* Commentary by Mustafa K Anuar

“SUKA Hati Kami”, meaning “as we please”, is a joke borrowed from political cartoonist Zunar, whose latest creative impulse caricatures Suhakam’s controversial line-up of human rights commissioners.

The artist was taking the mickey out of the human rights agency appointees, who are perceived to have been selected without transparency and at the whim and fancy of the Ismail Sabri Yaakob government.

Suhakam, short for Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, was set up 22 years ago to serve as an official but independent watchdog, whose commissioners are appointed for a three-year term. The new appointments for the 2022-2025 term took effect on June 22 .

The selection process in the past had involved consultation with stakeholders, particularly the civil society. This dimension is absent in the current selection procedure.

Against the backdrop of a Suhakam that has made substantial strides in human rights advocacy over the years, the commissioners’ appointment has, therefore, become a major disappointment as the majority of them are seen as not inspiring confidence particularly by a coalition of 120 civil society groups, who recently expressed protest.

Collectively called the CSO Platform for Reform, they were concerned that the commissioners, many of whose human rights credentials are perceived to be questionable, may not stand up for human rights in the country.

The line-up is considered contentious because it is headed by Rahmat Mohamad, one of the four academics who reportedly had convinced the Conference of Rulers to reject the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which led to the Pakatan Harapan government of the day having to abandon the plan to ratify it. He is expected to determine the direction that the institution would take in the coming years.

Concern also surrounds the other appointees, particularly Mohamad Nordin Ibrahim, who is former Islamic Development Department director-general; Nazira Abdul Rahim, who is women’s chief of the Kulim-Bandar Baharu Umno division; and Hasnal Rezua Merican, who is the Selayang Umno deputy division chief.

It is feared that these individuals may have a certain mindset that might compromise the institution’s obligations to further enhance the country’s human rights standing, especially at a time when Malaysia is a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The two Umno members are active politicians, which is a clear departure from past practice that disallowed politicians from taking up such important positions.

As a result, would the appointed commissioners concerned be willing or able to professionally deal with, for instance, issues of unilateral conversion of faith involving children that are considered as unjust? Or institutional discrimination that affects the ethnic and cultural minorities in our society?

While past commissioners might have, like any other citizens with democratic rights, their personal political preferences, these generally did not adversely impact on the independence and human rights commitment of the institution.

Thus, central to this issue is the crucial process of selecting the commissioners that needs to be transparent as well as inclusive in terms of diverse membership and representation of the wider spectrum of concerns in our society. And what criteria were used for the selection?

This raises the importance of revisiting the proposal to amend the Suhakam Act 1999 so that the selection is exercised by Parliament, and not solely by the executive that may have its narrow interests colour the selection.

Additionally, Suhakam should be answerable to parliament so that its annual reports and recommendations it would not eventually gather dust, but instead be addressed adequately in the interest of improving the country’s human rights standards.

The selection of commissioners is indeed vital to ensure that they have deep commitment and moral fibre that are essential for them to act without fear and favour, which would reinforce the commission’s political independence. This point seemed to have escaped the attention and understanding of whoever had advised the prime minister on the selection.

It is worth being mindful that Suhakam is only as good as its commissioners. – July 5, 2022.