SUHAKAM: Education, Promotion and Publicity*
SUHAKAMT

he Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (suhakam) has
come a long way since its founding. It has made huge strides in
improving the human rights situation in Malaysia, always working
with the Government, ministries, Civil Society Organizations and activists
to further its goals. Suhakam will continue to carry out its work diligently
and purposefully to achieve its vision of a “Malaysian society where humanrights are fully respected, protected and enjoyed equally by all” in the not
too distant future.
Human Rights Education

The ultimate purpose of human rights education is to empower the people with human rights knowledge so as to ensure the protection, respect
and fulfilment of human rights of every individual. Recognizing the importance of human rights education, suhakam through its Education andTraining Division conducted several human rights education and training
programs. suhakam collaborated with local and international organizations such as the Judicial and Legal Training Institute (ilkap), Office of theUnited Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (unhcr) and the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (unesco) to organize programs during the year. Suhakam also expanded its target group
to include the Immigration Department, National Anti-Drug Agency, parliamentarians and private entities.
In 2018, University Utara Malaysia, signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) with suhakam to undertake several joint programs
pertaining to human rights and education. To further realize suhakam’s
vision for human rights education to be taught in schools by 2020, suhakam organized several strategic meetings with key actors in education. Suhakam met with Education Minister YB Dr. Maszlee Malik on 11
December 2018, Deputy Minister of Education YB Teo Nie Ching on 22
October and Director General of Education Datuk Dr. Amin Senin on 25
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June. suhakam briefed them on suhakam’s Human Rights Best Practices
in School Programme (atham) and Human Rights Modules for post-Primary School Achievement Test (UPSR) and post-Form 3 Assessment (PT3)students. Suhakam’s idea to introduce human rights education in schools
was well-received. Suhakam was requested to cooperate with the Ministryof Education (moe) to develop a human rights training module for the
Teachers Training Institute and to give its input on human rights education
to moe’s Curriculum Division.
In order to gauge how well its training sessions were conducted and thelevel of knowledge the participants gained, suhakam introduced a morestructured evaluation using an online form as well as a pre- and post-tests
approach.
Human rights modules for post-UPSR and PT3 students
As highlighted in the 2017 Annual Report, suhakam completed two
human rights modules for post-upsr and post-PT3 students in June 2018.
Each module contains thirty activities. The objective was to educate students in primary and secondary schools on human rights through fun activities. Though the modules were developed for Standard 6 and Form 3
students, who would have had more free time in school after their upsr andPT3 examinations and before the school break at the end of the year, theactivities are suitable for all primary and secondary students irrespective of
their standard and form. Suhakam appreciates the contributions of moe
officers as well as teachers from several schools in finalizing the modules
during the two workshops which were held on 3 May and 28 June 2018,
respectively.
Following the completion of the modules, suhakam organized three
Training of Trainers (tot) sessions to ensure that the teachers from athamschools could carry out the activities, as well as equip them with sufficientknowledge of human rights, particularly on the rights of the child. About
sixty-two secondary school teachers and fifty-one primary school teachers
attended the tot, see Table 1.
Although the moe did not make the modules compulsory, it was interesting to note that several schools, among others, Sekolah Menengah
Kebangsaan (smk) Sentul, smk Gombak Setia and smk Taman Seri Kluang,
carried out the activities with their students this year. Suhakam also distributed compact discs of the modules to all atham schools to encouragethem to utilize the modules.

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Table 1.
Date

Venue

1. Training of Trainers on Human Rights Module PostUPSR/PT3 for South zone

3 – 5 July

Port Dickson, Negeri
SembilanTraining of Trainers on Human Rights Module PostUPSR/PT3 for North zone

10 -12 July

Alor Setar, Kedah

Training of Trainers on Human Rights Module PostUPSR/PT3 for East zone

17 – 19 July

Kota Bharu, Kelantan

No.

ProgramTraining of Trainers on Human Rights Module Post UPSR and PT3 students for South zone
held on 3- 5 July at Port Dickson.

Moving forward, suhakam plans to publish and distribute the modules
to all atham schools in hardcopy; expand tots to other atham and nonatham schools; and develop a mechanism to monitor the implementationof the activities in schools in the next two years to ensure that the objectiveof introducing the modules has been met.
Awareness program on a Child’s Right to Safety
Due to the good feedback from twelve mara Junior Science Colleges(mjscs) on the Child’s Right to Safety Awareness Program last year, suhakam organized a similar program at another ten mjscs during the year,

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which involved about 5,000 students, as well as follow-up programs at a few
mjscs that were visited in the previous years. During the year under review,programs were held in the following mjscs:
Table 2.
No.

Location

Date

1.

Jeli MJSC, Kelantan

10 March

2.

Kota Putra MJSC, Terengganu

9 April3.

Besut MJSC, Terengganu

9 April

4.

Batu Pahat MJSC, Johor

16 April

5.

Kubang Pasu MJSC, Kedah

29 April

6.

Tun Ghafar Baba (Jasin) MJSC, Melaka

9 May

Whereas, the follow-up programs were held at the following mjscs:
Table 3.
No.

Location

Date1.

Tumpat MJSC, Kelantan

1 January

2.

Pasir Salak MJSC, Perak

5 February

3.

Taiping MJSC, Perak

19 February

4.

Kuching MJSC, Sarawak

23 February

5.

Pontian MJSC, Johor

29 March

6.

Pengkalan Chepa MJSC, Kelantan

3 September

The follow-up program was basically a continuation of the introductory
program in which the students were divided into small groups and asked toprepare a chart based on one of the following themes:
1. What has your school done (activities or programs) to educate thestudents on bullying?
2. Senior vs Junior, who normally does the bullying? And how to overcome bullying from always taking place?
As suhakam has conducted the program at all mjscs nationwide overthe past three years, suhakam plans to shift focus to atham schools nextyear.

