LET’S get a few things straight. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob was obviously milking the membership of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) by saying the recognition is due to Malaysia’s human rights record.

Also, calling the election a great achievement is a bit of a stretch when it comprises five Asia-Pacific states – Malaysia being one of them – vying for five vacant seats.

Even though Malaysia does not have an excellent record to boast, a country must be pretty abysmal in human rights for its membership to be disputed despite the election being a foregone conclusion.

Secondly, the membership itself is not a recognition of a country having an exemplary human rights record or practices. If that was the case, then countries such as China, Russia and Venezuela that are currently in the council must be an epitome of human rights virtue.

Syria did not appear on the ballot after its intention to seek a seat in 2012 at the heights of the Syrian civil war, which led to civilian casualty, was questioned and criticised by the United States and European Union.

Therefore, a seat in the UNHRC is more or less guaranteed if the country performs its due diligence in lobbying and soliciting support from other nation states and has not grossly violated human rights.

Nevertheless, human rights defenders in Malaysia should highlight Malaysia’s human rights record at home, especially since this is already the third time Malaysia has been awarded a seat in the UNHRC.

The foreign minister spoke glowingly about Malaysia’s membership and vowed to prioritise the rights of vulnerable groups, particularly children and women. Yet, this is also the same government that decided to appeal against the landmark judgment of granting automatic citizenship to children born abroad to Malaysian women married to foreigners.

This is undoubtedly discriminatory towards women, especially when children born abroad to foreign women and Malaysian men are granted citizenship automatically.

The beauty of human rights is its universality and there is nothing human about the way the government represses the rights of Malaysian women married to foreigners, despite the court ruling.

On the other front, Malaysia’s human rights record remains unsatisfactory and has even regressed in some areas.

Malaysia is still far away from abolishing repressive laws such as the Sedition Act 1948 while our neighbours Singapore has once again trumped us by repealing this piece of colonial legislation two weeks ago.

The government would have much explaining to do if it is probed in the UNHRC – more so when the Act was recently used against 20-year-old activist Sarah Irdina.

Sarah was arrested because of a harmless tweet promoting a protest, which she is entitled to do. For her “seditious” act, the young activist was handcuffed, had her room raided and was only released earlier due to impassioned protest.

While the foreign minister deserves praise for highlighting the rights of children in Malaysia, he should do well to remember children or young people also have the right to freedom of expression and therefore entitled to any political opinion.

Given that Malaysia was voted in twice from 2006-2009 and 2010-2013, questions should be rightly asked as to why Malaysia possesses such a poor record in ratifying core human rights treaties, especially when the government clearly relishes participating in international human rights bodies.

Malaysia has only ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Convention on the Rights of the Children and Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, while our neigbours such as Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia have ratified more human rights treaties than Malaysia.

I suspect Malaysia will continue to play catch-up with these countries in the foreseeable future, given that the main people opposing the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination are now in charge of the government.

Having said that, civil societies and human rights defenders should still expect the government to make improvements and advancement on its human rights record and ensure government pledges and commitments are adhered to.

The positive spin by the government after Malaysia was elected to the council for a third time clearly does not reflect the reality on the ground.

It is also important to note that by being in the UNHRC, Putrajaya now has extra responsibilities, and civil societies could utilise some form of international pressure to hold the government accountable to human rights. – October 17, 2021.

* Kenneth Cheng has always been interested in the interplay between human rights and government but more importantly he is a father of two cats, Tangyuan and Toufu. When he is not attending to his feline matters, he is most likely reading books about politics and human rights or playing video games. He is a firm believer in the dictum “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.