Human rights protection starts at home – Proham

THE Society for Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) would like to congratulate Malaysia for winning the election in taking one of the 18 seats in the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2022-2024 term. It has won 183 votes, and that is an admiring achievement for Malaysia internationally.

However, back home, Proham would like to reiterate its call to the Malaysian government to walk the talk in its pledges on human rights. While Malaysia’s success in taking a seat is interpreted as a recognition of the status of human rights as announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, Proham is of the view that such interpretation requires a reflection on the human rights situation in the country, to avoid using human rights as a tool for the national interest.

For instance, Malaysia continues to be far behind in its commitment to international human rights treaties, and we are among the lowest in signing them. 

Thus far, Malaysia has only signed the UN 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 (CRPD).

Even so, Malaysia still made reservations that it does not provide complete human rights protection. We also wish to remind the government of the National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) that has been ignored despite the amount of money spent on producing such documents.

We call for the government to review and update the NHRAP according to Malaysia’s pledges to the UN Human Rights Council. 

At the same time, we also call on the government to establish a human rights consultative council that includes the agencies, civil society organisations, academics and the private sector. 

As quoted from the pledges, “Malaysia’s bid to be elected as a member of the Human Rights Council for the term 2022-2024 reflects the country’s determination to continue to make progress in its efforts to protect and promote human rights, both domestically and internationally…” 

With this, Proham would like to reassert that human rights protection must start from home. – The Vibes, October 15, 2021

Issued on behalf of Proham by secretary-general Khoo Ying Hooi, chair Tan Sri Michael Yeoh and deputy chair Datuk Denison Jayasooria