PETALING JAYA: Human rights advocacy group, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) today expressed concerns over the alleged investigations and harassment of human rights activists by the police.
Referring to the recent investigation against a spokesperson for the Citizen Against Enforced Disappearance (Caged) Rama Ramanathan, Suaram said this was an attempt to intimidate and stymy the work of activists.
It is believed Rama Ramanathan is currently being investigated under Section 504 of the Penal Code and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, for an article he posted on his blog in which he alleged the police attempted to kidnap a Sabahan activist named Jufazli.
Suaram trained its sights at the Pakatan Harapan administration for failing to keep promises to ensure the protection of free speech.
Sevan Doraisamy, the Executive Director of Suaram said: “Pakatan Harapan’s failure to put a halt to the culture of impunity entrenched within the Royal Malaysian Police and end the practice of harassment and intimidation against human rights defenders make them complicit with the action of the police.”
He also suggested that these investigations by the police against activists are a waste of public resources, and could be best used to address crimes, specifically mentioning the tracking down of Jho Low and referring to the victims of enforced disappearances.
Suaram was scathing in its criticism of the Home Ministry, and its Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Hassan over what it described as a failure to implement policies that would put an end to the alleged harassment of human rights activists.