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Roundtable with parliamentarians: Aligning national legislation withinternational standards on freedom of expression, access to informationand press freedom
In conjunction with International Day for Universal Access toInformation which was celebrated on 28 September 2018, suhakam,
unesco and the Parliament of Malaysia co- organized a “Roundtablewith Parliamentarians: Aligning National Legislations with International
Standards on Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Information and Press
Freedom” on the same day. Apart from raising the awareness of the newly
elected Members of Parliament (MPs) on international standards with regards to freedom of expression, freedom of information and press freedom,
the roundtable also served as an opportunity for lawmakers to have an indepth discussion with local and international experts in order to identify the
weaknesses of domestic laws with a view to narrowing the gap with international standards. About seventy participants attended the program. Apartfrom MPs and their officers, officers from the Attorney General’s Chambers,
the Parliament of Malaysia and the media were also present.
There were four discussion panels:
i. Session One on the interplay between international standards,
national laws, and the Federal Constitution was moderated by Dr.
Lim Ming Kuok. The panelists were Mr. Amos Toh, legal advisor

Roundtable with Parliamentarians: Aligning National Legislation with International
Standards on FOI Access to Information and Press Freedom.

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to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion
and Expression; Ms. Jennifer Jokstad, Human Rights Officer at the
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (ohchr) in
Bangkok; and Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr. Shad Saleem Faruqi,
the holder of the Tun Razak Chair in Universiti Malaya;ii. Session Two on access to information, a pre-requisite for a functioning democracy, was moderated by Ms. Masjaliza Hamzah. The
three panelists were Ms. Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena, the Right toInformation (rti) Commissioner of Sri Lanka; Mr. Toby Mandel,
the founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Law and
Democracy, a Canadian-based international human rights ngo
and Mr. Steven Sim Chee Keong, Malaysian Deputy Minister ofYouth and Sports;
iii. Session Three on “Proportionate, Necessary, Legitimate, and
Prescribed by Law: Considerations to Defamation and Hate
Speech” moderated by Commissioner Mr. Jerald Joseph. The panelists were Ms. Barbora Bukovska, Legal Director of Article 19;
and Mr. Edmund Bon, the Malaysian Representative to the asean
Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (aichr);iv. Session Four on collaboration between Parliament and other stakeholders was moderated by Dr. Lim Ming Kuok. The panelists were
Mr. Bambang Harymurti, a former member of the Indonesian Press
Council and ceo of tempo; Mr. Pieter Knapen, Secretary-Generalof the Belgium Press Council; and Datuk A. Kadir Jasin, Media andCommunications Adviser to the Prime Minister.
Seminar on human rights and policing
The police are the first line of defense for human rights. They are theguardians of the law, including human rights law. Cognizant of the important role played by the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), suhakam, with thecollaboration of rmp, organized a “Seminar on Human Rights and Policing“for high-level police officials on 2 August 2018 at the Royal Malaysia Police
College in Kuala Lumpur.
The seminar served as a platform for a discussion on how to balance
public order and human rights, contemporary challenges, as well as the needto ensure that public and police rights are always prioritized. This includes
the provision of enough facilities, as well as looking after police welfare andSUHAKAM: Education, Promotion and Publicity

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security. The seminar also discussed steps that were needed to be taken toachieve a better balance between public order and human rights.
The seminar was officiated by Inspector General of Police Tan Sri
Mohamad Fuzi Harun. Ministry of Home Affairs (moha) Deputy SecretaryGeneral Dato’ Indera Khairul Dzaimee closed the event after reading out the
speech of the ministry’s secretary- general. About forty participants, which
included all the directors and deputy directors of various departments in
Bukit Aman, Chiefs of State Contingent and Commandants of rmp training
institutions, attended the seminar. Four senior officers from moha also participated to ensure the matters discussed would be taken up to the ministry
for consideration. Commissioner Professor Dato’ Dr Aishah Bidin moderated the session. The speakers were Associate Professor Dr. Shamrahayu
Ab Aziz from the International Islamic University Malaysia (iium) who
spoke on the “International Human Rights Standards and Practices In
Law Enforcement,” Commissioner Dato’ Mah Weng Kwai who discussed
about “suhakam’s Observations and Recommendations on Human Rights
for rmp” and acp S. Shanmugamoorthy from Bukit Aman who spoke on“Human Rights in the Context of Policing in Malaysia.”
Human rights workshop for district police officers in charge of criminal
investigations
Following the good response from participants of the “Human Rights
Workshop for District Police Officers In charge of Criminal Investigations(occi)” in the central zone in 2017, suhakam conducted a similar workshop in the northern zone covering the states of Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang
and Perak in 2018. The program, held from 23- 25 July in Penang, was attended by thirty-four occis. The workshop helped suhakam and rmp exchange views on human rights and policing. There was a marked difference
between the participants’ pre- and post-workshop scores when tested on
their knowledge of human rights and its application in their work. The average pre-workshop score for correct answers was 36.3 percent. After theworkshop, their scores averaged at 72.5 percent. One of the participants suggested to suhakam to organize a similar workshop for community leaders
to enhance their understanding of human rights. Suhakam plans to continue the training program for the police in the southern and eastern zones
in the following year.

