Month: May 2018

HAKAM to hold 27th Annual General Meeting on 30 June 2018

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NOTICE OF 27TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

TO BE HELD AT HAKAM’S OFFICE at B-01, Ground Floor, Block B, Kompleks Pejabat Damansara Jalan Dungun, Damansara Heights, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, ON SAT 30 JUNE 2018 at 8.30 a.m.

 

AGENDA

  1. Welcome Address;
  2. Confirmation of Minutes of the 26th Adjourned Annual General Meeting dated 17 June 2017;
  3. Matters Arising;
  4. President’s Report for 2017/2018;
  5. Treasurer’s Financial Report for the Financial Year of 2017;
  6. Election of Office Bearers (President, Deputy President, Secretary General, Treasurer) & Executive Committee and 2 Honorary Auditors;
  7. Any Other Business.

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Court dismisses Maria Chin’s travel ban appeal

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Source: FreeMalaysiaToday

Maria Chin Abdullah failed in her bid to challenge the Immigration director-general’s decision to bar her from travelling abroad after her judicial review application was dismissed. ― Picture by Yusof Mat Isa for the MMO.

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has dismissed former Bersih 2.0 chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah’s appeal after she was stopped from leaving Malaysia in 2016.

A three-member bench chaired by Justice Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid said the matter was academic and the court would not want to act in vain.

“We are of the view the appeal has become academic and there is no travesty of justice,” she said.

Maria, who was recently elected Petaling Jaya MP, can now travel abroad as the ban has been lifted.

On May 18 last year, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ruled that an amendment to the Immigration Act did not allow the courts to hear complaints from citizens who are banned from travelling overseas. Read more →

Call to repeal OSA is loud

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Source: The Star Online

PETALING JAYA: Civil societies want the Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA) repealed to encourage transparency in the new government.

This, says the Governance, Inte­grity, Accountability and Transpa­rency (GIAT), a coalition of seven civil society organisations, should be part of the institutional reform that should be carried out by the Government to ensure transparency in the country.

GIAT also wants the Government to table a Freedom of Information Bill as soon as possible, to show its commitment to transparency in line with the spirit of the “New Malaysia”. Read more →

Have registry of beneficial owners of firms to fight graft, says TI-M

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Source: FreeMalaysiaToday

Transparency International Malaysia says the requirement for disclosure of beneficial ownership can help stop the proceeds of corruption from being laundered through investments in high-value property in Malaysia.

Transparency International-Malaysia chairman Akhbar Satar – The Malaysian Insight pic by Kamal Ariffin, February 22, 2018.

KUALA LUMPUR: Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) has proposed the setting up of a central registry for beneficial ownership of companies registered in Malaysia and those keeping funds in Labuan.

Noting that graft was the biggest problem for businesses in Malaysia, its president Akhbar Satar said today this was one way to fight corruption and money laundering activities,.

A beneficial owner of a company is the person who truly owns, enjoys and controls the company even though the title to some form of property or security is in another’s name.

Akhbar said in a statement that such a registry would ensure corrupt officials and politicians would be unable to award themselves, through their families or cronies, any government contracts. Read more →

Adjourn Sedition Act cases pending review, Ramkarpal tells courts

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Source: FreeMalaysiaToday

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh today urged the courts to adjourn the Sedition Act 1948 cases as the new government plans to review and abolish the Sedition Act.

He said Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had announced that the mandatory death sentence, the Sedition Act, the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, and other legislation seen to be archaic and draconian would be reviewed and probably abolished.

Ramkarpal said in a statement that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) had consistently maintained that the Sedition Act was outdated and was mainly used by the previous Barisan Nasional government as a political tool to stifle dissent.

“There can be no doubt that the said Act is a severe impediment to the right to freedom of speech which is guaranteed under the Federal Constitution and must be completely abolished if the new PH government is serious in its reform agenda.” Read more →

Work on police misconduct commission, rights group tells Putrajaya

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Source: FreeMalaysiaToday

KUALA LUMPUR: Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) today urged the new Pakatan Harapan government to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission in its first term of office as outlined in its election manifesto.

