I have this morning given notice to the Parliament Speaker, Tan Sri Ramli Ngah to move an emergency motion in Parliament tomorrow on Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s Black Sunday for human rights on International Human Rights Day yesterday – with mass arrests of peaceful Human Rights Day marchers, lawyers and BERSIH leaders.
My urgent motion reads:
“That the House gives leave to Ketua Pembangkang YB Lim Kit Siang to adjourn the House under S.O. 18 (1) to discuss a definite matter of urgent public importance – the police mass arrests on the occasion of International Human Rights Day on 9th December 2007.
“International Human Rights Day on Sunday 9th December 2007 turned out to be a Black Sunday for Malaysia with mass police arrests including lawyers and peaceful marchers to mark human rights day, Bar Council Human Rights Committee chairman Edmund Bon and two leading lights of BERSIH, Pas vice president Mohamad Sabu and Parti Keadilan Rakyat information chief Tian Chua showing utter contempt and disregard of human rights by the police and the government.
“The arrest of the eight persons on Sunday morning, including five lawyers, N Surendran, Latheefa Koya, R Sivarasa, Eric Paulsen and Amer Hamzah, and human rights activists Anthony Andu and Norazah Othman in totally unprovoked circumstances is a blot on human rights in Malaysia, as the some 100 people who had gathered for the march in Kuala Lumpur clearly posed no threat to anyone, let alone national security, public order or peace.
“The arrest and manhandling of Edmond Bon at the Bar Council premises in connection with Human Rights Day banners were clear abuses of police powers, excessive use of force and public display of police contempt for human rights.
“The arrest of Mohamad Sabu and Tian Chua and others, with numbers and identities not fully disclosed by the police, rounded up the Black Sunday in the four-year premiership of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, which had started on Oct. 30, 2003 with promise of greater respect for human rights.
“Has the Abdullah premiership finally taken off its velvet glove to show the iron fist within to crush human rights in the country?”
#1 by k1980 on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 11:12 am
AAB’s Oct. 30, 2003 promise of greater respect for human rights has a unwritten condition, viz. U Must Never Oppose him
#2 by Pocket on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 11:14 am
I participated yesterday march and 100% agreed with you!
When inside the Bar Council building, we can’t even read out the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on the speaker even in the conference room, according to the so-called “Police Act”, we can only read silently!
What kind of country is this and what kind of government we have today???!!! What happen to our basic rights on freedom to speaks???
#3 by hotsync on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 11:18 am
Its really doesnt make sense any more. AAB and his advisers are trying to implement a police state. “Protest is not our culture” thats his reasoning. Is our culture based corruptions at the highest order, murder, etc? What is our culture then AAB??? You mean people cannot gather together, celebrate, march, worship etc? If doing so, we are ISA-ed or put into jail?
There is surely something seriously wrong with our gestapo KGB style gov. UMNO is above law! yeah rite. Lets wait and see……. AAB u are a hypocrite cos nothing happened to your SIL when he protested in front of the world! Shame on you!!! Shame on your family!!! You have no dignity and totally crazy for power.
#4 by sheriff singh on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 11:18 am
“Specifc, of public interest BUT not urgent”. See? We know already. I can be Speaker too.
#5 by pulau_sibu on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 11:25 am
What do you expect from Abdullah? His record told everything.
I think he was the minister for ISA when Anwar was arrested and bombed with a panda eye.
#6 by laifoong on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 11:33 am
““Has the Abdullah premiership finally taken off its velvet glove to show the iron fist within to crush human rights in the country?â€
Naaaaah! He took off his glove because it was getting too hot.
#7 by optimuz on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 11:33 am
soon we will have to apply for a permit to take a pissas well!!
I think we should turn the tables on the police. According to reports, any gathering of more than 5 people requires a permit…so, the next time you have to meet friends exceeding that number, please make way to the nearest IPK and apply…in fact we should all put in applications for permits for every weekend for the next 1 year…bloody morons!!
#8 by raven77 on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 11:38 am
Badawi is currently the most incompetent Prime Minister in this country, which is how the UMNO guys would like him to be. Kalau tidak macamana mahu rompak negara. Who will remove him? The people, UMNO, international pressure, the Agong? The best shot is a combination of Agong, people and international pressure. Who will lead this? Is there anyone out there?
#9 by HJ Angus on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 11:51 am
I think we have allowed our rubber-stamp MPs to pass such laws that under emergency rules, if you hold a birthday party in your home theoretically you need a police permit.
Except that it has never been enforced.
This desperate crackdown shows that the authorities do not know how to cope with the widespread dissent but to crackdown on all and sundry.
It’s a shame for Malaysia’s democratic process but I guess many will say, “What democracy?”
