KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — De facto Law Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the annual report of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) will no longer be delayed but debated in the Dewan Rakyat yearly.
She said the report’s findings and recommendations as well as the appointment of Suhakam commissioners will be debated regularly to show the government’s commitment to addressing human rights issues, Sinar Ahad, the Sunday edition of Malay daily Sinar Harian, reported today.
“In the debate, I heard a Member of Parliament talking about the commission's representation. It must be represented by a specific category of Malaysians and cannot be dominated by a specific group alone.
“It cannot be only intellectuals alone that control the representation of Suhakam. Sometimes the voices of non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations could offer opinions,” Azalina was quoted as saying in the interview published today.
The minister was also asked about the government’s plan to amend the Suhakam Act 1999 to empower the commission to take action.
In response, Azalina told the newspaper that the most important aspect is to review and update the “roadmap” of the National Human Rights Action Plan created in 2018 so that it becomes a monitoring module for government agencies.
“Because the element of fundamental rights cannot be focused on the law alone, but needs to include implementation in terms of administration and so on.
“We need to study that, which is why the Suhakam report debate was held for two days and involved more than 37 debaters,” she was quoted as saying.
The 2020 Suhakam Report was tabled in Parliament on May 25 after two years, and was finally debated last week after a split along government and Opposition MPs.
To Azalina, having more debates in Parliament proves the government’s seriousness in having Suhakam act as a check-and-balance.
To this end, she said the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on Human Rights, Election and Institutional Reforms plays a major role in bringing attention to the issues as it is a relatively new committee.
“This is a new committee. Perhaps in the matter of amendments to the Suhakam Act 1999, the PSC will play a role in helping the government to assess the type of amendments and new reports.”
Azalina also said the government needs to scrutinise the proposed amendments to the Suhakam Act 1999 for priority reforms.
“I don't think it can be resolved in this Parliament session. Maybe that can happen in the next Parliament session.
“But what is important to me is, for example, the Children's Commission. It needs to be a special Act. These children sometimes want to speak up, but no one can represent them. That's what the government needs to do one by one.
“My focus is that the Children's Commission should be made an independent body,” she told the newspaper.
