Protest called -28th Jan to highlight the abuse of Human Rights in Malaysia

dublin | rights, freedoms and repression | press release

Saturday January 26, 2008 14:39

by Declan Kavanagh - Friends of Human Rights Activists in Malaysia

declankavanagh62 at hotmail dot com

dublin

0857318496

An Interanl Security Act is been used to attack lawyers and other activists including our Malaysian friend Noor Aza Othman who was a resident in Ireland for five years, .

Friends of Human Right Activists in Malaysia have expressed their
concern about a possible jailing of lawyers, NGO's activists and other individuals.

The activists include our friend, a Malaysian women who was a resident in Ireland for five years, Noor Aza Othman,

The group are in Court on the 28th January 2008
under a notorious Internal Security Act, who are facing prison sentences for two years or more.

The background is as follows:
On 9th December a march was held in Kuala Lumpur by a group of lawyers and othe human right activists to mark International Human Rights day. The protest called for a right
to freedom of assembly but, ironically, the police not only stopped the march but arrested the lawyers and other individuals, including Noor Aza Othman.

All were detained under the Internal Security Act. According to the New York based organisation Human Rights Watch,

'ISA detainees have long suffered physical and mental abuse, sexual humiliation and public vilification without access to a serious complaint mechanism or having an opportunity to defend themselves'

Detainees can be held for two and a half year - or longer if the
government decides to increase the sentence.

The ISA has become a weapon to suppress political dissent and to ensure that the government party stays in power. There has been no change in government in Malaysia since 1957.

Noor Aza Othman lived in Rathfarnham in Dublin for five years and
attended a Development Studies course in Kimmage Manor. She did volunteer work with the Migrant Right Centre and involved herself with the Anti-war protests.

If you're free on Monday, 28th JANUARY at 1pm (2008), a protest will be held outside the Malaysian Embassy, Shelbourne House, Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge, Dubin 4.
if you can't make it to the protest, can you please write to the Malaysian Embassy - email: mwdublin@mwdublin.ie and voice your concern. Alternatively, I have a letter already written up so e-mail me or ring me and I can send it to you so that you can forward it to the M.Embassy.
Any small gesture that you can help me with, is very much appreciated.

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Comments (13 of 13)

Please support Noora

by Paula

Sat Jan 26, 2008 14:55

Noora was very politically active in Dublin. She is a very warm energetic activist who has a deep compassion to challenge any form of injustice. Many of us may recall her passion for the writings of James Connolly and challenging Imperialsim. She has stood up and been counted for thousands who couldn't stand up for themselves or who couldn't be heard. Let us show our solidarity with her and that relentless spirit which believes that a beautiful world with peace and equality is possible.
Thank you Noora for inspiring us all, we do think of you here and wish you success on Monday.

human rights are our rights

by lulu

Sat Jan 26, 2008 17:08

These brave people do deserve our support - it only takes minutes to write a letter or email on their behalf.

Noora

by Irishman in Mayo

Sun Jan 27, 2008 12:13

I used to run into Noora a few times in the days when I was living in Belfast and working in Dublin.

She's one of the good guys, and after I post this I'm going to send something to the Malaysian embassy. It may not be much but it's the least we can do.

Noora and Fellow Activists

by Declan

Sun Jan 27, 2008 13:42

As Lulu says above,it only takes a few minutes to write a letter or email and it also
only takes an hour of your time to attend a protest to let the authorities know that
this type of treatment of peaceful Human Rights Activists is completely unacceptable.
We all should make the effort to support people like Noora and her fellow activists
who are brave and selfless enough to devote so much of their life to trying to improve
the lives of those suffering from political or economic oppression.

Thanks for still remembering me my friends in Ireland

by Nora

Sun Jan 27, 2008 19:06

noorazao at hotmail dot com

00-60125394924

I truly appreciate most of all that my friends still remember me; as I do of them. I do miss the friendship, solidarity, and beautiful rural and great natural and silent beauty of Ireland, especially the ancient bogland. Please preserve and save such beauty as we've lost so much of our natural environment here in Malaysia, especially our ancient rainforests and beautiful seaside to monstrous resorts.

If you happen to be in this part of the world for a visit, you'll always be welcomed as my guest, sincerely. & We're always looking for volunteers (short or long term), especially to work with the wondrous very traditional Penan communities in remote rainforest in Malaysia Borneo, who are such brave activists than I can ever be, fighting to preserve our ancient remaining rainforests against the might of the greedy capitalist corporations and this corrupted and brutal capitalist Malaysian govt. Slan, Nora.

