Home Ministry: Comango is an illegal entity, not registered with ROS

PETALING JAYA: The Home Ministry has deemed the Coalition of Malaysian NGOs (Comango) an illegal entity as it is not registered with the Registrar of Societies (ROS).

Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Mohamad Khalid Shariff said the organisation, which champions LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights, was not registered under the Societies Act 1966.

"Comango sent a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the purposes of the Universal Periodic Review.

"The organisations in the coalition are not based on Islamic teachings and most of them are not registered," he said in a statement Wednesday.

He explained there were 54 organisations in Comango, but only 15 of them were registered with the ROS.

"Any organisation, which wishes to organise legitimate its activities in the country, must be registered with the ROS under Section 7 of the Societies Act 1966.

"Any organisation which fails to adhere to the regulations can be penalised under Section 41(1)(b) of the same act," he said.

Comango made headlines in November last year when Umno supreme council member Datuk Seri Noh Omar submitted an emergency motion to the Dewan Rakyat, condemning the coalition for its demands during the UNHCR Universal Periodic Review.

The motion was rejected by Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee, who said the Government had already clarified it would not compromise with any party that makes demands against the Federal Constitution or the country's Syariah laws.

Noh said that the Comango had, among others, called for rights for the LGBT community and freedom of religion for all in Malaysia.

NGOs in Comango registered with ROS
1.PERSATUAN KESEDARAN KOMUNITI SELANGOR (EMPOWER)
2.EDUCATION AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATION FOR CONSUMERS MALAYSIA (ERA CONSUMER)
3.ALL PETALING JAYA, SELANGOR RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION (APAC)
4.ALL WOMEN'S ACTION SOCIETY KUALA LUMPUR & SELANGOR (AWAM)
5.ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES MALAYSIA
6.COALITION TO ABOLISH MODERN DAY SLAVERY IN ASIA (CAMSA)
7.SOCIETY FOR RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF SARAWAK)(SCRIPS)
8.GOOD SHEPHERD WELFARE CENTRE
9.MALAYSIAN PHYSICIANS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
10.PERSATUAN MASYARAKAT SELANGOR DAN KUALA LUMPUR (PERMAS)
11.PERAK WOMEN FOR WOMEN SOCIETY
12.SAHABAT WANITA SELANGOR
13.SABAH WOMEN'S ACTION-RESOURCE GROUP (SAWO)
14.WOMEN'S AID ORGANISATION, MALAYSIA (WAO)
15.KUALA LUMPUR AND SELANGOR CHINESE ASSEMBLY HALL

NGOs in Comango not registered with ROS
1.AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL, MALAYSIA
2.ASEAN INSTITUTE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT, ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN'S LAWYERS (AWL)
3.CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM (CIJ)
4.CHILDLINE MALAYSIA
5.CHRISTIAN FEDERATION MALAYSIA
6.COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK (CAN)
7.DIGNITY INTERNATIONAL
8.FOREIGN SPOUSES SUPPORT GROUP
9.HEALTH EQUITY INITIATIVES
10.JARINGAN KAMPUNG ORANG ASLI SEMENANJUNG MALAYSIA (JKOASM)
11.JARINGAN RAKYAT TERTINDAS (JERIT)
12.JUSTICE FOR SISTERS
13.PUSAT KOMUNIKASI SELANGOR (KOMAS)
14.KNOWLEDGE AND RIGHTS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGH SAFER SPACES (KRYSS)
15.KLSCAH CIVIL RIGHTS COMMITTEE
16.LAND EMPOWERMENT ANIMALS PEOPLE (LEAP)
17.MALAYSIANS AGAINST DEATH PENALTY AND TORTURE (MADPET)
18.MALAYSIA CHILD RESOURCE INSTITUTE (MCRI)
19.MALAYSIA YOUTH & STUDENT DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT (DEMA)
20.MIGRATION WORKING GROUP (MWG)
21.PANGGAU
22.PS THE CHILDREN
23.PI FOUNDATION
24.PEOPLE'S SERVICE ORGANISATION (PSO)
25.SEKSUALITI MERDEKA
26.PERSATUAN GURU-GURU TADIKA SEMENANJUNG MALAYSIA (PGGT)
27.PERSATUAN KOMUNITI PRIHATIN SELANGOR DAN KUALA LUMPUR
28.RAINBOW GENDERS SOCIETY
29.SOUTHEAST ASIAN CENTRE FOR E-MEDIA (SEACem)
30.SINUI PAI NANEK SENGIK (SPNS)
31.SIS FORUM (MALAYSIA) BHD (SIS)
32.TENAGANITA
33.VOICE OF THE CHILDREN (VOC)
34.WRITERS' ALLIANCE FOR MEDIA INDEPENDENCE (WAMI)
35.WOMEN CENTRE FOR CHANGE, PENANG (WCC)
36.YAYASAN CHOW KIT
37.YOUNG BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION YOUTH SECTION
38.CHILD RIGHT COALITION MALAYSIA (CRCM)