M'sia committed to human rights advocacy, UN council told

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has made significant strides in legal and institutional reforms as it prioritises and pursues a whole-of-society approach in strengthening the promotion of human rights in the country, the United Nations Human Rights Council was told.

Foreign Ministry deputy secretary-general (Multilateral Affairs) Datuk Bala Chandran Tharman said that since 2018, a total of 26 laws and regulations have either been repealed or revised, and new ones developed as the government continues to provide space for society to exercise human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Notably, this includes the abolishment of the mandatory death penalty in July last year, which entailed amendments to seven pertinent laws, he said.

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This underscored the government's unwavering commitment to uphold human rights and justice for all in Malaysia, he added.

Malaysia also decriminalised attempted suicides in May, shifting from punitive to compassionate measures in addressing mental health issues.

Bala Chandra was presenting Malaysia’s National Report for the Fourth Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the council in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday (Jan 25).

He also highlighted Malaysia’s steadfast efforts to protect children, women and the vulnerable groups from exploitation, violence and abuse.

These include enacting the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022, the anti-stalking law through Section 507A of the Penal Code, and amending the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 last year to better protect children against abuse and exploitation.

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"Malaysia has prioritised human rights as fundamental to the country’s development and in uplifting the standard of living for fellow Malaysians.

"The government through the Madani framework is seeking to create a just society with care, compassion, trust, respect for one another,” he added.

He said the National Recommendation Tracking Database, established to implement and monitor progress of human rights recommendations by the UN council, has also cultivated stronger ownership and strengthen coordination among government agencies as well as with the non-governmental stakeholders.

"As a developing country, we will continue to prioritise human rights with development as both are mutually reinforcing and we will do so with the Federal Constitution being the guiding instrument.

"As a way forward we will continue to pursue the whole-of-society approach (with) emphasis on prevention, especially for the protection of vulnerable groups; and invest in human rights literacy through awareness and capacity-building programmes,” he said.

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This was Malaysia’s fourth review of its human rights record. Previous reviews were in 2009, 2013 and 2018.

Malaysia’s National Report was a collective effort involving a whole-of-society approach, through consultation with various stakeholders, including civil society and the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

UPR is an intergovernmental process established under the UN Human Rights Council framework to review the human rights records of each UN member state once every four and a half years.

It provides an avenue for each nation under review to highlight measures and efforts undertaken to improve human rights.

The council also serves as a peer review platform for all member states to provide recommendations and share best practices in a constructive dialogue to facilitate the promotion and protection of human rights.