KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — A global civil society alliance dubbed CIVICUS has urged Malaysia's newly formed unity government to review the country’s peaceful protest law to ensure that it is in line with international human rights obligations.

In its 2022 global report on protests that was launched today, the group said that Malaysian authorities have utilised the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 to block protests or harass and haul up protesters including activists for holding demonstrations related to issues such as corruption, price hikes, the war in Ukraine and the death penalty.

"The right to protest is critical in a democracy. The new government must take steps to ensure that the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 is reviewed to ensure its compliance with international standards.

"The police must halt all forms of restrictions or harassment of protesters and drop all existing charges against them. Failing to do so makes a mockery of Malaysia’s membership of the UN Human Rights Council,” said Josef Benedict, Civic Space Researcher at the CIVICUS Monitor.

The group singled out a series of protests that happened over the past year, including the call for Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Tan Sri Azam Baki to resign in January and a lawyer's march to hand over a memorandum on judicial independence in June this year.

It said that investigations are often launched under Section 9(5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, which criminalises the right to hold spontaneous protests and requires the organiser to give five days’ notice before a gathering.

"This restriction is inconsistent with international human rights law and standards.

"Further, the law denies the right to protest to children and non-citizens,” it added.

Over twenty organisations collaborate on CIVICUS Monitor, an online platform, which tracks restrictions to civic freedoms across the globe.

The research coalition tracks a total of 33 different restrictions related to freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly.

The data also provides the basis for national civic space ratings, countries can be categorized as either closed, repressed, obstructed, narrowed or open.