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Paris-Geneva, 17 October 2003
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders,
a joint program of the FIDH and the OMCT, expresses its deepest
concern at the 12-month imprisonment sentence pronounced yesterday
against Mrs. Irene Fernandez by the Magistrates Court 5B, Kuala
Lumpur. Mrs. Irene Fernandez is however out on bail amounting
to RM 3000 and is expected to file an appeal to the High Court
today.
Mrs. Fernandez, Director of Tenaganita, an NGO working with
migrant women, was charged in 1995 with “publishing false
information with malevolent intentions” under Section
8A of the PPDA (Printing, Presses and Publications Act) following
the publication of a report entitled “Memorandum on abuses,
acts of torture and inhuman treatment towards migrant workers
in detention camps”. This report contained allegations
of ill-treatment of migrant populations, based on Mrs Fernandez’s
interviews with over 300 migrant workers. Mrs Fernandez’s
trial began in 1996 and has been known to be the longest trial
so far in the history of Malaysia.
In a former press release on 15 October 2003, the Observatory
expressed its preoccupation with regard to the sudden decision
of the judge to advance the date of Mrs Fernandez’s judgement,
which was originally planned to take place on 17 March 2004.
The Observatory expressed its fears that this new date may have
been set up on purpose in order to take profit of the absence
of Mrs. Fernandez’s Senior counsel for the trial, Mr.
Pura Valen (See http://www.fidh.org/communiq/2003/my1510a.htm).
The Observatory considers that the charges against her are
arbitrary since they only aim at sanctioning her activities
as a human rights defender, in particular her right to “freely
publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information
and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms”
guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights
Defenders (9 December 1998).
More generally, the Observatory urges the Malaysian authorities
to conform with international human rights standards, as well
as with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the UN Declaration of Human Rights Defenders.
For more information, please contact : FIDH: 00 33 1 43 55
25 18 - OMCT: 00 41 22 809 49 24 |