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Workshop on human rights and justiceOn 7 July 2018, ilkap jointly organized a workshop on “Human Rights
and Justice” at its institute in Bangi for thirty Session Court judges andmagistrates from the Klang Valley and ten legal officials from the Attorney
General’s Chambers. It was aimed at raising greater awareness and understanding of human rights among members of the judiciary and their application domestically. It also provided participants with a platform to impart,receive and exchange views and knowledge of human rights.
The workshop had five sessions. While “Introduction to the Core United
Nations International Human Rights Treaties” was delivered by suhakam
officer, Ms Rafi Yahya, and “Human Rights in the Federal Constitution” wasdealt with by Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi, “Gender
Issues and Women’s Rights in Malaysia” was delivered by Commissioner
Associate Professor Dr Nik Salida Suhaila Nik Saleh and “The Applicationof Human Rights Standards/Principles in the Criminal Justice System” wasdiscussed by Commissioner Dato’ Mah Weng Kwai. Unhcr’s Ms Caroline
Samuel and Mr Devendiran Paramanantham dealt with “Refugee Protection:
unhcr Mandate and Operations in Malaysia.”
Several participants applauded the program and suggested that theworkshop program be extended to run over a day and include lower court
judges in other states as well. Suhakam plans to conduct similar training
workshops in other states in the coming years.
Human rights workshop for Record Officers and Medical Assistants inprisons
In 2018, suhakam organized four human rights workshops with thecooperation of the Prisons Department, focusing on the “Right to Health inPrison and Effective Management of Prisoners’ Record” as shown in Table
4 below:
Table 4.
Date

Venue

1. Human Rights Workshop for Record
Officers, Prisons Department of Malaysia

7 – 9 August

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah

2. Human Rights Workshop for Medical Assistants,
Prisons Department of Malaysia

15 – 16 August

Correctional Academy of
Malaysia, Langkawi, Kedah

3. Human Rights Workshop for Medical Assistants,
Prisons Department of Malaysia

15 – 17 October

Correctional Institute
Malaysia, Tanjung Kling,
Melaka4. Human Rights Workshop for Record
Officers, Prisons Department of Malaysia

13 – 15 November

Ipoh, PerakNo.

Program

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The two human rights workshops for medical assistants were a continuation of similar sessions conducted in 2017 for medical officers seconded to
the Prisons Department. About sixty medical assistants who were working
in prisons nationwide participated in the workshops. Apart from suhakam
officers who provided information on international human rights standards
in relation to the right to health in prison, suhakam also invited Dato’ Dr
Zahari Noor, Head of the Forensics Department at Penang Hospital, andDr Mohd Nor Hayat Mamat, Head of the Medical Unit in the Prisons
Department, to share their knowledge and expertise in medical treatment
for prisoners as well as the role of MAs in providing health services in prison.
The two workshops for Record Officials focused on the effective management of prisoners’ records and issues that may obstruct the practice ofhuman rights in the officials’ daily tasks. M. Masran Muhamad, AssistantCommissioner of Prison (acp) from the Security & Intelligence Division of
the Prisons Department was invited to share his knowledge on managing
the records and violations of human rights that might occur because of apoor records management system. The workshops increased the participants’ knowledge of human rights and this is reflected in their average preand post-test scores of correct answers:
Table 5.
Pre-Test
Average Score

Post-Test
AverageScore

1. Human Rights Workshop for Record Officers, Prisons Department of
Malaysia from 7 – 9 August

20%

67%

2. Human Rights Workshop for Medical Assistants, Prisons Department of
Malaysia from 15 – 16 August51.25%

69.93%

3. Human Rights Workshop for Medical Assistants, Prisons Department of
Malaysia from 15 – 17 October

34.82%

79.48%

4. Human Rights Workshop for Record Officers, Prisons Department of
Malaysia from 13 – 15 November

46%

79%

No.

ProgramBoth workshops were well received. Participants shared some of theirchallenges and made recommendations for improving prisons by taking ahuman rights-based approach (hrba). Most of the suggestions called on
suhakam to continue providing capacity-building training programs for
the Prisons Department.

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Human rights workshop for Directors of National Anti-Drug Agency(NADA) rehabilitation centers
During the year, suhakam expanded its collaboration with another agency, namely nada, following a working meeting with the Director
General of nada, Dato’ Dr Abd Halim Mohd Hussin earlier this year. From
12 - 14 March 2018, suhakam conducted a human rights workshop for
thirty directors of nada rehabilitation institutions. They included the directors of the Cure and Care Rehabilitation Centre (ccrc), Cure and Care
Vocational Centre (ccvc) and Cure and Care Clinic (c&c) in Malaysia. The
training workshop was conducted at the nada Training Centre in Sungai
Petani, Kedah. Officers from nada’s headquarters attended as well.
The participants were introduced to human rights, suhakam, international human rights standards on the treatment of detainees, the right tohealth in places of detention and current human rights issues in Malaysia.
Taking up the participants’ recommendation, suhakam plans to expand
the workshop for nada officers, including enforcement officers, officersin-charge of treatment and rehabilitation at the institution as well as theauxiliary police in nada, in the following years.

SUHAKAM officer conducting a session during Human Rights Workshop for Directors of
National Anti-Drug Agency Rehabilitation Centers.

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Joint workshop with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees for Immigration Officials
Under a MoU between suhakam and unhcr last year, a workshop on
the “Monitoring of Immigration Detention for Senior Immigration Officers”
was conducted from 29 - 30 January 2018 in Putrajaya. The session was
aimed at bringing about policy changes in the treatment of refugees andasylum seekers as well as improving the standard of treatment in detention
centers. The lectures were attended by thirty-two senior officers from various departments at the Immigration Department headquarters. The participants were also taken to the unhcr office to better understand the work
carried out by this United Nations (UN) agency in Malaysia, especially inthe documentation and determination of refugee status.
Several training workshops were also jointly conducted by suhakamand unhcr for ground officers and staff at eleven immigration depots in
Peninsular Malaysia, with the aim of increasing their knowledge of international standards in relation to detention and refugee-related issues. The
following were the sessions conducted:
Table 6.
No.

Depot

Date

1.

Bukit Jalil (Kuala Lumpur)

11 October

2.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)

11 October

3.

Semenyih (Selangor)

16 October

4.

Lenggeng (Selangor)

16 October5.

Machap Umboo (Melaka)

24 October

6.

Pekan Nenas (Johor)

25 October

7.

