
SUHAKAM Chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam (right) and Vice-Chairman Datuk Dr Khaw Lake Tee (in background) – pic by NSTP/Rosela Ismail
ASK Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam about the state of human rights in Malaysia and he will say it is “patchy and not uniform”.
“My concern is whether human rights is a high priority to the Government,” says Hasmy, whose second term as chairman ends tomorrow at midnight.
Leaving also are vice-chairman Datuk Dr Khaw Lake Tee and commissioners Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Mahmood Zuhdi Ab Majid and James Nayagam.
In an exclusive interview, Hasmy tells Sunday Star that: “Preventive detention, terrorism and security laws are being misused to suppress political expression and dissent.”
Citing the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act, he says the broad characterisation of “security offences” under the Act shows that its ambit extends beyond terrorism offences.
He says it contradicts the Prime Minister’s guarantee in 2011 that “no individual will be arrested merely on the point of political ideology”. Read more