Malaysia Human Rights Report 2015: Civil and Political Rights

SUARAM’s annual Human Rights Report on Malaysia is widely recognised as the most objective, comprehensive and dependable source of information on the state of human rights in Malaysia. It documents the human rights violations as well as struggles of human rights defenders that take place in Malaysia during the year.

In 2015, there were allegations of corruption and misuse of state funds in the 1MDB scandal, the gruesome discovery of the Wang Kelian death camps and more of the same human rights violations of previous years. In the light of these scandals, the increasing domestic pressure against the Barisan Nasional government resulted in the state crackdown against human rights defenders and politicians. The concerns over the Special Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 were justified when a politician and his lawyer were subjected to 28 days’ detention under the Act in conjunction with Section 124 of the Penal Code for allegedly ‘sabotaging the nation’s financial sector’. Other activists protesting and calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Razak were also charged, along with media personnel, under other sections of the Act.

Beyond the politically motivated human rights violations, SUARAM also witnessed violations that arose out of alleged corruption, blatant abuse of power, apathy and disregard for human dignity. There was flagrant erosion of the fundamental liberties of Malaysians while the use of torture against alleged terror suspects and the practice of multiple arrests against alleged criminals were prevalent throughout 2015.

Publisher: Suara Rakyat Malaysia

Paperback

2016

ISBN: 9789671426302