-E,Nalini, Executive Director, Suaram, October 23, 2013.

SUARAM has written a letter to the US President today, rebutting a statement made by President Barack Obama on 11 October that Malaysia is a global model for “diversity, tolerance and progress”.

President Obama’s statement on Malaysia’s “model” totally ignored the history of racism, religious extremism, corruption, electoral fraud and various other criminal activities the nation has endured while one government has ruled uninterrupted for 56 years, SUARAM said in the letter.

Among other issues, SUARAM highlighted spiralling violence, electoral fraud, corruption and serious human rights abuses that have taken place, and continue to be committed, under the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Since the election outcome, SUARAM’s letter stated, PM Najib’s office has overseen the demonisation of Malaysia’s non-Malays, whose ‘crime’ was voting for the Opposition. The letter stated that the Malaysian government has also selectively deployed repressive legislation such as the Sedition Act 1948, the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and the Penal Code to suppress protests against the election result by human rights defenders, Opposition leaders and all the concern and peaceful Malaysians from various religions and ethnicity. 

SUARAM also pointed out that while President Obama’s statement marked PM Najib’s government with the word “progress”, the parliament the Malaysian leader dominates by gerrymandering 3 weeks ago passed a bill to amend the Prevention of Crime Act (PCA) to allow detention without trial. SUARAM reminded the US President that Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Phil Robertson stated that “Malaysia is taking a huge step backwards on rights by returning to administrative detention practices much like the draconian Internal Security Act” (ISA).

SUARAM said in the letter that there was no doubt Malaysia’s PM had publicly backtracked on a commitment made in 2011 to do away with detention without trial and that such a policy reversal represented anything but “progress”.

Further, SUARAM’s letter noted, Malaysia’s Home Minister recently announced that police had the right to “shoot to kill” without question any person suspected of being a criminal. Political and community leaders who have defended the minister’s strategy have accused one race in particular of committing crimes against another, deliberately fanning racial tension and encouraging racial violence.

The letter also recorded that, on the religious front, a judiciary that remains infamously compliant to the National Front government.  On 14 October 2013, the politically driven judgment that day by Malaysia’s Court of Appeal has banned non-Muslims from using the word ‘Allah’ in Malay-language publications. The appeal against a High Court verdict was lodged by the Malaysian government.

SUARAM urged President Obama to revisit an ill-considered and dangerous complicity with PM Najib’s regime. 

In light of the gravity of the issues raised in its letter, the human rights group said it fully expected the office of the President of the United States of America to formally reply to SUARAM’s letter, which was written on behalf of millions of long-suffering Malaysians.