We, the undersigned civil society organisations, expressed our dismay at the acquittal of three prime suspects in the murder of indigenous rights activist, the late Bill Kayong. On 6 June 2017, three of the four accused for the murder of Bill Kayong was discharged and acquitted by the Miri High Court following prosecution’s failure to [ Read more ]

‘In Malaysia, we have undergone decades of human rights activism.  What we see taking shape globally provides much cause for concern.  Locally, we see incremental instances of freedom erosion in tandem with international developments.  Fortunately, the leaders of our independence signed us the Federal Constitution as a protective measure to meet new threats to our [ Read more ]

(Bangkok, 2 June 2017) – The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) calls on the Government of Malaysia to cease the persecution of the newly established Citizen Action Group on Enforced Disappearances (CAGED), which FORUM-ASIA member Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) holds the Secretariat for, and instead focus on recent cases of enforced disappearances [ Read more ]

Statement issued by the Citizen Action Group on Enforced Disappearances (CAGED) Committee on 24th May 2017 1) We want to thank all friends and concerned Malaysians for their prayers and words of support. 2) This morning three of CAGED activists (Thomas Fann, Sevan Doraisamy & Rama Ramanathan) went in to Police HQ at Bukit Aman, [ Read more ]

Kuala Lumpur, Paris, 16 May 2017: Malaysian authorities must immediately conduct swift, thorough, and impartial investigations into the disappearances of a social worker and a pastor, FIDH, its member organization Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), and the civil society coalition Citizen Action Group on Enforced Disappearance (CAGED) urged today. The three groups made the call a [ Read more ]

H.E. Tan Sri Razali bin Ismail Chairman of Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (SUHAKAM) 11th Floor, Menara TH Perdana, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur 50250 Malaysia 13 March 2017 Re: ANNI Letter concerning the unjust conviction of human rights defender, Lena Hendry, by Kuala Lumpur Magistrate’s Court Dear Mr. Chairman, On behalf of the Asian [ Read more ]

Lena Hendry was found guilty on February 21 2017 by the Magistrate’s Court in Kuala Lumpur for screening “No Fire Zone: The Killing Fields of Sri Lanka”, a film on human rights violations during the civil war in Sri Lanka. Her sentencing will take place on March 22, 2017. Human rights defender and former PUSAT [ Read more ]

23 February 2017 Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) strongly condemn the detention of the 15 years old Rohingya refugee for not possessing appropriate travel documents. Refugees remain one of the most marginalized community in Malaysia due to the continued refusal to acknowledge their existence by the Malaysian government and government institutions. The legal vacuum in terms [ Read more ]

21 February 2017 Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) finds the decision to convict Lena Hendry by the magistrate court under Section 6(1)(b) of the Film Censorship Board regrettable and flawed in nature. The absence of adequate evidence led to Lena’s initial accquital was sound as there was a lack of evidence on part of the prosecution [ Read more ]

After interviewing its new Executive Committee Members and Executive Director, FORUM-ASIA met with Chew Chuan Yang (Dobby), Documentation & Monitoring Coordinator of Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), a FORUM-ASIA founding member organisation from Malaysia. The story of SUARAM has been featured in FORUM-ASIA 25th Anniversary Publication ‘Our Struggles for Human Rights – 25 years of FORUM-ASIA’, [ Read more ]