US asks Malaysia to allow freedom of expression

[The_YongGrand]

Originally Posted by Chai

That won't be a problem, IF MONEY wasn't an issue.

We need a lot of money for migration! Well, that's a major issue...

[zy]

Originally Posted by The_YongGrand

We need a lot of money for migration! Well, that's a major issue...

borrow alot from alot of along (load shark) then migrate and dont come back.

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by The_YongGrand

Hmn... well you can write down the recepies for the food... and bring your friends and family along too!

LOL!! You can't bring EVERYONE!

[Adrian Wong]

From AFP :

US demands due process for arrested Malaysian activists

The United States demanded Thursday that Malaysia provide fair treatment to five leaders of a rights group held under a security law that allows for indefinite detention without trial.

The five from the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), pushing for an end to discrimination of ethnic Indians in multi-racial Malaysia, were picked up Thursday and ordered held under the feared Internal Security Act (ISA).

"Our expectation as a government is that these individuals would be provided the full protections under Malaysian law, that they would be given due process, that they would be accorded all the rights accorded to any other citizen, and that this be done in a speedy and transparent manner," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Hindraf enraged the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi last month by mustering at least 8,000 people to the streets of Kuala Lumpur to highlight various issues facing ethnic Indians, including lack of economic opportunities and destruction of Hindu temples.

Police used tear gas, water cannons and baton charges to break up the protests.

"It is our firm position that those individuals who want to peacefully express themselves in a political forum or any other forum should be allowed to do so," McCormack told reporters.

Human rights groups have campaigned for the abolition of the ISA, a law that they say has been abused by the authorities.

The ISA is currently being used to hold more than 100 people, including about 80 alleged Islamic militants.

Human Rights Watch, a US group, said the arrest was "outrageous."

"We have said over and over again that the ISA should be abolished and there is no room for holding people, never mind indefinitely, without charge and trial," said Mickey Spiegel, the group's Asia division senior researcher.

The Malaysian government, led by ethnic Muslim Malays since independence, has always used deadly race riots in 1969 as a reason for controls on freedom, even though some groups believe that after 50 years of independence, Malaysians are matured enough to discuss their grievances openly.

"Malaysian authorities are obligated, like any sovereign countries' government, to balance the need for public order with equally important need for robust and free debate of issues important to Malaysian citizens," a State Department official said.

"It is our hope that the Malaysia government will allow the freest possible debate," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a US non-profit law firm that helps defend freedom of all religions, charged that the destruction of Hindu temples -- some built before the start of the British colonial period almost two centuries ago -- could be an attempt to erase Hindu heritage in Malaysia.

Hindraf claimed one temple was being demolished every three weeks.

"What I have heard from people is really that in destroying these temples, they are trying to destroy evidence of how long the Hindu faith has been a part of Malaysia, particularly in the context of advancing Islamisation and of the equation of Islam with nationalism in Malaysia," said Angela Wu, the Fund's international law director.

Hindraf has filed a four trillion dollar lawsuit against Britain for alleged atrocities suffered by Indians whose forefathers were brought as indentured laborers to Malaysia during colonial rule. — AFP

[Adrian Wong]

Malaysia's Response...

Malaysia rejects US criticism of protest crackdown

(AFP) — Malaysia on Wednesday rejected renewed US criticism of its crackdown on mass protests, saying Washington did not understand the situation here.

The United States on Monday called on Malaysia to allow freedom of expression and assembly as the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi widened its crackdown on dissent.

"We have repeatedly raised with Malaysian authorities our belief that citizens of any country should be allowed to peacefully assemble and express their views," State Department spokeswoman Nancy Beck told AFP.

"We also stated in our annual human rights report our belief that the Malaysian government places significant restrictions on the right to assemble peacefully," she said.

But Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Malaysia was merely applying its laws, under which police permits are required for public assemblies of five or more people.

"People want to get together within the law, if they don't cause problem for the other citizens then we have no problem with that. But if they jeopardise public security or safety, then we take action," he told a press conference.

"So I don't think comment from the US side is a fair comment. I don't think they understand the situation very well."

The first of the mass demonstrations last month drew at least 30,000 people calling for electoral reform. A week later some 8,000 gathered to protest against discrimination against ethnic Indians living here.

The US last week backed their right to assemble, after authorities here used tear gas and water cannon to disperse rare mass rallies.

Dozens of people have been arrested and charged with offences including attempted murder and sedition, in moves condemned by the opposition and human rights groups.

Syed Hamid said he would meet with diplomats Thursday to explain the current situation in Malaysia and the government's actions so far against protesters.

[Adrian Wong]

Here are FIVE facts on the draconian Internal Security Act (ISA).

(Reuters) - Malaysia has invoked its notorious Internal Security Act (ISA) to detain five ethnic Indians from a group that staged a mass anti-government protest last month.

There are currently 74 people, mostly suspected Muslim militants, being detained under the ISA, the government said last month.

Here are five facts on the ISA.

-- Passed in 1960, three years after Malaysian independence, the ISA was designed to curb a perceived communist threat. It grew out of emergency regulations that were part of then Malaya's campaign against the Malayan Communist Party in British colonial times. Neighbour Singapore, once part of Malaysia, kept the ISA after leaving the Malaysian Federation in 1965.

-- The act allows for the arrest and detention for an indefinite period of a suspect judged as "likely" to commit an act deemed dangerous to national security. Detainees can be held for 60 days without legal counsel, and preventive detention can then be renewed every two years.

-- Amended dozens of times, it also has provisions to restrict freedom of assembly, expression and movement, among others. Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, it has been used to lock up dozens of suspected Islamic militants. Most ISA detainees are kept at Kamunting prison in northwest Perak state.

-- The Human Rights Watch has said governments have consistently used the ISA for their own political purposes to detain thousands of citizens, including political opposition leaders, academics, trade unionists as well as religious, social, environmental and women's rights activists. Rights groups criticise the ISA as a draconian violation of international human rights standards, and a tool to stifle peaceful political dissent.

- In October 2007, opposition figure Abdul Malek Hussin became the first person to win a significant payment for illegal detention under the ISA. He was awarded nearly $750,000 in damages for his Sept 1998 detention, for addressing a "Reformasi" demonstration calling for political reform.

[Dashken]

"People want to get together within the law, if they don't cause problem for the other citizens then we have no problem with that. But if they jeopardise public security or safety, then we take action," he told a press conference.

"So I don't think comment from the US side is a fair comment. I don't think they understand the situation very well."

That's what Malaysian government always says to defend themselves. "You don't understand the situation here.", "Look at your country before you tell us what to do.", etc. But in this case, since it's US, they said the former instead of the latter like what they said to India for the criticism on Hindraf.

I don't think the US can do anything to help us...

Sigh...

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by Dashken

That's what Malaysian government always says to defend themselves. "You don't understand the situation here.", "Look at your country before you tell us what to do.", etc. But in this case, since it's US, they said the former instead of the latter like what they said to India for the criticism on Hindraf.

I don't think the US can do anything to help us...

Sigh...

Well, they are right. How can any civilized nation understand such a unique situation?

Even in the case of apartheid in South Africa, I can understand that the minority whites use it to oppress the majority blacks and keep them in power and wealth. Well, it's the reverse over here! How can anyone understand the "logic"? It's so ridiculous, it's even funny.

Even if they understand the concept of Bumiputra, can they understand the even more bizarre concept of UMNOputra? Or how some Bumiputras are more bumiputra than others?

Oh right... Maybe they will understand the part about how some are "more equal" than others. Especially if they have already read George Orwell's Animal Farm.