MALAYSIA is a hypocrite for criticising other countries which do not respect United Nations resolutions as it is guilty of doing the same, especially on the freedom of expression, say producers of books Putrajaya has banned.

Among them, cartoonist Zunar or Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque said Malaysia showed no respect for the views of UN Special Rapporteur Karima Bennoune in the field of cultural rights, who recently highlighted concerns about Putrajaya’s banning of books.

“When other countries, such as Israel, Myanmar and North Korea, violate UN resolutions, Malaysia is quick to censure them.

“But when Malaysia is taken to task, its attitude is different. This just proves Malaysia is hypocritical and arrogant,” Zunar told The Malaysian Insight.

Putrajaya last week banned his book Sapuman: Man of Steal in both Bahasa Malaysia and English. The cartoons are about Prime Minister Najib Razak and allegations surrounding the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal. 

The book was banned by the Home Ministry for violating the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

Zunar said Bennoune’s report after a 10-day visit in Malaysia, specifically mentioned his name under the section where she addressed concerns about Malaysia’s treatment of the freedom of artistic expression.

She highlighted the nine charges against Zunar under the Sedition Act and called for the charges as well as the travel ban on him to be dropped. Bennounce added that she and other UN human rights experts would follow closely his trial.

“A week after the UN report was issued, Malaysia banned my book. What does all this mean? It means Malaysia has no respect for the United Nations,” Zunar said.

Putrajaya also recently banned books by Muslim intellectuals, namely, Faisal Tehrani’s AKU _______, MAKA AKU ADA! (I ___, therefore I exist), and publications by Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF), including Wacana Pemikiran Reformis (Jilid I) (A Discourse on Reformist Thought, volume I) and Wacana Pemikiran Reformis (Jilid II).

The Home Ministry said these books were “likely to be prejudicial to public order and interest” and “likely to alarm public opinion”.

The ban on the IRF books came a day after the organisation’s director Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa was questioned by religious authorities over a forum that was to have featured Turkish author Mustafa Akyol last month.

The talk did not take place and Akyol was detained at the airport when trying to leave Malaysia and was later questioned by the religious authorities.

The ministry has also banned his book, Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty.

Ahmad Farouk, who will have to answer charges at the Kuala Lumpur Shariah Court in December over the talk, said Malaysia has a bad track record in human rights even though it had been a member of the UN’s Human Rights Council from 2006 to 2009, and from 2010 to 2013. 

Despite having held such a position, Malaysia itself has violated the freedom of expression which was protected under article 10 of the federal constitution, he said.

“Banning books shows the true colours of our government.

“It must be remembered that our government has yet to ratify the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which is the highest legal protection of the freedom of expression at the global level.”

Dr Ahmad Farouk added that Putrajaya had yet to fulfil various commitments it made during the Universal Periodic Review, a mechanism to review the human rights practices of all states, last held in 2013.

“As far as I’m concerned, the government is only good at creating the image of a moderate nation to the international community, but in reality, it fails to understand what human rights is.

“The government continues to violate the freedom of expression, including by banning books,” Ahmad Farouk said.

Zunar, meanwhile, said Malaysia “was not just any country in the UN” as it had once been a non-permanent member on the UN Security Council.

“If Malaysia as a member of the UN Security Council doesn’t even respect UN resolutions, what kind of country are we?” he asked, adding that Malaysia seemed to have no shame over its book bans.

Bennoune in her report after visiting Malaysia decried the banning of books which included books “about moderate and progressive Islam in the country when the government extols these very concepts abroad”.

“This can have a chilling effect on needed debates. The UN expert encourages the government to support a diversity of spaces and platforms for people to engage meaningfully with one another about culture, including on issues where they do not agree.

“The Malaysian government needs to develop concrete plans to guarantee freedom of artistic expression,” she said. – October 7, 2017.