Juru (Penang)

1 November

8.

Langkap (Perak)

8 November

9.

Belantik (Kedah)

21 November

10.

Ajil (Terengganu)

27 November

11.

Tanah Merah (Kelantan)

29 November

Training of trainers program and training module on business and human rights for Felda Global Ventures Officers
In the MoU between suhakam and Felda Global Ventures Holdings
Bhd (fgv) signed last year, suhakam made a commitment to develop

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a training module and conduct a Training of Trainers (tot) session on
Business and Human Rights for fgv Operational Level Officers.
The module was divided into three sections, namely, “Introduction
to Human Rights and suhakam,” “Introduction to Business and Human
Rights,” and “Human Rights Issues relating to Business and Human Rights.”
Among the issues that were discussed were the rights of employees (minimum wages, contract, safety and health, right to be involved in a union,
freedom to speak, passport storage and housing), sexual harassment, discrimination, human trafficking and forced labor, child labor, environment,
indigenous peoples’ right to their native customary land and forced eviction
as well as complaint mechanisms.
Following the development of the training module, suhakam conducted a tot workshop at the fgv Training Centre, Kuala Lumpur, from 4 - 6
December 2018 for thirty fgv officers who will then go on to conduct a oneday training session in 2019 for operational officers at all fgv estates.
Human rights workshop for administrators of tahfiz/religious schools in
Kuala Lumpur
Several incidents were reported to have occurred at tahfiz or religious
schools in the country, including the death of twenty-one students in a firein 2017. This prompted suhakam to organize a program for the administrators of such schools to educate them on the right of a child to education and safety. With the collaboration of the Federal Territory Religious
Department, suhakam managed to organize a human rights workshop for
administrators of thirty-eight tahfiz schools in Kuala Lumpur on 3 and 4
December 2018.
Besides educating the participants on the Convention on the Rights ofChild (crc), the workshop also enlightened the participants on the safety requirements for their buildings. The latter was provided by the Fire
Department of Kuala Lumpur. The Federal Territory Health Department
also taught them health aspects of living in boarding schools.
The workshop was well-received. The religious department suggested
that another workshop be held next year for other tahfiz schools in theFederal Territory that were unable to participate this time.
MoU with Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM)
Suhakam and uum signed a MoU on 16 January 2018 to enhance, encourage and develop mutual cooperation pertaining to human rights, in re-

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spect of education, research and community service. Several collaborative
programs have been planned for the three-year period of the MoU.
On 25 April 2018, suhakam and uum collaborated to deliver an introductory talk on the rights of the child, focusing on the issue of bullying,
to students of Sekolah Kebangsaan Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra in Kedah.
Several activities were conducted with the assistance of volunteers fromuum. Although it was challenging to keep the students (from standard 4 to
6) focused throughout, they participated earnestly in the activities as well as
in the Q & A session. On 26 April 2018, the same program was conducted
for the students of SMK Syed Ibrahim, Kedah.
During the talk, the students were asked about human rights and suhakam. The spontaneous survey showed that less than 5 percent of them
have a basic knowledge of human rights. This is perhaps because theirhomes and school were in a rural area. However, the program managed toenlighten the students on human rights and the rights of the child.
Invitations to deliver human rights talks and training
In 2018, suhakam received several invitations from government agencies and other organizations to deliver talks and conduct training workshops
on specific and general human rights topics. They were:Table 7.
No.

Topic

Date

Venue

Organizer

1.

Human Rights talk to
RMP officers

29 January

RMP Training College,
Cheras, Kuala Lumpur

Royal Malaysia Police
(RMP)

2.

“Human Rights inFederal Constitution”
talk to Administrativeand Diplomatic Service
trainee officers

5 February

Intan Bukit Kiara, Kuala
LumpurNational Institute of Public
Administration (INTAN)

3.

Human Rights talk at“ Ijtimak Pentadbir
Pentadbir-Pentadbir
Maahad Tahfiz dan
Pondok Negeri Pahang
2018”

13 February

Raub, Pahang

Pahang Religious
Department

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No.

Topic

Date

Venue

Organizer

4.

Talk on “Death inCustody: Human Rights
Perspective” for Prison
Officials

20 March

Correctional Academyof Malaysia, Langkawi,
Kedah

Prisons Department

5.

One-day Human Rights
Training for
Prison officials

24 March

Malaysian Prison College,
Kajang, Selangor
UNIMAP Perlis

Prisons Department

6.

Half-Day Human Rights
Training for RELASISUNIMAP

21 April

Malaysian Prison College,
Kajang, Selangor
UNIMAP Perlis

RELA Brigade ofUniversity Students(RELASIS)

7.

One-day Human Rights
Training for
Prison Officials

24 April

Prison Officers Training
Centre, Taiping, PerakINTAN Bukit Kiara, Kuala
LumpurPrisons Department

8.

“Human Rights in theFederal Constitution”
talk to Administrativeand Diplomatic Service
trainee officers

30 April

Prison Officers Training
Centre, Taiping, PerakINTAN Bukit Kiara, Kuala
LumpurINTAN

9.

One-day Human Rights
Training to
Prison Officials

10 MaySeremban Prison, Negeri
SembilanPrisons Department

10.

“Human Rights andthe Rights of MigrantWorkers” training for
Penggerak Malaysia

15 MaySUHAKAM
Office, Kuala
LumpurPenggerak Malaysia

11.

Talk on “SUHAKAM’sroles in Human Rights
Issues” to the RMP

May

PULAPOL,
Kuala Lumpur

RMP

12.

Talk on “Human Rights
Issues in Malaysia” tothe RMPMay

PULAPOL,
Kuala Lumpur

RMP

13.

Talk on “Patients’
Right to Health” tothe Malaysian Nurses
Association

28 July

Pulau Pinang General
Hospital, Pulau Pinang

Malaysian Nurses
Association

14.

