malaysia has only signed three out of nine core treaties on human rights. These are the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which the government signed in 2008.

Although its chairmanship in Asean and its role as a non-permanent member in the UN Security Council in 2015 has nothing much to do with its human rights, these roles do not seem to fit its human rights record.

As Malaysia joins the world in commemorating International Human Rights Day on December 10, perhaps it is a good time to reflect its own human rights record.

The government wants to be seen as respecting human rights but the fact is it does not.

This year’s theme is "Human Rights 365", and clearly suggests that every day is a human rights day.

This time around, several organisations in Malaysia such as the UN Country Team, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), Global Movement of Moderates (GMM), Bar Council Malaysia and Society for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) have put up a number of events in conjunction with human rights day.

However, what is missing is the “fun” part about human rights to be instilled to the masses, that human rights could just be as simple as what we go through in daily life.

On the other hand, it is also understandable when we do not have a human rights-friendly government to support the civil society efforts, which serves as a huge constraint.

For example, the plan about having our own National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) has been proposed by not only Suhakam but also many other organisations in the country. After many years and discussions, it is nowhere to be seen.

Even ironic is that our ministers remind us repeatedly that we should pursue a Malaysian-style human rights to suit our culture.

Since the formation of Suhakam in 1999, Parliament has never even debated its annual reports.

Having said that, the entrenchment of a human rights culture in the country requires our MPs to push progressively for human rights agenda.

After two rounds of international diplomacy exercise on our Universal Periodic Review (UPR), what our government has proved to us is their diplomatic skills, but not the actual human rights performance back home.

After all, what exactly is Malaysian-style human rights, if we choose to ignore our own national human rights institution’s report? – December 8, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.