Press Statements

The Incoming 3rd Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for Malaysia at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva

In two weeks time, on the 8th of November 2018, an important proceeding will be taking place at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council, in Geneva. Malaysia’s human rights practices will be scrutinised in a mechanism known as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). A multitude of recommendations are expected to be made by the UN member countries across the world, from the call for Malaysia to ratify various international human rights treaties to basic issues such as freedom of speech and religion, the rights of stateless persons and refugees, equality between the sexes, inter-ethnic harmony, and many more. MACSA, or in full the Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the UPR Process, will be sending a delegation of eight human rights defenders consisting of academics, ...

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Press Statements

P Kasthuriraani must not Mislead Parliament, be more Constitutionally Literate

Recently media reports in particular one by Free Malaysia Today on 16 October 2018 have quoted the Honourable Member of Parliament for Batu Kawan, P Kasthuriraani, urging the Government to “ratify” a certain United Nations General Assembly Resolution, the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. The said Member of Parliament and the general public must understand that it is not possible to ratify a declaration. Declarations are statements of principles that are not legally binding, and are made for emphasis of point, hence the operative word of a declaration. Examples of these are United Nations General Assembly Resolutions, and the declaration referred to by the Member of Parliament is such a resolution that was adopt...

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Press Statements

MACSA releases Joint Submission for Stakeholders Information 2018 in anticipation of Malaysia’s 3rd UPR before the UNHRC

In conjunction with the recent celebration of our 61st Merdeka Day and in anticipation of Malaysia’s pending Universal Periodic Review (UPR) before the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this November, being its 3rd to date, we are pleased to grant access for the viewing of the Malaysian public MACSA's Joint Submission for Stakeholders’ Information 2018. This report encapsulates the review and research of Malaysia’s human rights situation and obligations as regards previous UPRs as undertaken by our team here at MACSA and has been submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council on 29 March 2018 for its consideration during Malaysia's forthcoming 3rd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review. It gives us great pleasure in making the same available to you for viewing at your le...

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Press Statements

COMANGO’s Attack of Fellow Human Rights Defenders Smacks of Diversion and Desperation

The Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the UPR Process (MACSA) is disappointed that the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR Process (COMANGO) has chosen to frame its own UPR stakeholder report on Human Rights in Malaysia with unprovoked, malicious attacks on their fellow human rights defenders. MACSA, like COMANGO, has in March this year submitted its own stakeholder report before the 3rd Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Malaysia, which will be held on 8th November in Geneva, Switzerland. We are a coalition that champions human rights and fundamental liberties enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human rights 1948 (UDHR), the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam 1990 (CDHRI) and the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration 2012 (AHRD) in accordance with the local...

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Pengumuman Penyerahan Laporan Gabungan Ke Pertubuhan Bangsa Bersatu, Geneva

Gabungan Organisasi Masyarakat Sivil Di Dalam Proses Semakan Berkala Sejagat (UPR) atau Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the UPR Process (ringkasnya MACSA) ditubuhkan pada 27 Oktober 2017 sebagai penzahiran permuafakatan 47 organisasi masyarakat sivil Islam (ICSO) dalam menyumbangkan idea, tenaga dan kepakaran masing-masing untuk mengoptimumkan penyertaan masyarakat sivil di dalam proses Semakan Berkala Sejagat (Universal Periodic Review atau UPR) bagi Malaysia yang masuk pusingan ketiga menjelang bulan November kelak. Sidang Media pada hari ini diadakan untuk mengumumkan laporan pemegang kepentingan (Stakeholders’ Report) MACSA yang akan dikemukakan kepada Jawatankuasa Kerja, Majlis Hak Asasi Manusia, Pertubuhan Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) (UNHRC). Laporan pemegang kepenti...

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Focusing on pressing and urgent women’s issues

On February 19, Malaysia’s progress in women’s rights was reviewed at the 69th session of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This is the second time Malaysia has been reviewed after it acceded to CEDAW in 1995. The review process is undoubtedly one of the best platforms to raise awareness of issues concerning the rights of women in Malaysia. The Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the UPR Process (MACSA) welcomes the government’s commitment in combating discrimination against women including the government’s assurance to enact Gender Equality Act, as well as its commitment in upholding and implementing a legal framework and policies pertaining to marriage and family on the basis of equality between m...

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Press Statements

Liberal Fascists Camouflaged as Freedom Fighters

Political correctness has revealed itself in the West to have been a liberal Trojan horse carrying a battalion of neo-Fascists in its belly, who emerge at the slightest perceived offence. They triumph at browbeating any and every differing opinion into silence. Not surprisingly, this Trojan horse has begun to appear in Malaysia over the last few years, using many of the same tactics adopted in the West. They promote “tolerance” for “alternative lifestyles” or for “marginalised people;” usually referring to homosexuals and transgender individuals. But this “tolerance” means, in practice, compelled speech (forcing people to use particular gender neutral pronouns, etc), suspension of legitimate debate (over definitions of gender, for example) by classifying it as “hate speech,” and g...

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MACSA Dibentuk Bagi Memperkukuh Dan Mempromosikan Hak Asasi Manusia Di Malaysia

TERJEMAHAN Di antara bulan Julai hingga September 2017, Kementerian Luar Negeri, Malaysia (Wisma Putra) telah mengadakan sesi rundingan bersama badan-badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) bagi menerokai isu-isu hak asasi manusia di Malaysia. Praktis dan amalan hak asasi manusia di Malaysia mendapat sorotan berikutan keterlibatan Malaysia dalam Semakan Berkala Sejagat (Universal Periodic Review atau ringkasnya UPR), iaitu sebuah proses semakan yang dibuat secara berkala, bagi menilai tahap pengamalan hak asasi di negara-negara PBB, selaras dengan keputusan dalam Perhimpunan Agung PBB pada tahun 2006. Sepanjang sesi rundingan tersebut, perkembangan dan pelaksanaan hak asasi manusia di Malaysia telah dibincangkan dengan terperinci, dan NGO-NGO yang hadir diberi ruang untuk menyuarakan aspirasi ser

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MACSA Formed to strengthen Human Rights in Malaysia

Between July and September 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia (Wisma Putra) held consultations with several local civil society organisations (CSOs) primarily to explore a variety of human rights concerns in Malaysia. Human rights practices in the country had come under scrutiny following Malaysia’s participation in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a process for regularly evaluating the human rights practices of UN members initiated by the UN General Assembly in 2006. Throughout the consultative sessions, the progress and implementation of human rights measures in Malaysia were discussed and the various CSOs in question were encouraged to be forthright about their concerns and to identify current and future challenges. We laud and thank the Malaysian government for i...

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