AMNESTY International’s human rights report for 2023 depicts Malaysia in a poor light with the government allegedly failing to fulfill commitments to reform laws restricting the right to freedom of expression.

Amnesty International said Malaysia continued to use repressive laws to silence critical voices and prevent peaceful protest.

It further said that punitive treatment of refugees and migrants continued, including indefinite detention and forced return in violation of the principle of non-refoulement. 

“Further custodial deaths were recorded,” Amnesty International said in its annual report, which was released today.

One small positive aspect in Amnesty International’s report was the government’s decision to abolish the mandatory death penalty, allowing 1,020 death row prisoners to be eligible for resentencing.

The report covers the human rights record of the unity government’s first full year in power after winning the general election in November 2022.

The unity government, led by Pakatan Harapan, had come to power at the back of its promise to institute reforms and improve human rights, including freedom of expression and the removal of draconian laws.

Amnesty International said in its report that Malaysia had failed to act on commitments made during the 2022 general election campaign to reform laws that curtailed freedom of expression and to adopt a Freedom of Information Act.

“Authorities continued to use repressive laws – including the Communications and Multimedia Act; provisions of the Penal Code relating to causing disunity or hatred on grounds of religion and public fear or distress; and the Sedition Act – to silence critical voices both on- and offline,” the report said.

It gave an example of how the police questioned the director, producer and four others involved in making a film about a woman exploring the concept of the afterlife that was criticized by government officials and religious groups. 

The film – Mentega Terbang – was banned in September, and police investigations of the filmmakers are still ongoing.

The report also highlighted the case of Kean Wong – editor of the book Rebirth: Reformasi, Resistance, and Hope in New Malaysia, which was banned in 2020 – who was arrested for sedition last October. 

He was released after two days but investigations were continuing.

It added that the Printing Presses and Publications Act was increasingly used to restrict the right to freedom of expression of LGBTI people. 

In February, the Home Ministry banned three books for “immoral” content and promoting “LGBTI lifestyle” while in May, the ministry seized and subsequently banned LGBTI-themed products of a globally famous watch company, introducing new penalties of up to three years’ imprisonment for selling or wearing them.

No right to protests

The report further said that authorities continued to use the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA), the Penal Code and the Minor Offences Act to restrict the right to peaceful protest.

This included police actions against seven organisers of and participants in the Women’s March that took place to mark International Women’s Day and those who organized Labour Day rallies.

In July, police had also arrested eight members of the Ahmadi religious minority for joining a gathering in support of LGBTI rights. All were released after one day but remained under investigation.

As for refugee and migrant rights, the report said there were allegations of human rights violations in immigration detention centres where refugees and migrants were indefinitely detained. 

In February, human rights groups called for investigations into living conditions after the government revealed that 150 foreigners, including seven children and 25 women, had died in the centres in 2022, the Amnesty International report said.

The report said that the Malaysian authorities held 12,400 people, including 1,400 children, in immigration detention centres. 

The authorities also deported 114 adults and children to Myanmar where they were at risk of serious human rights violations. 

In a suspected case of enforced disappearance, Myanmar refugee and activist Thuzar Maung, her husband Saw Than Tin Win and three children were abducted by unknown people from their home in Selangor. 

A police investigation was opened, but they remained missing.

The report also highlighted that at least 13 people, including three foreigners, died in police custody.

As for the rights of the orang asli community, the report said palm oil plantations, logging and the construction of dams continued to threaten their lands and livelihoods.

One bright spark for human rights in Malaysia is the abolition of the mandatory death penalty effective July.

The government fully abolished the death penalty for seven offences, and introduced sentencing discretion for all offences to which the mandatory death penalty was applicable.

The Amnesty International report came just after the US released its own Country Reports on Human Rights.

The US report also stated that human rights in Malaysia remain unchanged. – April 24, 2024.