Malik Imtiaz gets international human rights award

[pywong]

Malik Imtiaz gets international human rights award
By Debra Chong

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 - Malaysian human rights lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar was awarded the 2009 Bindmans Law and Campaigning Award in London last night, marking a controversial milestone in a country that likes to think itself a champion of democracy.

Organised by British-based human rights magazine, Index on Censorship, this particular award is given to outstanding human rights activists who have set legal precedents in the fight against injustice.

When contacted by The Malaysian Insider today, Imtiaz said he was "happy" and honoured by the award which seemed to justify his efforts in pushing the human rights campaign here over the last 10 years.

"It's good because it gives the opportunity to focus on what is happening here and the restrictive attitudes faced, including freedom of expression which undermines democracy," he said.

More… (http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/24191-malik-imtiaz-gets-international-human-rights-award)

[pywong]

A bit long-winded. Let me try to word it differently.

1. All the laws in Malaysia are drafted to ensure UMNO's continued retention of power, laws like ISA, OSA, UUCA, PPPA, Sedition Act, etc.
2. UMNO will not take any action to remove those Acts because it is akin to committing suicide.

So forget about the abolition of the ISA and associated acts. They will be gone, only when UMNO is gone.

Therefore, the solution is: UMNO MUST GO!

The truth about Malaysia

Posted by admin
Wednesday, 22 April 2009 17:43

The efforts of civil society and alternative media have strived to show Malaysia in its true, anti-democratic light

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, winner of the Index on Censorship law and campaigning award, explains the effects of Malaysia's anti-democratic laws

Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, Guardian UK

Architects of autocracies would benefit tremendously from studying the Malaysian model. It stands as a shining example of how, given the right combination of greed, ambition, maladministration and contempt for the rule of law, any democracy can be recast into an autocracy while preserving the veneer of democratic process.

At the time of its independence in 1957, Malaysia's written constitution embedded the separation of powers and the freedoms so crucial to its checks and balances. But the vested interests of a hegemonic political elite has, over time, caused the system to mutate into one of rule by law that threatens the continued sustainability of the nation.

This is easy enough for anyone to see. The statute books contain a plethora of anti-democratic laws that are designed for, and applied to, one end: the regulation of information and opinion. This has allowed the suborning of a voter base much weakened by a divisive system of race politics; voters already made to feel that they should be voting one way rather than the other are not given the means to make an informed choice. This has allowed a semblance of democracy, even though the democratic process has been subverted.

There is no other way of explaining the continued existence of laws that vest power in the government to detain without trial for extended periods of time, or to subjectively regulate the print media or to brings charges for sedition and criminal defamation.

More… (http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/20956/84/)