Day: November 25, 2015

GHAH: MEMORANDUM kepada Peguam Negara mengenai penyalahgunaan Akta Hasutan 1948

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Sumber: Gerakan Hapus Akta Hasutan, melalui SUARAM

GHAHSejak beberapa bulan yang lalu, terdapat peningkatan yang membimbangkan dalam siasatan dan pendakwaan di bawah Akta Hasutan 1948, yang mana sasarannya termasuk wakil-wakil rakyat dan aktivis-aktivis hak asasi manusia yang mempunyai tanggungjawab awam untuk bersuara mengenai perkara-perkara yang melibatkan kepentingan awam.

Sejak 27 Julai 2015, dua orang Ahli Parlimen pembangkang dan lima orang aktivis telah didakwa di bawah undang-undang tersebut. Sejak tahun 2013, terdapat peningkatan sebanyak 1,700 peratus dalam pertuduhan hasutan berbanding tempoh di antara 2007 dan 2012.

Tidak dapat dinafikan bahawa Akta Hasutan juga ditakrifkan secara luas dan ianya terbuka kepada penyalahgunaan. Di bawah Akta Hasutan, hampir apa sahaja yang disuarakan atau diterbitkan yang menjurus kepada perbalahan boleh dianggap sebagai menghasut. Read more →

Suhakam wants definition of marital rape to be clarified

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Source: The Malaysian Insider

Suhakam acting chairman Datuk Dr Khaw Lake Tee wants Putrajaya to clarify marital rape under the Penal Code. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, November 25, 2015.

The Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) has urged Putrajaya to amend the the exception to marital rape from the definition of rape stated in the Penal Code.

“This is to reflect the reality of sexual abuse suffered by women, either they are married or not,” acting Suhakam chairman Datuk Dr Khaw Lake Tee said. Read more →

Malayan killings families lose UK Supreme Court appeal

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Source: BBC News

Relatives of the dead men lost a case at the Court of Appeal last year

Relatives of 24 rubber plantation workers killed by British troops almost 70 years ago in Malaya have lost an appeal for an official investigation.

Five justices in the Supreme Court dismissed the challenge for an inquiry into the shootings at Batang Kali in 1948 by a four to one majority.

The families, who say the men were “massacred”, had their case rejected by the UK Court of Appeal last year.

British forces at the time of the killings said the men were insurgents.

In the Supreme Court panel’s judgement, one of the justices, Lord Kerr, described the case as “shocking” and said the “overwhelming preponderance of currently available evidence” showed “wholly innocent men were mercilessly murdered”.

He said it was “with regret” that he dismissed the appeal. Read more →

Anugerah kebebasan media kepada Zunar bukti Malaysia perlu perubahan

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Sumber: The Malaysian Insider

Kartunis Amerika Syarikat, pemenang anugerah Pulitzer Matt Wuerker (kiri) bersama Zunar di luar Kedutaan Malaysia di Washington DC. – Gambar ihsan Kean Wong, 25 November, 2015.

Bagi kartunis Zunar yang sering mengembara antara London, Cambridge, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney, Washington DC dan New York, beliau percaya reputasinya sebagai aktivis pencetus kemarahan, sering melakar tanah air kita dalam hitam dan putih, percikan warna hanya untuk menyerlahkan perbezaannya dengan kerajaan pemerintah Barisan Nasional.

Di sebalik penampilan reputasinya yang menakutkan hingga menyebabkan beliau mendapat 9 pertuduhan kerana menghasut dan kemungkinan 43 tahun dalam penjara, Zulkifli Anwar Haque ialah seorang yang santun dan lucu, bertentangan dengan cara menteri Malaysia.

Sama seperti kartun satiranya yang sering menggambarkan kepincangan negara, simetri penjahat merampas hak rakyat, minggu lalu memaparkan keseimbangan senario sama apabila Presiden Amerika Syarikat (AS) Barack Obama teruja hadir ke Kuala Lumpur sementara Zunar mendesak perubahan Malaysia dengan segera di hadapan Kaukus Hak Asasi Manusia Senat AS di Washington DC dan Misi US ke Pertubuhan Bangsa-bangsa Bersatu di New York. Read more →

Eliminating violence against women – United Nations

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Sources: The Malaysian Insider & UN News; UNiTE

Across the world, violence against women and girls remains one of the most serious – and the most tolerated – human rights violations, both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality and discrimination.