Human Rights Talk to
MACC officers

31 July

Kelantan MACC Office,Kelantan

MalaysianAnti-Correction
Commission (MACC)

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No.

Topic

Date

Venue

Organizer

15.

Human Rights Training forHenry Gurney Telok Mas
officials

13 September

Henrey Gurney School,
Telok Mas, Melaka

Prisons Department

16.

A series of three Human
Rights talks on “Human
Rights and SUHAKAM,”“Current Issues on Human
Rights,” and “Human
Trafficking from Human
Rights Perspective” for
RMP recruits during basic
police training

20 & 21
September

PULAPOL,
Kuala Lumpur

RMP

17.

Human Rights Training for
prison officer recruits

21 September

PULAPEN,
Taiping, Perak

Prisons Department

18.

Human Rights Training
for the offi of Rumah Seri
Kenangan, Johor Bharu

30 September

Rumah Seri
Kenangan,
Johor Bharu,
Johor

Social Welfare
Department

19.

Human Rights Training for
enforcement officials of
Kulai Municipal Council

7 November

Mersing, Johor

Kulai Municipal
Council

Suhakam welcomes invitations to conduct training or deliver talks onhuman rights from any other stakeholders with the aim of promoting human rights in Malaysia.
Promotion and Outreach
During the year, suhakam continued to discharge its core mandate of raising awareness of human rights through a range of outreach programs andpartnerships with various stakeholders in Malaysia.
1. Protection against torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment or punishmenta) Uncat Programs with various stakeholders
As a follow-up to the dialogues on the Convention against Torture andOther Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (uncat)
held from 5 - 7 July 2017, suhakam organized another series of uncat pro-

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grams from 2 - 5 July 2018 in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian Islamic groups
and religious authorities, MPs and officials of various government agencies,
as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah.
The programs sought to examine the obstacles surrounding Malaysia’s
non-accession to uncat, particularly the incompatibility of domestic, civiland Syariah laws with uncat, as well as to learn from other jurisdictions
and to gain support from various key stakeholders advocating for Malaysia’s
accession to the convention.
Among the key issues and recommendations derived from the programs were:i. The assumption that Islam and uncat are incompatible should not
be an obstacle for Malaysia to ratify the convention and to advance the human rights agenda in the country;
ii. The Syariah law was not a hindrance to Malaysia’s accession to
the uncat as the provisions of Syariah offences and punishment under
Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) 1965 (Amendment) 1984 and Syariah
Criminal Procedure (Federal Territories) Act 1997 fell outside of the definition of “torture” under the uncat;
iii. The education and awareness of uncat among the Muslim community in Malaysia should be based on the fundamental belief that Islam
forbids torture and cruelty;
iv. There should be regular dialogues with Malaysian religious scholars and academics to look into the compatibility of uncat with the Federal
Constitution of Malaysia and the Islamic principles upheld by the Muslim
community;
v. Malaysia should emulate the best practices of other Islamic countries like Tunisia and Qatar, which have replaced corporal punishment withother forms of punishment such as imprisonment for criminal offences;vi. There needs to be a constructive discussion among members of the
public on Malaysia’s accession to uncat despite their differing views withregard to the integration of universal values into a domestic context. It isvital for Malaysians to understand that the purpose of uncat is not to impose another set of values and culture with the aim of undermining existing
religious beliefs and values in Malaysia;vii. “Prevention” is the key element under uncat, which seeks to prohibit torture and ill-treatment and to uphold the State party’s accountability
in undertaking effective measures as underlined in the convention;

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viii. Each State Party is allowed to make declarations and reservations
to certain articles in uncat. However, this must be done based on solid justification so as not to undermine the objective of the convention;
ix. The implementation of caning in schools contradicts Article 16of uncat which stipulates the obligation of the State Party to develop interventions to prevent cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. There is a need for educators to review their disciplinary methods so
as to respect the human dignity of all children in meeting the objectives of
education;
x. Human rights should be taught to school children - as is implemented in Indonesia through a school program called “Student Communityof Human Rights” - to tackle the problem of bullying as well as through theintroduction of a subject on respecting the rights of the people in the school
curriculum;
xi. The justice system should focus more on the rehabilitation andre-integration of ex-offenders into society as good citizens instead of
retribution;xii. The prevalence of corruption, including in law enforcement and thejustice system, could have an adverse impact on the fight against tortureand other forms of degrading treatment as enshrined in a resolution (A/hrc/37/L.32) adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on 23 March 2018;xiii. The ratification of uncat could bring mutual confidence between
UN Member States in the context of international cooperation relating toprosecution and/or extradition of individuals alleged to have committed
acts of torture; andxiv. The implementation of uncat is a crucial process and suhakamshould include the promotion of greater understanding among law enforcement agencies such as the rmp.
2. Public Outreach and Engagementa) Suhakam Bersama Masyarakat (“Meet-the-People”) Program
Suhakam continued to raise public awareness of human rights throughits “suhakam Bersama Masyarakat” program in various parts of the country. During the year, suhakam conducted a series of five such sessions in
the Federal Territory and three other states with 1,848 people participating.
The details of the sessions are as follows:i. Ppr Beringin Kepong, Kuala Lumpur (25 March 2018)

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Workshop on UNCAT with the Malaysian Islamic Community on 2 July 2018

ii.
iii.
iv.
v.

Ppr Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur (29 March 2018)
Kuala Kangsar, Perak (24 July 2018)
Hulu Terengganu, Terengganu (4 October 2018)
Langkawi, Kedah (22 November 2018)

Issues of concern
The following were the key issues raised by the participants:
Education
Concerns were raised regarding the need for moe and the state religious
authorities to look into religious schools, namely Sekolah Agama Rakyat(SAR) and tahfiz schools, in Malaysia to ensure that these schools comply
with the required standards in terms of safety, content delivery, capacity
development for the teachers as well as a quality learning system.
Some parents voiced their concern over heavy schoolbags and the possible health risks their children faced from carrying overweight schoolbags.
They expressed hope that moe would lift the burden off the students by
reducing the number of textbooks they have to carry to and from school.