No bets on what that Speaker is gonna do.
http://malaysiawatch3.blogspot.com/2007/12/we-live-in-dangerous-times.html
#10 by DarkHorse on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 12:02 pm
Ever since the HINDRAF demonstration, Malaysians should expect this level of arrests. In fact the question that is being asked is “Why did they take this long to do it?”
#11 by ycg on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 12:09 pm
dear pocket, not to discredit your legitimacy to protest ( i was there too! :D) but are you sure that we could not read it out because of somekinda restriction? i thought we lip read it because the host wanted us to feel for ourselves what it would be like if Freedom of speech is taken away from us, and also that we are also silently protesting for diminishing human rights in Malaysia? hmmm..if i’m wrong, then indeed this ‘police act’ is a glaring form of human rights abuse. Anyone else can clarify?
#12 by peterlsc on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 12:09 pm
i am very very PISS, Y.B Lim, let use these footage to do campaign in the rural area, pls tell those kampung ppl whats happening. Its time to throw rotten eggs at them, coz thats how rotten they are
#13 by Edchin on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 12:09 pm
Stumbled across this in
http://www.malaysia-today.net/nuc2006/index.php?itemid=833
Quote
BREAKING NEWS: BERSIH folks arrested
At the IPK, lawyer Jonson Chong told me Bersih Rally protester Mohd Hasrii has been detained at Dang Wangi police station. Soon
after, a lawyer SMSed me that one Muhammad Harith Fathillash Shahabudin was also nabbed for being involved in Bersih Rally.
Much later, I was told PAS vice president Mohamad Sabu was arrested attending his daughter’s wedding in Ipoh..
UPDATES: PKR Information Chief Tian Chua has been arrested in Johor Baru.
09/12 18:32:09
Unquote
If this is accurate, the pattern is clear for all to see.
Selected participants of the BERSIH rally, HINDRAF rally, Human Rights Day Walk, all occurring within 1 month are arrested for
leading/being involved in what is an exercise of a Constitutional right but made illegal by the denial of police permit. (Granted, that
this legality issue had been recently debated to almost blue-faced, but the emerging pattern cannot be avoided.)
I guess one way to sum it up is this:- (feel free to contradict, correct or improve on it!)
The current evil UMNO-faced BN administration had been fortunate to inherit from previous administrations, the legacy of dishing out
‘taurus excretus’ but now, in the light of the above mentioned acts of defiance and their implications, is feeling the heat up its
‘Hershey highway’ and is forced to display that it has the ‘Rocky Mountain oysters’ in order to cover up what it might lack in the
‘cerebral material’.
#14 by jus legitimum on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 12:26 pm
Let the rakyat number the days of the cowards who have been governing the country using all sorts of repressive rules and laws.It is a real theme to the bunch of idiots who invariably boasts of the country as democratic.This is a good example of a country ruled by brainless and corrupted bums.
#15 by pulau_sibu on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 12:40 pm
> Who will remove him?
I think it will be K hairy who will remove Abdullah, and replace Abdullah by himself
#16 by shaolin on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 1:03 pm
AAB basically has NO RESPECT to;
1. International Human Rights Day
2. Basic Peoples’ Rights for All Citizens
Why should we respect this kind of PM if he does not
respect our basic Rights as citizens…??!!
#17 by k1980 on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 1:25 pm
The only right Ayahtollah Mullah Tollah respects is the Right to Sleep
#18 by Ghost on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 1:34 pm
No one, including lawyers, is above the law, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
What we perceive, no one except the authority? Our current authority is abusing their power given by us due to our initial trust with the actual intention to govern our country Malaysian towards peace and harmony, instead, they prick us, they abuse our trust, they ignore our voice, they detain our love, they despise our truth.
Why? Dear Pak Lah, if you’re are reading, why? You think with your status, you’re exception? You wanna be the next Hitler? Dictating Malaysian with your current supreme rights disregarding howling of your peoples, demanding the sick to be taken away, faking every steps till when? All the lies above lies, nothing but lies and fake concern and manipulated confiction. Wake up, current societies is base on truth and love, not lies and discriminations.
#19 by smeagroo on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 1:34 pm
the SIL removing the FIL from office? Sure boh? Nanti bini marah. Oh tak apa la. Ada MK ganti.
#20 by Jackychin on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 1:48 pm
We have yet to realise the effect of the arrest and forbidding the practise the human rights have brought, the magnitute is going to be big…
#21 by ENDANGERED HORNBILL on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 1:49 pm
“Abdullah’s Black Sunday for human rights on International Human Rights Day”
Abdullah’s Black epoch began the DAY he began as Malaysia’s 5th PM in 2003.
2008 : Abdullah out! Anwar Ibrahim in.
