by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Wednesday, March 31, 1993:
Malaysia and all other ASEAN countries should ratify the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights before the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in June
The Communique of the Commonwealth Heads Of Governments Meeting (CHOGM) in Kuala Lumpur in 1989 called on all Commonwealth member nations to immediately ratify the two basic international human rights documents – the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
It is most regrettable that after four years, Malaysia as host country of the 1989 CHOGM, had not taken any action to ratify these two international human rights declarations although they had been adopted by the United Nations General Assembly for nearly three decades.
DAP calls on Malaysia and all other ASEAN countries to ratify the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights before the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in June.
Currently, a conference of Asian countries is taking place in Bangkok to prepare a common regional position for the Vienna World Human Rights Conference.
Malaysia should be in the forefront to press support for regional and international mechanisms to promote and protect human rights.
It is most shocking therefore that the Malaysian Government has decided to oppose the proposal for a regional inter-governmental mechanism for the promotion and protection of human rights.
At the Bangkok meeting yesterday, the Malaysian Ambassador to Thailand, Datuk Zainal Abidin Alias said that “national human rights institutions should be framed within the context of national circumstances and that it would be best to leave it in the hands of the member countries to decide for themselves as creation of regional arrangements would entail a major political commitment from countries in the region.”
Such sentiments would be meaningful only if the Malaysian Government, for instance, is prepared to support the establishment of a Human Rights Commission in Malaysia. But is this the case?
For a start, is the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed and his government prepared to take three concrete and positive steps to promote and protect human rights, namely:
• The immediate ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
• Establishment of a Malaysian Human Rights Commission with power to receive, investigate and adjudicate on complaints of violations of human rights; and
• Promulgation of an ASEAN Charter of Human Rights and the establishment of an ASEAN Human Rights Commission to enforce the ASEAN Human Rights Charter.
DAP will raise the issue of the ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the next meeting of Parliament from April 26 to May 20.