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Malaysian lawyers
and activists march, before being stopped by police, through the
downtown of Kuala Lumpur December 9, 2007. Malaysian police
halted an annual human-rights march on Sunday, arresting at least
four people and drawing widespread criticism for being intolerant
of dissent. (Stringer/Reuters)
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Singapore
lawyers to call on Law Society to set up human rights
committee
Singapore Democrats
09 Dec 07
A
couple of members of the Law Society will call on the
organisation to set up a committee to look into human rights
issues in Singapore.
Lawyers Mr M Ravi and Mr Chia Ti Lik
told listeners at a gathering at Speakers Corner this afternoon
to mark International Human Rights Day on 10 Dec.
The two
lawyers will be at the Law Society office on South Bridge Road
together with members of SgHumanRights at 2 pm tomorrow to
present the petition.
Singapore's Law Society has remained
conspicuously quiet on Human rights Day. It also continues to shy
away from engaging the PAP Government on rule of law issues even
though the abuse of Executive power has been rampant.
Meanwhile
across the causeway, lawyers are at the forefront of championing
the rights of Malaysians (see below).
Opposition parties
have also supported their efforts with parliamentary Opposition
Leader Lim Kit Siang condemning the Malaysians heavy-handedness
in dealing with the lawyers.
Malaysian
police halt human-rights day march
Reuters
09 Dec
07
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=9b046969-8799-4bc8-803c-715a04e98bca&k=31357
Malaysian
police halted an annual human-rights march on Sunday, arresting
about eight people and drawing sharp criticism for being
intolerant of dissent.
Some 60 people, including a dozen
lawyers, carried banners and leaflets in defiance of both
official warnings and the Malaysian Bar Council, which withdrew
its support for the march after police crackdowns on other recent
demonstrations.
Street protests are illegal in Malaysia
unless sanctioned by police, though lawyers involved in Sunday's
unauthorized march said they were exercising a constitutional
right to free speech.
"We have definitely made our
point and it shows how ridiculous the government and the police
are in this overwhelming show of force which is completely
unnecessary," said lawyer Jonson Chong.
Police and
reporters outnumbered demonstrators in the walk that lasted for
just 20 minutes. Police sealed off Merdeka (Independence) Square,
scene of unprecedented anti-government protests in the late
1990s, in anticipation of the march.
Demonstrators wore
white surgical masks, signifying government gags on free speech.
One banner read: "Lawyers for Freedom of
Assembly."
Malaysia was rocked by two major street
protests last month involving a total of more than 20,000 people,
the biggest anti-government demonstrations in a decade, over
separate issues of electoral reform and the rights of minority
ethnic Indians.
The protest by ethnic Indians, which drew
about 10,000 people onto the streets of the capital, was
especially unsettling for the government because it focused on
the sensitive and potentially explosive issue of race
relations.
Malaysia is dominated politically by ethnic
Malays, though they make up only a slender majority of the
population. Ethnic Chinese, who make up about a third, dominate
business. Ethnic Indians, at about 7 percent, complain they are
marginalized.
Relations between the three main ethnic
groups are often strained, though there has not been a major race
riot since 1969.
The government says it is taking a tough
stand against street demonstrations because it fears they could
lead to violence, but opposition parties say the government is
merely using this fear as a pretext to clamp down on free speech
and popular dissent.
Reporting by Mark Bendeich;
Editing by Jerry Norton
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