#22 by cheng on soo on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 2:03 pm
If every outdoor gathering of 5 persons or more must apply permit, to implement strictly, need a hugh police dept just to handle this,
e.g teachers with student for field works, outdoor games, job interviews, outdoor parties /receptions, family / friend outdoor barbeques, festival gathering, tourist guides with tourist, site sell houses, outdoor mamak /hawker stalls /restaurants /cafe, outdoor forums, schools /any sports event, pasar malam / pagi, construction sites works or meetings or inspections etc, family / friends outings. visit with 3 kids /a spouse to parents /siblings / friends houses etc. How the present police dept can cope is anyone guess! Even had a makan or with yr kids /spouse /friends at yr neighbourhood stalls or shopping at pasar malam need a permit.
So anyone must apply for more than 10 permits every month!
So , need to practice double standards loh!
#23 by Tulip Crescent on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 2:08 pm
When Dr Mahathir was in power, I asked him rhetorically in a website called http://www.dranees.org (set up in honour of Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s speech writer Dr Anees by the latter’s friends) how long he expected to be in power.
I also told him that Daud (or King David) and Sulaiman (King Solomon) ruled only 40 years each, according to the Good Book.
In the result, Dr Mahathir had only 22 years from July 16, 1981, till Oct 31, 2003. So political power is ephemeral. And when he was out, he was among the first to criticise the government led by his hand-picked successor Dato Seri Abdullah Badawi.
Now, Pak Lah can also be asked the same question. He has served more than four years. So how many years is he expecting to serve? And what kind of legacy is he going to leave behind?
Black Sundays? Arrests of lawyers and whatever have you?
#24 by cheng on soo on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 2:12 pm
5 person / permit thing, implement strictly, foreign visitors who come in groups larger than 5 will have good chance to have free accomodation n food for min 1 day, courtesy of PDRM, just forget to apply permit.
#25 by Short-sleeve on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 2:13 pm
Congrats Malaysians. You got what you voted for.
Congrats! We are now a police state.
#26 by motai on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 2:22 pm
Crackdown will not deter future mass actions
The arrests of Tian Chua, the Information Chief of the People’s Justice Party (KeADILan), Mohamad Sabu, the Vice-President of Pan-Islamic Party (PAS) and 12 other persons associated with the BERSIH rally on 10th November 2007 will not deter future mass actions, said Elizabeth Wong from the KeADILan Information Bureau.
Wong, who is also the Information Chief of the Women’s Wing of KeADILan, said, “If the government believes its actions will frighten us from exercising our fundamental right to assemble peacefully, they are sorely mistaken.”
Tian Chua was arrested on Sunday after his presentation at a human rights forum in Johor Bahru, while Mohammad Sabu was arrested amidst his daughter’s wedding in Ipoh. Both men have been brought back to Kuala Lumpur under police custody, where they are expected to be charged together with 12 other persons from PAS’s Unit Amal for ‘illegal assembly’ on Monday, 10th December at the Duta Magistrates Court.
Wong said, the TV3 report at 8 o’clock that Tian Chua was released on police bail was an outright lie.
“At 8:24 pm, Tian Chua sent a text message, stating that he was about to reach Nilai in a police car, and was heading towards the Jalan Stadium Police lockup.”
Wong also slammed the arrests on Sunday morning of lawyers and activists during the march to commemorate World Human Rights Day and the harassment of the Bar Council.
Two KeADILan lawyers, R. Sivarasa, its Vice-President and Latheefa Koya, a member of the party’s Supreme Council were arrested with 7 other persons.
Wong added that the Bureau had received information that another member of the Party’s Supreme Council, N. Gobalakrishnan, was also arrested on Sunday and will be brought to the Shah Alam Magistrates Court on Monday, to be the 32nd person charged for attempted murder of a police officer during the HINDRAF rally.
“This is the biggest clampdown on democratic voices since Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi took power four years ago.
“It is not coincidental that in past weeks, there have been mass arrests and intense harassment, where the government has began their concerted operation to come down hard on all forms of dissent, from BERSIH and HINDRAF to the Bar Council and even bloggers such as Jeff Ooi.
“We believe Abdullah Badawi may be desperate enough to order the arrest of Anwar Ibrahim, together with other opposition leaders, Hadi Awang and Lim Kit Siang as they too were present at the Bersih rally,” she added.
Wong called on the government to respect fundamental human rights, considering Malaysia is a sitting member of United Nations Human Rights Council.
“If they are unable to fulfill their obligations in the protection and promotion of fundamental liberties in Malaysia, it is only right that Malaysia seat be vacated in the Council,” she said.