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The matter of stateless children’s basic right to education was also
raised in one of the sessions by a concerned citizen who hoped that statelesschildren would be given an equal opportunity to receive proper educationin Malaysia.
A representative from a Parent Teacher Association in Langkawi raiseda concern about underperforming schools on the island. The representative
flagged the need for suhakam to study the matter and make the necessary
recommendations to moe.
Right to Vote
Some participants expressed their concern about unequal voting rights.
Registered voters in the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur can only vote forrepresentation in Parliament unlike voters in other states who can vote forrepresentatives in the state legislative assembly and in Parliament. Whileacknowledging that Kuala Lumpur is governed directly by the Federal government through the Ministry of Federal Territories together with a local
authority, namely Kuala Lumpur City Hall, the participants expressed hopethat the government would give due attention to this matter.
Freedom of expression
The rise of racial and religious hate speech and fake news on social media platforms was a primary concern for several participants. They asked
suhakam and other key stakeholders to play their respective roles to mitigate the problem.
Employment
A participant requested suhakam to look into the termination of 1,200
civil servants from the Special Affairs Department (jasa), under the new
government.
Freedom of religion
There were repeated queries about the right to freedom of religion in
the context of Malaysia and the role of suhakam in this regard. Some participants saw Article 18 of the udhr - on an individual’s right to freedom ofthought, conscience and religion - as a threat to Islamic teaching in Malaysia.
Similarly, they also saw the ratification of the International Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (icerd) as a threat to
the Muslim community in Malaysia.

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Perception Survey Findings
Suhakam continued to conduct perception surveys of participants at thesesessions to assess their understanding of human rights as well as the workof suhakam in general.
Based on the feedback of 1,001 respondents, the following key outcomes were identified:i. That 87 percent of the respondents were of the opinion that humanrights are basic rights and freedoms that belong inherently to all humanbeings while 12 percent perceived human rights as a basic right belonging
to certain groups. The remaining 1 percent viewed human rights as foreignvalues or western ideology;
ii. That 85 percent of the respondents believed that human rights protect all people including detainees and inmates while 10 percent opined thathuman rights protect only children and women. There were 4 percent who
confined human rights protection to only persons with disabilities and 1
percent confined it to only politicians;
iii. That 74 percent of the respondents indicated that they were concerned about human rights while 25 percent were concerned to a certain
extent, and 1 percent were not concerned about human rights at all;iv. That 49 percent of the respondents thought that suhakam was an
ngo that championed human rights as opposed to 42 percent who thoughtsuhakam was an independent statutory body that promoted and protected
human rights. The remaining 9 percent thought that suhakam was a government department;
v. That 95 percent of the respondents understood that suhakam
worked on all issues related to human rights in the country as opposed to
3 percent who thought that suhakam worked on issues related to interestsof particular political parties, and 2 percent who thought that suhakam
worked on issues related to the misconduct of government agencies;
vi. That 60 percent of the respondents opined that suhakam did thebest it could to fulfil its responsibility while 25 percent thought that it did
not do well enough because of a lack of follow-up action by the government.
The remaining 15 percent said suhakam did not do well enough because oflimitations on its powers.
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191

rights and subscribed to the notion that human rights protection extended
to all people including detainees and inmates.
There was a marginal difference (7 percent) between the percentage of
respondents who mis-perceived suhakam as a human rights ngo (49 percent) and the percentage (42 percent) of respondents who understood thatsuhakam was a statutory body that promotes and protects human rights.
Nevertheless, it was encouraging to note that the majority (95 percent)knew that suhakam worked on a whole range of human rights issues in
the country.
The results also reflected that over 60 percent of the respondents weresatisfied with suhakam’s performance while some 20 percent felt that suhakam did not do enough and they attributed this to the lack of follow-up
action by the government or its limited powers.
These results are indicative of the continued need for suhakam toraise greater public awareness of its role and function as a National Human
Rights Institution created by a statute of Parliament, and to eliminate theerroneous perception that it is an ngo.

“SUHAKAM Bersama Masyarakat” session in Langkawi, Kedah.

Exhibitions
Suhakam held nineteen exhibitions at various events hosted by suhakam and other organizations. They were:192

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Table 8.
Date

Organizer

Details

4 February

Kuala Lumpur City Hall(DBKL)

This was held in conjunction with a Federal Territory program
titled “Kenduri“ 1 Wilayah Persekutuan”.

24 February

Kuala Lumpur City Hall(DBKL)

This was also held in conjunction with a Federal Territory program
titled “Kenduri “1 Wilayah Persekutuan”.

17 – 18 March

Ministry of Finance (MOF)

This was held in conjunction with MOF’s program series titled“Fiesta NBOS” at Segamat, Johor.

25 March

SUHAKAM

This was held in conjunction with the Commission’s “SUHAKAM
Bersama Masyarakat” program in Kepong, Kuala Lumpur.

29 March

SUHAKAM

This was held in conjunction with the Commission’s “SUHAKAM
Bersama Masyarakat” program in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur.

31 March

HELP University

This was held in conjunction with HELP University’s “The Tan Sri
Dato’ Seri Dr Abdul Malek Law Students’ Conference 2018.”

15 April

MOF

This was held in conjunction with MOF’s program titled “Fiesta
NBOS” at Bentong, Pahang.

15 MaySBM Offshore

This was held in conjunction with SBM Offshore’s program titled“SBM KL Life Day 2018” at Platinum Sentral, Kuala Lumpur.

2-3 June

Greenpeace Malaysia

This was held in conjunction with Greenpeace Malaysia’s program“The Rainbow Warrior” at Pelabuhan Klang, Selangor.

