APSN | Revoke ISA immediately, Najib urged

Home > South-East Asia >> Malaysia

Revoke ISA immediately, Najib urged

Free Malaysia Today - September 23, 2011

Malaysia: Fulfill promise to repeal abusive laws - Human Rights Watch Statement. September 23, 2011
Charges dropped against PSM's EO6, 24 others - Malaysian Insider. September 19, 2011
Scepticism over Malaysian PM's reform announcement - ABC Radio Australia. September 19, 2011
When it comes to changes in Malaysia's security laws, read the political fine print - Asia Sentinel. September 19, 2011
AG drops charges on PSM30 including EO6 – is this the end of the charade? - Malaysian Socialist Party (PSM) Press Release. September 19, 2011

Petaling Jaya – An international human rights organisation, Human Rights Watch, has urged Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to immediately repeal the Internal Security Act (ISA) and prosecute those who are still being detained under the ISA.

"The government should immediately revoke the abusive law and release or prosecute those being held in preventive detention," said HRW's Asia deputy director, Phil Robertson.

Robertson was commenting on Najib's announcement that the ISA would be repealed and two new laws would be formulated to combat subversive elements as well as fight organised terrorism and crime in order to safeguard peace and public order.

Najib also announced that Section 27 of the Police Act 1967 would be reviewed to allow freedom of assembly and annual permits for print media would be cancelled when delivering his Malaysia Day speech last week.

Said Robertson: "The Malaysian government should not delay and should set a clear timetable to implement these reforms and take a series of interim steps to demonstrate progress toward their achievement."

"More than a single speech will be needed to convince Malaysians that substantial improvements in freedom of expression and assembly are imminent in Malaysia," he added.

"Taking action on specific cases now is the best way to convince the world that the Malaysian government is really changing its approach," Robertson said.

HRW also called for the ban on Bersih 2.0 (Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections) to be lifted and a full acquittal be given to the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) activists who were charged with distributing Bersih-related materials.