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Malaysian Human Rights Day Focuses on Women's Plight
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Malaysia marked its first Human Rights Day on Sunday with the Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) focusing on the plight of Muslim women and indigenous tribes.
The chairman of SUHAKAM, Musa Hitam, warned that discrimination against groups such as Muslim women and indigenous tribes are persisting despite economic progress.
"Our journey remains long, and there are still many needs that demand our attention," Hitam told a conference of government leaders and activists.
The government-appointed commission, comprising 13 judges, politicians, academics and officials from non-governmental groups, has set September 9th as Malaysia's Human Rights Day to commemorate the date in 1999 when Parliament officially announced the creation of the rights panel.
Last month, the rights group had serious fallout with the Malaysian government on the role of local police in the beating of demonstrators during political rallies.
The detention of political leaders, the banishment of peaceful rallies and the use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) to "muzzle" opponents of Mahathir Mohamad's regime made SUHAKAM prominent.
The group said indigenous tribes in Malaysia always lose out to progress and development.
Muslim women also face difficult situations in local Islamic courts, which are formally anti-women, women organizations in Malaysia said.
"Women always lose out to the men in the Shari'ah [Islamic law] courts. They are not given a fair chance, and that poses the problem of a fair trail too," a woman activist said.
On the other hand, a prominent women rights group based in the island of Penang in Malaysia said about 60% to 70% of women, including professionals, do not know their basic legal rights.
The president of the Penang Federation of Women Lawyers, Yuslinov Ahmad, said most women who sought legal advice were "clueless'' about their basic rights and entitlement over matters such as divorce and inheritance.
"I have come across professionals asking me whether they can seek alimony from their husbands when they were going through a divorce," she told reporters at a Law Literacy seminar on Sunday.
Other activists pointed to ethnic Malay Muslim women, who endure restrictions under Islamic law that govern many aspects of the lives of the Muslim majority.
In a related development, the Malaysian government on Monday pledged to protect human rights, saying that its commitment has not waned although it does not see eye-to-eye with many of the SUHAKAM's views and approaches.
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the government would support SUHAKAM's efforts to further enhance awareness and protection of basic human rights for all Malaysians.
"Even though we disagree with several of SUHAKAM's views, we will give attention to several proposals which can be implemented," he said.
Abdullah, who is also Home Minister, said people should support SUHAKAM's efforts, and view the issue of basic human rights in the proper perspective, without rhetorical or political elements, because basic human rights are the right of all Malaysians.
He said that despite divergent views, the government was willing to consider many recommendations made by SUHAKAM in its report on the illegal gatherings on the Kesas Highway on November 5, 2000.
Malaysia's human rights record is not spectacular. Its regime is internationally recognized as suppressive and authoritarian. The United States, Amnesty International and other international human rights groups, consistently monitor Malaysia for its alleged abuses of human rights.
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