Day: August 26, 2016

Reports of abuse at camp untrue, says watchdog

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Source: FMT News

All CCTVs at the depot however not functional since 2014 and conditions have been described as "derelict, and bursting at its seams" by the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission. Pic taken from FMT News

All CCTVs at the depot however not functional since 2014 and conditions have been described as “derelict, and bursting at its seams” by the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission. Pic taken from FMT News

PUTRAJAYA: Reports of inmate abuse and resulting deaths at an immigration detention depot in Penang are not true, an enforcement agencies’ watchdog here said today.

Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) Chairman Yaacob Md Sam said it made a “surprise visit” to the Juru detention centre earlier this week and found the allegations of “bashing and killing” were baseless.

“Based on our investigations, claims that five Cambodian women and two Vietnamese women were hurt due to the excessive use of force by immigration officers at the Juru depot have been found to be baseless.

“There were only 10 women in detention and only one of them was from Cambodia,” he said in a statement today.

Cambodian newspaper The Cambodia Daily reported earlier this month that three female inmates were beaten to death, with another four dying in hospital. They based this report on a Cambodian woman who was recently repatriated from the depot. Read more →

Muslim converts should have right to divorce, lawyers’ group says

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — The Malaysian Shariah Lawyers Association (PGSM) demanded today for the right of Muslim converts to annul civil marriages.

PGSM president Musa Awang pointed out that Section 51 of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 states that if either spouse converts, only the non-converting spouse can file for a petition to dissolve the marriage within three months after the conversion.

Musa said that this is an unfair provision as it seemingly penalises the Muslim convert spouse, who would automatically lose the locus standi to file the petition under the LRA.

“The law must be amended in such a way as to grant the converting spouse to also file the joint petition to annul his or her marriage. Only then this would be a win-win solution,” Musa told Malay Mail Online. Read more →

Malaysia, stop penalising peaceful assembly and dissent — Amnesty International

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

BY AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

AUGUST 26 — Amnesty International calls on the Malaysian authorities to stop the harassment of rally organisers and other activists, and to drop investigations against three students who were detained solely for promoting the #TangkapMalaysian Official1 (Arrest Malaysian Official 1) rally, scheduled for 27 August.

On Saturday 20 August 2016, the three students were arrested and subsequently detained for three days for entering a public university in the state of Ipoh, Perak to promote a rally calling for the arrest of an individual named as ‘Malaysian Official 1,’ who was named in a lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice. The civil suit alleges that ‘Malaysian Offical1’ and others used an investment firm owned by the Malaysian government to steal more than RM1 billion (US$250 million US) which had been earmarked for the country’s economic development.

The three students — Ashraf Nazrin, Luqman Hakim Zulrazali, and Luqman Hakim Fadzli — were arrested on 20 August, under section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act, for failing to notify the Officer in Charge of the Police district in which the assembly was to be held. They were also investigated under section 447 of the Penal Code, for trespass. Pursuant to a remand hearing, which took place that day at which they had no legal representation, they were detained until 22 August, when they were released on police bail. The students had in fact met with police on 16 August, four days before they were arrested, to discuss the planned rally. Read more →

Appellate court bins Khairuddin’s bid to dismiss sabotage charge

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan (left) was detained since September 23 under anti-terrorism law SOSMA after a global tour to solicit investigations by other countries into 1MDB. ― MMO File pic

Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan (left) was detained under anti-terrorism law SOSMA after a global tour to solicit investigations by other countries into 1MDB. ― MMO File pic

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 26 ― A Court of Appeal has struck out former Batu Kawan Umno Division deputy chief Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan’s bid to quash his financial sabotage attempt charge.

Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif, who led a three-man panel struck out Khairuddin’s appeal without hearing the appeal proper and the prosecution’s preliminary objection to the appeal.

Justice Raus questioned whether it was proper for Khairuddin to file the application in the first place when the High Court had issued a stay order to temporarily suspend his trial pending disposal of the prosecution’s appeal at the Court of Appeal.

The prosecution is appealing against a high court ruling that the charge faced by Khairuddin and lawyer Matthias Chang Wen Chieh was not a security offence and did not fall under Sosma Offences.

The case has been set for hearing at the Court of Appeal on November 14.  Read more →

Positive steps to end human trafficking — M. Saravanabavan

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Source: NST Online

BY M. SARAVANABAVAN

HUMAN trafficking is one of organised crime’s most lucrative markets. The size of its annual trade ranks only behind illicit drugs and arms markets. The offence involves the transport of victims, usually between states. It has always been a concern for the international community. The term human trafficking covers the movement of victims for sexual and labour exploitation as well as moving them for organised crime, including pickpocketing, begging and cannabis cultivation.

The definition of trafficking has undergone developments in the international arena and now is codified in the Palermo Protocol, which provides a detailed, internationally accepted meaning.

Incentives have been offered by the international community to tackle the issue, but this is exacerbated by globalisation and expanding borders.

In the recently released United States’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, Malaysia was deemed to be in Tier 2 of the watch list. Countries in Tier 2 are considered those that “do not fully meet the minimum standard in eliminating human trafficking”. The minimum standards were stipulated in the Palermo Protocol, which was passed in 2000. Read more →

Closing the gaps in the law — Joint Action Group for Gender Equality

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

AUG 26 — On Hari Wanita, the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) urges the Malaysian government to close the gaps in our domestic laws that obstruct the elimination of violence against women and girls and the achievement of gender equality in our country, which remain yet unrealized goals.

Even after years of civil society expending critical resources in educating and engaging with policymakers, words have not materialised into concrete actions, and women and girls are still regularly subjected to violence and discrimination, with limited recourse in the law. It is time for all MPs to demonstrate their commitment to eliminating the gender gap and bringing about equality in our society by supporting the law reform initiatives that JAG has been lobbying for consistently over the past decade. Read more →