Press Statements

Concerns And Commendations For Suhakam Over Its 2018 Annual Report

The Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the UPR Process (MACSA) congratulates the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) on the occasion of the first parliamentary discussion of its annual human rights report recently. Indeed, this momentous occasion, which we are aware that SUHAKAM has been pushing for since its inception in 1999, deserves due recognition by the local and international community in our common pursuit of upholding human rights for all. We have perused the contents of the report prepared by our national human rights body and find that while there are many areas in which the report deserves to be commended, it sadly is bereft of objectivity, contains several misleading narratives and lacks inclusivity. Some of the more concerning issues we have wit...

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Press Statements

MACSA Welcomes Strengthening of Anti-Hate Laws

The Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the UPR Process or MACSA notes that the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Religious Affairs in the new Pakatan Harapan government, Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa has proposed the tabling of three Bills, namely the Anti-Discrimination Bill, the National Harmony and Reconciliation Commission Bill and the Racial and Religious Hatred Act for the Parliamentary Session this October or February next year.[1] The new government has yet to publish a draft of these three proposed Bills. All we know from news reports are that these laws, in particular the proposed Racial and Religious Hatred Bill aim to curb racial and religious hatred. In short, the proposed Bills seek to criminalise hate speech. The proposed penalties a...

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