16 – 18 July

Universiti Sultan Azlan
Shah (USAS)This was held in conjunction with USAS’s program “World
Conference on Islamic Thought and Civilization” at Ipoh, Perak.

24 July

SUHAKAM

This was held in conjunction with the Commission’s “SUHAKAM
Bersama Masyarakat” program in Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

14 AugustMonash University
Malaysia (MUM)

This was held in conjunction with the MUM program “Monash
Internship and NGO Fair 2018” in Subang Jaya, Selangor

25 September

SUHAKAM and UNESCO

This was held in conjunction with SUHAKAM and UNESCO“Roundtable with Parliamentarians: Aligning National Legislation
with International Standards on Freedom of Expression, Access toInformation and Press Freedom” in Kuala Lumpur.

4 October

SUHAKAM

This was held in conjunction with the Commission’s “SUHAKAM
Bersama Masyarakat” program in Hulu Terengganu.

6-7 October

SUHAKAM

This was held to promote the UNCAT Campaign to members of
the public in Kuching, Sarawak.

29-30 October

Asian Confederationof Institutes of Internal
Auditors Conference(ACIIA)This was held in conjunction with the 2018 ACIIA Conference inKuala Lumpur.

3 November

Jawatankuasa Kawasan

This was held in conjunction with the Rukun Tetangga (KRT)
program “Karnival Masyarakat Perumahan Awam Seri Negeri
Penyayang” in Kuala Lumpur. Sembilan, Bandar Baru Sentul

22 November

SUHAKAM

This was held in conjunction with the Commission’s “SUHAKAM
Bersama Masyarakat” program in Langkawi Island, Kedah.

8 December

SUHAKAM

This was held in conjunction with the celebration of the 2018
Human Rights Day in Kuala Lumpur.

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Empowerment of YouthSuhakam continued to educate and empower youths on human rights
principles through its “Youth for Rights” program that was held in various
local universities. During the year (2018), suhakam conducted a total ofseven workshops and reached out to 1,535 youths from various local universities and youth groups as follows:a. Universiti Selangor (unisel) and Members of Malaysian Youth
Parliament, Shah Alam, Selangor, 31 March;b. University Kuala Lumpur (UniKL), Kuala Lumpur, 2 May;c. Universiti Sultan Azlan Shah (usas), Kuala Kangsar, Perak, 27 June;
d. INTI International University & Colleges, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan,
26 September;e. Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA), Kuala Nerus,
Terengganu, 3 October;f. Universiti Sains Malaysia (usm), Penang, 12 November; andg. Universiti Malaysia Pahang (ump), Gambang, Pahang, 28 November.
As with the previous year, suhakam continued to survey the perception of youths to gauge their understanding of human rights as well as thework and functions of suhakam. This was the feedback from five hundred
fifty-two young respondents:
i. Almost all, 95 percent of the respondents, opined that humanrights were basic rights and that freedoms belonged inherently toall human beings while 4 percent perceived human rights as basic
rights belonging to certain groups. The remaining 1 percent viewed
human rights as foreign values or western ideology;
ii. A large majority, that is 79 percent, of them believed that humanrights protect all people including detainees and inmates while 17
percent opined that human rights protect politicians. Of the remaining, 2 percent thought that human rights protect children andwomen and 2 percent confined human rights protection to persons
with disabilities only;iii. More than half, 66 percent, of them indicated that they were concerned about human rights while 33 percent were concerned only
to a certain extent. The remaining 1 percent were not concerned
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iv. 44.4 percent of the respondents understood that suhakam wasan independent statutory body that promotes and protects human rights as opposed to 42.4 percent who thought that it was an
ngo that championed human rights. The remaining 13.2 percent
thought that suhakam was a government department;
v. That 66 percent of the respondents understood that suhakam
worked on all issues related to human rights in the country as opposed to 31 percent who thought that suhakam worked on issues
related to the misconduct of government agencies. The remaining
3 percent of the respondents thought that suhakam worked on issues related to the interests of political parties;
vi. While 57 percent thought suhakam did the best it could in fulfilling its responsibility, 20 percent opined that suhakam did not
do well enough due to limitations of its powers. The remaining 23
percent felt that suhakam did not do well enough due to the lackof follow-up action on the part of the government.

“Youth For Rights” programme held in Selangor on 31 March.

Although most of the youths opined that human rights protect all people including detainees and inmates, 17 percent believed that human rights
protect a specific group, namely the politicians and only 4 percent of the
respondents attributed human rights protection to vulnerable groups likechildren and women as well as persons with disabilities. In comparison, thepercentage of “suhakam Bersama Masyarakat” respondents who held theview that human rights protect politicians was relatively low.
Similar to the survey results of the “suhakam Bersama Masyarakat”
program, there was a marginal difference between those who misperceived

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suhakam as a human rights ngo and those who understood that suhakam
was a statutory body that promotes and protects human rights.
While 66 percent of the respondents understood that suhakam workedon all issues relating to human rights, 30 percent thought that suhakam
worked on issues concerning the misconduct of government agencies. This
seems to suggest that some youth tended to view suhakam as a grievancehandling mechanism that deals with complaints and wrongdoings of government functionaries.
Suhakam was pleased to note that the overall evaluation for the Youthfor Rights program was very encouraging. The participants also provided
various constructive suggestions to enhance the delivery of the program.
Media
Overview
Throughout the year, suhakam issued a total of fifty-two press statements on various human rights issues including children, the 14th General
Election, women, education, death penalty, migrants, freedom of thought,
conscience and religion or belief, unilateral conversion, human trafficking, freedom of movement, Sedition Act, Anti-Fake News Bill 2018, AntiDiscrimination Bill, National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Billand Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, Official Secrets Act 1972 (osa), thesmoking ban and police lock-up conditions.
It is noted that media coverage, including mainstream media, increased
towards the end of the year. It can be concluded that while most media outlets covered accurately suhakam’s stance on various human rights issues
through its press statements, some media institutions seem to provide erroneous reporting of it. This misleads readers, resulting in a lack of understanding of suhakam’s messages.
Media institutions play an enormously important role in the promotion and protection of human rights and suhakam hopes that the media
will continue to support, disseminate information and provide the publicwith full, fair and accurate information on human rights issues. Suhakam
will continue to raise awareness of the importance of ethical journalism andhuman rights protection and how, together, they can contribute to a better
society.