Its continued presence is one of the clearest markers of societies out of balance and we are determined to change that.

On this International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women we say again:
It is not acceptable.
It is not inevitable.
It can be prevented.

Although there is no single solution to such a complex problem, there is growing evidence of the range of actions that can stop violence before it happens, especially if they are implemented in parallel. Read more →

Home for expectant orang asli mothers rundown, filthy and ill-equipped

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Source: The Star Online

RumahTransitKualaBertisGuaMusangforOrangAsli

Poor condition: The transit centre for expectant mothers in Gua Musang has no proper furniture and is in a mess.

EXCLUSIVE

GUA MUSANG: He was expecting a place where his family could rest as they awaited the arrival of their second son.

But Temiar farmer M. Remy, 21, was in for a shock. The orang asli found the government centre for the community to be filthy, neglected and in the kind of conditions that are far from hygienic.

One can smell the stench from Rumah Transit Kuala Bertis from quite a distance. There is rubbish everywhere. The toilets stink and there doesn’t seem to be anyone maintaining them.

The place is infested with flies and the pests can be seen on sleeping children and would-be mothers. The children and mothers sleep on cold floors, with no mattresses and in many cases, no blankets.

The closest thing to a bed are wooden planks on which some of the orang asli mothers-to-be sleep. Read more →

Hypocrisy in international relations – Azmi Sharom

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Source: The Star Online

BY AZMI SHAROM

Issues of good governance, democracy and human rights will always be low on the agenda of any country when dealing in foreign affairs.

Azmi Sharom - file pic

Azmi Sharom – file pic

THE first American president to visit us was Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s. His reasons for visiting were probably the same as President Barack Obama’s: security (although in those days it was about the “threat” of Vietnam and the feared domino effect of nations falling under the thrall of Communism, whereas now it’s Islamic State) and economy (although then it was probably more about ensuring we keep on supplying tin and rubber whereas now it’s about keeping us from being too influenced by China).

Whenever the President of the United States visit another country, he is bound to make waves of some sort. According to oral history (i.e. my mum and dad), when LBJ came here all sorts of craziness ensued, like the inexplicable chopping-down of strategic trees; as though some renegade monkey was going to throw himself at the presidential convoy.

Our Prime Minister at the time, Tunku Abdul Rahman, wasn’t too fussed about the visit, saying that Johnson needn’t have come at all. Read more →

Address illegal land clearing, locals tell Penang govt

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Source: The Star Online

GEORGE TOWN, Nov 25 — Residents of Teluk Bahang and Sungai Ara hope the state government would take stern action against those who have destroyed Penang’s greenery.

Farmers in Teluk Bahang alleged that the illegal land clearing activities in Bukit Laksamana had caused mudslides and landslides, which frequently blocked the only access way to their farms. Read more →

First of three-stage Parliamentary changes to be presented soon

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Source: The Star Online

Malaysian Parliamentary sitting - Pic from The Star Online

Malaysian Parliamentary sitting – Pic from The Star Online

PARLIAMENTARY reforms will comprise three phases, with the initial one expected to be presented to lawmakers during the current sitting.

Dewan Rakyat Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee, who revealed this, said amendments to Parliament’s Standing Orders that did not involve changes to the Federal Constitution would be proposed first.

“This will include creating a Second Chamber and a Ministers’ Question Time.

“The second phase is to bring back the Parlia­ment­ary Ser­vices Act to ensure parliamentary independence in terms of staffing and budget, while the third phase is to create a Law Commission,” he said in a Facebook posting yesterday. Read more →

Report highlights weaknesses in Terengganu’s mining sector

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Source: The Star Online

Room for change: The 2014 Auditor-General’s Report (Third Series) has several recommendations to improve Terengganu’s mining industry.

Room for change: The 2014 Auditor-General’s Report (Third Series) has several recommendations to improve Terengganu’s mining industry.

KUALA TERENGGANU: Tereng­ganu’s mining sector has weak monitoring and ineffective enforcement, leading to procedures and regulations being violated.

This was stated in the 2014 Auditor-General’s Report (Third Series), which was released on Monday.

It pointed out several weaknesses in the state’s booming mining sector. Read more →