Suhakam hopes centre can be established in a local public university

BANGI: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has expressed hopes that a centre can be established in a local public university to help advocate for human rights in the country.
Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam said that at the moment, there are no such centres in the country, while neighbouring countries including Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia have at least one such centre.
"By having such a centre, we can help cultivate interest among our people on human rights.
"Currently, students have to travel to Australia, United Kingdom or America to study courses regarding human rights," he said.
While noting that establishing such a centre is still in the discussion stage, Hasmy said such a centre could push Malaysia's standards to be at par with other countries in the field of human rights.
He told reporters this after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Suhakam at the university today.
The Mou, which will last for the next three years, would see a collaboration between the university and the commission in increasing the quality of courses with human rights related subjects in the university, develop expertise and studies on the matter, and improving the network among university undergraduates and staff with NGOs involved with Human Rights.
Hasmy represented Suhakam in signing the Mou while UKM was represented by its Vice Chancellor (Community and Industry network affairs) Prof Datuk Dr Imran Ho Abdullah.