Elizabeth Wong
People’s Justice Party
9th December 2007
#27 by vehir on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 2:22 pm
Hindraf legal advisor has given press statement to asiantribune.com.
full text http://www.indianmalaysia.com
December, (Asiantribune.com): Sami Velu is a proxy of the UMNO led Government. In exchange for the salary, the royal awards and also some Government contracts he may gets, his job is to cheat the Indian community. His full time job is to cheat the Indian community and short change the Indians. (….more)
#28 by 9to5 on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 3:41 pm
Bersih and the oppositions should organise another massive rally to denounce the arrests and disruption of the celebration of this Sunday’s international human rights day by the present oppressive regime.
Purposes are:
1. to show to the present Government that malaysians (including the many silent majority) don’t want their rights trampled upon and taken for granted; and
2. to bring the fight to the international arena.
The odds are greatly stacked against the oppositions when the fight against the present corrupted regime is carried out in Malaysia. This is because UMNO presently controls the parliament, media, judges and the police in Malaysia.
Once out in the international arena and involves international groups’ attention, only then the oppositions can face a fair fight!
#29 by sj on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 3:42 pm
Was the motion denied? Or was it simply sucked into vacuums of oblivion where it will eventually disappear and be forgotten?
#30 by Be fair on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 3:46 pm
Human rights? Malaysia has not much of it especially if there r some issues. In a few more years we will have another world wide recession . Then we can see even more outright discriminations.
#31 by mendela on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 3:47 pm
Today Malaysiakini reported //The opposition-backed election watchdog Bersih accused Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Inspector-General of Police Musa Hasan of making fraudulent claims pertaining to its Nov 10 rally. //
Ever since Bodowi became the PM, he has been telling lies all days. This is not news at all!
#32 by borrring on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 7:54 pm
What human rights??
No one is above the law, except PM & his corrupted ministers
#33 by DarkHorse on Monday, 10 December 2007 - 11:37 pm
“Wong called on the government to respect fundamental human rights, considering Malaysia is a sitting member of United Nations Human Rights Council. If they are unable to fulfill their obligations in the protection and promotion of fundamental liberties in Malaysia, it is only right that Malaysia seat be vacated in the Council,†Elizabeth Wong
Is she also saying that countries like China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and African countries, Russia should also give up their seats on the Council? China certainly is top of the list for human rights violations.
Since when has the country’s track record in human rights been the criteria for admission to the Council?? Does she think we’re stupid??
#34 by Colonel on Tuesday, 11 December 2007 - 1:22 am
She must be nearing her menstrual cycle.
#35 by Count Dracula on Tuesday, 11 December 2007 - 6:01 am
Do I smell blood?
#36 by Bigjoe on Tuesday, 11 December 2007 - 8:58 am
What goads me is this PM don’t get it that these rallies are about broken promises. Instead he see it as people ‘challenging him’ because he is allows too much freedom.
So this crackdown really is about covering up broken promises. He of course see it as promises delayed not broken which is the problem. Most have seen that his promises are broken or will be but he does not.
In the end, its a crises of confidence and it will just keep mounting…
#37 by undergrad2 on Tuesday, 11 December 2007 - 9:14 am
“Pantang di cabar” is usually used in a defensive sense. These words are used by a leader who has the power to change things but has not used that power out of consideration for his adversary. However, when provoked he is prepared to use ‘deadly force’. It is a matter of perception – his.
#38 by ktteokt on Tuesday, 11 December 2007 - 9:29 am
Human rights in Malaysia? What human rights? They do not even treat the people like human beings? so what rights are you talking about? Only UMNO dogs are supposed to be “human” in Malaysia you know?
#39 by g2geetoo on Tuesday, 11 December 2007 - 10:59 am
Why is Umno so quiet about these street marches? Why caren’t they retaliating, after all this is politics? Silence means they accept that the street marches are correct? The factions in Umno is making Umno weak as a party and by keeping quiet means there is a power struggle going on in Umno and probably the street marches are planned by the peolpe within Umno to create unrest and continue shaking Badawi’s chair!
Badawi, out of desperation has no choice but to start arresting people who believe in true democracy since he is not able to contain the fire within Umno.
My fellow citizens, the street marches can never be racial, otherwise this would provide an opportuntiy for the Umno fellows to make it an excuse to start the fire!
As long as street marches are for justice, democracy and fairness………MARCH ON!
#40 by mwt on Tuesday, 11 December 2007 - 10:16 pm
Peaceful assembly or walk on a Sunday may not be a serious offence but when the 9 were charged on Monday, the AG Gani Patail said: “the prosecution will prove that their actions may lead to public disorder and more unlawful assemblies,” he said. At this juncture, laughter broke out in the courtroom, which was packed mostly with lawyers, prompting Gani to tell the court that this was no laughing matter as it involved national security.
More details
Go H E R E
Plus a 3.24min Video Clip (with Clips within Clip) on the police aborted Peace Walk