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1. Social media engagement
Suhakam actively disseminates information on its activities, releases press statements and promotes human rights understanding throughTwitter, Facebook and Instagram. As of this year, suhakam has 14,355 followers on Twitter, 10,572 likes on Facebook and four hundred ninety-eight
followers on Instagram.
2. Human rights documentary
In June, suhakam collaborated with the United Nations Associationof Malaysia (unam) Youth on a project to produce a documentary entitled,“Hak Yang Hilang.” The purpose of the documentary was to raise awareness, spark conversation and understanding among the public on the issueof child marriage, Orang Asli and migrant workers.
Over twenty interviews were conducted with experts, Members of
Parliament (MPs), religious leaders, community leaders and members,
among others. The twenty-minute documentary was screened during suhakam’s Human Rights Day celebration on 9 December 2018 and will bemade available on suhakam’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/user/
SukahamVideo.1
Publication and Documentation
The Publication and Documentation Division was established in 2018.
The division comprises three units, namely, Publications, Libraries andDocument Management. Its objective is to promote, empower and develop the community’s minds and disseminate information on human rights
through printed or electronic materials in various fields and themes.
1.

SUHAKAM Short Video Competition 2018
In 2018 suhakam organized a Short Video Competition to garner public
views on their understanding of human rights. The competition was opened
to the public from 15 August to 15 October 2018. With the theme of humanrights in the context of Malaysian society, the Publication Unit received one
hundred seventeen entries. The scoring and evaluation were based on content, storyline, creativity and technical aspects. The winning videos wereshowcased at suhakam’s Human Rights Festival on 9 December 2018.

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The 1st prize winner received cash worth RM 5,000, 2nd prize RM 3,000
and RM 1,000 for the 3rd prize. All winners and those who had submitted
their short video received a certificate of participation. The winners are listed below:
Table 9.
No.

List of Winners

Title

Theme

1st Prize

Yuvan Raj Ganesan
Mathan Amuthan Selvam
Nanthakumaran Rajavijayan
Deena Pravinah A/P Nagaratnam
Dineshwaran Bole Ar Seng
Mohanakumaran A/L Rajavijayan
Kabilan A/L Shunmuganathan
Jaygentaran Raj A/L Mahagentharan

Wheels (Roda)

Persons with Disabilities

2nd Prize

Albert Wong Tuong Chui
Belinda Yii Sii Yung
Joan Sim Jo Jo
Dr. Ting Chuong Hock
Emilia Ting Ing Chieh
Yong Wan Rong
Lau Buong Yan

Can you give
us more love?
(Bolehkah anda
memberikan kasih
sayang kepada
kami?)

Persons with Disabilities

3rd Prize

Muhammad Zaim Aiman Bin
Kamaruddin
Izz Danial Bin Muhammad Hisham
Dennis Vissa A/L Eh Run
Muhammad Alif Ikhwan Bin Mohd
Nawi

Chance(Peluang)

Education

The 1st prize was awarded to the short video entitled “Roda” which focuses on the rightsof persons with disabilities. The team was represented by Nanthakumaran Rajavijayan,
Deena Pravinah A/P Nagaratnam and Yuvan Raj Ganesan.

198

H u m a n R i g h t s E d u c at i o n i n A s i a - Pa c i f i c · V o l u m e 9 , 2 0 1 9(Left) Dr. Ting Chuong Hock, representing his team to receive the 2nd prize award for the
SUHAKAM Short Video Competition 2018. (Right) Muhammad Zaim Aiman bin Kamaruddin
and Izz Danial bin Muhammad Hisham won the 3rd prize, representing their team from
Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tok Janggut, Kota Bharu, Kelantan

The Way Forward
Suhakam is encouraged to note the increased interest from Parliament,
government and enforcement agencies, schools, universities, the private
sector and general public, to know more about human rights. This is evident
from the increased number of invitations received by suhakam in 2018 todeliver talks, conduct training as well as to hold public exhibitions and briefings on general or specific human rights themes. Joint training programswith government and UN agencies, the judiciary, and universities have also
increased.
In order to satisfy its mandate to promote awareness and provide education on human rights, suhakam – after a meeting with the Minister of
Education on 11 December 2018 – will work on how to realize its organization-wide focus of having “Human Rights Education (Taught and Practised)in All Schools by 2020”. Towards this goal, suhakam will expand its Human
Rights Best Practices in Schools (atham) Program to other schools.
Suhakam has obtained an agreement from the moe to expand the atham
Program to another two hundred schools in 2019, bringing the total numberof schools involved to four hundred twenty-two.
With respect to the completed Human Rights Modules for post-PT3
and -upsr students, next year, suhakam will proceed with tots involving

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moe master trainers. Moe has agreed for suhakam to train master trainers
at the national level, who would then be tasked to train other trainers at the
district level. These trainers would then conduct training sessions on implementing the modules for the relevant school teachers. In order to further
strengthen the placement of human rights subject in school, suhakam will
also work with moe to insert human rights issues in civics education.
* This is an edited excerpt from the Annual Report 2018 of the Human
Rights Commission of Malaysia (suhakam) focusing on the institution’s
human rights education programs and activities.
Endnote1 This is the url of the full documentary, three chapters in one video, www.
youtube.com/watch?v=OhAmxv7xaPc.