In a statement, HRW’s Asia director Brad Adams said this would ensure that all allegations of misconduct are investigated in a fair and comprehensive way.

He added that such measures were critical to reforming the country’s police force.

Adams said the PH government, headed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, must also move swiftly to implement the human rights commitments set out in its election manifesto.

He said the organisation had written to Mahathir on the matter, adding that Malaysia could become a regional example of a protector and proponent of human rights and rule of law by fulfilling these promises. Read more →

Improve gender equality, JAG tells Pakatan government

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Source: The Malay Mail

PETALING JAYA, May 22—The Women and Family Development ministry must focus on human rights and gender equality, instead of merely reinforcing stereotypical associations of women with family, children, and welfare, says Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG).

In a statement today, the coalition called upon the new Pakatan Harapan government to launch institutional reforms aimed at advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.

These reforms, said the coalition, should include strengthening the ministry’s authority to make decisions on women’s advancement.

“Pakatan Harapan must also strengthen and empower government machinery and organisations responding to gender equality issues,” it said.

“This includes providing adequate resources to the Welfare department, One-Stop Crisis Centres, and the Royal Malaysian Police Sexual Crimes Unit.” Read more →

Bersih: Free and fair media coverage needed for a more democratic Malaysia

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Source: The Malay Mail

Pakatan Harapan supporters at Padang Timur Petaling Jaya. Picture by – Zuraneeza Zulkifli

PETALING JAYA, May 22 — Electoral reform movement Bersih 2.0 maintained the need for free and fair media coverage of all sides of the political divide, as the country collectively embraces a new dawn and a new Malaysia.

Following the fall of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government after holding power for 61 years since independence, Bersih 2.0 said media and broadcasting organisations are now able to cover events organised by the current government and former Opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan (PH), which the mainstream media had shunned before.

“However, it is important that the media should start a new chapter by giving equal media coverage to all political parties and abandon the old habits of providing one-sided stories in favour of the ruling parties as under BN’s era.

“The taxpayer-funded state media such as radio and television stations should no longer serve the government of the day, but to also provide equal media coverage to all sides for taxpayers to make informed decisions,” the Bersih 2.0 steering committee said in a statement today. Read more →

Muhyiddin: Home ministry to review seven ‘unsuitable’ national security laws

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Source: The Malay Mail

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin speaks at the Department of Home Affairs in Putrajaya May 22, 2018. ― Picture by Miera Zulyana

PUTRAJAYA, May 22 — The Home Ministry will review seven laws relating to national security which are no longer suitable in today’s landscape, said the new Home Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said these laws were the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, Sedition Act 1948, Peaceful Assembly Act 2012,  Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (Poca), Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (Pota), and mandatory death sentence.

Muhyiddin said the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), non-governmental organisations and social activists would be asked to give their views on these laws.

“These laws will be reviewed and, if necessary, replaced. It will need a bit of time, but not up to five years until the next general election,” he told reporters when asked for the time needed to complete the review.

Muhyiddin was speaking at his first press conference as the new Home Minister after attending a briefing given by heads of departments and agencies under the ministry. — Bernama

Muhyiddin: IPCMC in the pipeline

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Source: The Malay Mail

HAKAM Comment: Let us hope that pipeline isn’t going to be a long one that it ends up being a pipe dream! Syabas PH government! 

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin speaks at the Department of Home Affairs in Putrajaya May 22, 2018. ― Picture by Miera Zulyana

PUTRAJAYA, May 22 — The new Pakatan Harapan federal government is in the process of establishing an Independent Police Complaints-Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), Minister of Home Affairs Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

Muhyiddin made the announcement here on the first day at work as home affairs minister under a new ruling coalition that took over on May 9.

The Pagoh MP said the setting up of the commission is part of the pledges made by PH in its election manifesto. The four-party coalition had vowed to reform the police force.

“It’s a longstanding idea so we are looking into it,” Muhyiddin told a press conference at the ministry’s main office here.

Police reform was a key election promise of PH, a point Muhyiddin stressed today as he vowed to see through the coalition’s promises to uphold civil liberties. Read more →