Human Rights Watch Steps In To Stop The Rot...

Listed below are some of the demands made by Human Rights Watch in their letter to our new Prime Minister:-

Human Rights Watch urges the Malaysian government to:

On Arbitrary Detention

Immediately and unconditionally revoke all emergency proclamations and ordinances that violate internationally protected human rights, including the Emergency (Public Order and Crime Prevention) Ordinance 1969.

Abolish the Internal Security Act. Malaysia's penal code and criminal justice system are fully capable of addressing situations of internal security.

Immediately charge or release all individuals currently held under the Internal Security Act. Assure that those charged have prompt access to legal counsel and family members and are tried in conformity with international fair trial standards.

On Freedom of Expression and Assembly

Rescind the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

Amend the Police Act to ensure it respects the right to peaceful assembly by revoking the unlimited power of a police district's officer in charge to refuse to license or determine the conditions under which assemblies, meetings, and processions are licensed. Substitute regulations that set out reasonable and negotiated conditions for assembly and an appeal process that eliminates political grounds on which decisions to withhold permission are too often made.

Narrow the overbroad definitions of "sedition" and "seditious tendency" employed in the Sedition Act and refrain from using the act to censor expression or to jail political opponents or critics.

On Security Force Malfeasance

Implement the original Independent Police Complaint and Misconduct Commission proposal recommended by the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police.

Discipline or prosecute as appropriate all security force officers involved in incidents of abuse, including those with command responsibility.

On Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers

Ratify without reservations the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 protocol, and the 2003 Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families and bring domestic law and practice into conformity with the documents.

Ensure asylum seekers, refugees, trafficked persons, and abused workers are not subject to penalties imposed under the Immigration Act 1959/63.

Allow asylum seekers the right to residence, documentation, work, and education while their claims are pending and give recognized refugees the opportunity to regularize their status.

Facilitate UNHCR's ability to determine refugee status by allowing the agency unhindered access to detention facilities. Ensure that all detained asylum seekers and refugees are able to contact UNHCR regularly.

Abolish RELA, and repeal all regulations under which RELA was established and its powers expanded. Until such time, RELA should be restructured as a volunteer agency with no enforcement powers and with no role in either apprehension of irregular migrants or maintenance of security in the immigration detention centers.

Undertake independent investigations into allegations of abuse by RELA members, immigration officers, and police officers. Hold accountable the perpetrators of such abuses, including those with command responsibility.

Extend equal protection of the 1955 Employment Act and the 1952 Workman's Compensation Act to domestic workers and create mechanisms for enforcement.

Strengthen regulations governing recruitment agencies and include clear mechanisms to monitor and enforce standards concerning migrant workers. Oversight bodies to protect domestic workers from abuse should enjoy the power to conduct unannounced inspections of recruitment agencies and to impose substantial penalties on agencies that abuse workers or otherwise violate standards.

Ensure employers fulfill their contractual obligations to migrant workers or pay adequate compensation.

Najib, if you are serious about reform and not let your arrogance takes the better of you, you must pay attention to this letter. But lets deal with Perak State Assembly crisis first. Call for a state election immediately!