Suaram organises forum to mark opening of new office in Penang

by Prema Devaraj

Democracy is being sacrificed for security.

Penang was not left out of the celebrations to mark World Human Rights Day in December 2002. To commemorate the occasion and to mark the opening of its new office in Penang, human rights group Suaram organised a host of activities.

First, it issued a press statement on the �State of Human Rights in Malaysia 2002�. This was followed by an exhibition �Human Rights in a Malaysia� as well as a forum �9/11 and Human Rights in Malaysia� on Sunday, 15 December 2002 in Komtar, Penang.

Some 65 people turned up at the forum to listen to political scientist Johan Saravanamuttu, trade unionist N Balakrishnan and Malaysiakini CEO Premesh Chandran. Prema Devaraj, an Aliran executive committee member, moderated the session.

Johan, an Aliran Trust Board member and Fellow and Executive Director of the Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives (Arena), talked about human rights after Sept 11 with special reference to Southeast Asia. He lamented that the human rights situation across the world had deteriorated with a widespread clamping down on civil liberties.

For instance, in Malaysia, the ISA is being justified as necessary with �security� put ahead of rights. Asserted Johan: �A human rights culture is not inimical to human security.� Instead, he countered, such a culture would enhance human security.

Johan spoke of how through the 1990s many Southeast Asian states had rejected the universal notion of human rights and had instead emphasised so-called �Asian values�. This allowed these states to place collective rights above civil and political rights.

But the economic meltdown since 1997, reformasi in Indonesia and democratisation in Thailand exposed the �Asian values� argument and allowed activists to push the universal understanding of human rights back into the mainstream.

Civil society groups like LawAsia tried to get ASEAN governments to form a working group on human rights for the region. But instead of the formation of a regional human rights commission, national human rights commissions were formed: for example, the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, the National Commission on Human Rights, Indonesia (Komnas HAM), the National Human Rights Commission, Thailand, and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

However the integrity and effectiveness of each of these groups vary and civil society groups have their work cut out for them. �There is more networking and connection among Asian groups now (e.g. Asian Peace Alliance),� observed Johan, but much more needs to be done to bring the human rights agenda back on track.

The next speaker, N Balakrishnan, an Industrial Relations Officer with the Electrical Industry Workers Union (EIWU), spoke about the impact of 9/11 on the Malaysian labour movement. Historically speaking, it was the workers who initially organised and struggled for the advancement of their rights after years of exploitative working conditions, he pointed out.

�But each time something happens globally, laws are amended, many changes are made, and workers� rights are curbed,� he complained, citing events such as the 1965 confrontation with Indonesia and times of economic crisis as examples.

Balakrishnan also described how hotel and transport industry workers have been affected, with fewer people travelling these days. Faced with global economic uncertainty, sections of the manufacturing industry were not adhering to wage contracts. Industrial courts were expecting workers to concede or understand the position of management.

Bala, who is also a general council member of the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC), expressed his frustration at the �consumer culture� of the workers, who seem to be more interested in earning their wages than in their rights. He felt that the workers were really not aware of how the labour force was being controlled and how the events of 9/11 were being used to deregulate laws.

Workers are now being asked to work longer hours with 12-hour days increasingly becoming the norm. In one workplace, for instance, factory workers can no long sit and do their work and instead are required to work standing up to improve productivity. This is in direct contravention with legal requirements that the working environment should not adversely affect the workers physiologically or psychologically.

It would seem that despite whatever laws there may be for workers� rights, looking after investors takes precedence over the rights of the workers.

The third speaker, Malaysiakini�s Premesh, touched on the challenges facing human rights activists in Malaysia. Premesh, who has also been involved with SUARAM for the past 10 years, talked about the new American security doctrine which allowed for new laws that seriously undermine fundamental liberties (like the Patriots Act) to be enacted. Once again, the state reasons that in order to preserve security, the rights of the citizens must become secondary.

Premesh also spoke of the terminology now in use which implied that the US is now at war and that war-time conditions apply. The concept of a �war state�, he observed, had become an accepted norm. Similarly in Malaysia, democracy is being sacrificed for security. The use of the ISA goes on, initially with the Emergency, then with the racial riots in 1969 and more recently against religious extremism. He said that Malaysians had grown accustomed to being thrust in a situation of having to face one �threat� after another.

He also questioned the growing culture of violence in the country. �There�s so much violence in our society, that when it is extended against terrorism, no one is shocked,� he noted. Instead of having a war state, Premesh suggested that we had to tackle the root causes of terrorism and win over public opinion for a peace state. This is more easily said than done as it was not just a matter of repealing the ISA and ensuring freedom of expression.

He felt that groups had to have a broader political programme to resolve issues that divide the community and stressed the need for activists to develop a second-tier of leadership. The need for working together, promoting partnerships and trust among one another is ever more important at this stage. In particular, he called for a return to local elections.

The forum ended with an hour-long question-and-answer session. It was felt that groups had to act to counter the dominant US-led agenda. The protection of democratic values and human rights must be seen as an integral part of the fight against terrorism and not as an obstacle to it.

Later that night, Suaram organised a dinner for Penang-based activists and friends.

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