(All pictures and videos courtesy of Mien Ly) “BUKA pintu! Buka pintu!” shout the volunteers through the grill door, into the hallway of the shop lots in Pudu. They are from Rela, a civil volunteer corp formed by the Malaysian government in 1972 to help preserve “peace and national security”. They are conducting a raid [...]

Updated at 7.50pm, 21 July 2009 MALAYSIA has announced publicly that “respect for human rights has long been established given the country’s character as a melting pot of various cultures, religions and ethnicities.” This announcement was made at none other than Malaysia’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) [...]

THE condemnation of Malaysia in the United States State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report 2009 should not have come as a surprise. In fact, the Malaysian authorities should have anticipated it. The Malaysian government was put on notice of active trafficking in persons in the country a year ago by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and [...]

(Source: un.org) THERE was some cheer for me on World Press Freedom Day this year. It was provided by a press release from the Selangor government. To commemorate the annual celebration on 3 May, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim spelt out clearly what his government was doing to promote press freedom. In early [...]

KUALA LUMPUR, 17 April 2009: Race-based policies and political parties have been undermining Malaysia’s commitment to an international declaration the country adopted eight years ago against racial discrimination. In light of this, 44 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have called on the government to fulfill its international obligations to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA). [...]

IN the midst of Perak’s political crisis and public anger over A Kugan’s death, many might fail to note a significant upcoming event on 11 Feb 2009. This is the review of Malaysia’s human rights record by the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council. It takes place between 2.30pm and 5.30pm Geneva time, or 9.30pm [...]