Message from Noor?

by Kerdil

Sun Jan 27, 2008 19:46

Was the message posted by her directly? If so, it's great news that she has been released, though I'm assuming it was posted on her behalf.

I hope the protest on Monday could also include reference to the recent detaining of 5 members of HINDRAF (Malaysian-Indian activists) under the ISA; this has become a huge story in Malaysia, to the extent that Malaysian-Indians boycotted the recent Thaipusam celebrations at the Batu Caves, as they claimed that temple authorities there had collaborated with the police. 130 people are currently on hunger strike to support the detainees.

More info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HINDRAF

http://singaporeindianvoice.blogspot.com/2008/01/130-ma....html

http://islandmiss.wordpress.com/2008/01/24/thaipusam-bo...aves/

any comment?

by C

Mon Jan 28, 2008 11:08

reports coming through that Dr Mahathir is grievously ill- these are received by text over the
last 24 hours.

don't have time to add in the Wiki Link or the issue of Anwar's imprisonment, he was
seen as pro-Western ( still ongoing). it would be nice to have a Malay perspective
on the political issues involved in the Mahathir/Anwar issue rather than a Western
perspective from friends who live abroad.

I do know that there was eco problems and that press repression and violence
dogged the country, including reports of lawyers having their legs broken and
dumped in prison for attempting to intervene in street disturbances- is there
a blog or a possibility of indy type stuff available?

"Malay" vs "Malaysian"

Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:40

"Malay perspective"

I would hope you mean Malaysian perspective.

malaysian perspective!

Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:50

I have family over in KL- and hear the stories, the lawyer who had her legs broken was a friend
interesting to get nit-picky, this is a difficult time for many.

any word on Dr Mahathir?

Thanks

Mon Jan 28, 2008 14:07

Sorry for appearing nitpicky; it's just that, to non-Malay Malaysians, language like "the Malay perspective" may appear exclusionary.

As for Mahathir, he scheduled to travel to Suharto's funeral, so I'm assuming there's no truth in the rumours. Nothing on the blogs anyway.

Human Rights Day Activists not detained under ISA

Mon Jan 28, 2008 15:54

Malaysia

Somehow, the extra information by my dear friends that has been added has been wrong. Let me clear this up. Briefly, the Malaysian Govt especially led by the dominant ruling party UMNO (United Malay National Organisation) which has used race and religion based on Malay-Islamic supremacy ideology and ultra-nationalism of "Malay-Islamic nationhood" to divide and rule different ethnic groups in Malaysia, thus the British capitalist imperialism historical legacy of divide and rule strategy lives on. At the present, due to their waning power, the capitalist-elite leaders of UMNO are trying to crush any form of dissent that include peaceful assembly, protests and speech. Any protest or assembly needs police permit which is usually not consented to nowadays unless it's pro-govt rallies.

In the protest that I was involved in, to defend such human rights principles and to commemorate International Human Rights Day, which was organized by Malaysian Human Rights lawyers, 8 of us were arrested and detained in the police cell for one night. We were then brought to court to set trial date and bail. We were supposed to be on trial today on the 28/01/08 but now the trial date has been postpone to 05/05/08. We are not detained under Internal Security Act (ISA) that allows detention without trial. Another group of peaceful protesters organized by HINDRAF (Hindu Rights Action Force) have also been detained and their main leaders are currently under ISA detention; along with 100 others detained previously as political prisoners. Although HINDRAF is also fighting based on race and religion but this's in counter reaction to UMNO's race and religious language game itself; where HINDRAF is actually fighting for equality and freedom against long period of discrimination and racism of ethnic Indian communities since independence. I'm hoping that HINDRAF will move on towards new politics which is based on social justice politics, rather than race, religion and ultra-nationalism. Hopefully, opposition politics that is based on true Marxist -Socialist principles that aspire towards true equality and freedom for all humanity (not the pseudo and barbaric ones based on Maoism, Stalinism, Pol Pot-ism or Milosevicism). And socio-environmental justice for the natural world. And just on Saturday 26/01/08, 48 peaceful protesters including top ranking Malaysian socialist leaders against inflation were detained for two days and had just been release on bail, also to be charged in a trial as all peaceful protesters/human rights activists arrested so far. For online aternative resistance news, go to www.malaysiakini.com (daily) or Malaysian Socialist party at http://parti-sosialis.org/

yet another clamp down

by SPer - SP

Tue Jan 29, 2008 17:05

http://www.socialistworld.net/eng/2008/01/28malaya.html

please respond with protest letters etc.

I was TRICKED into supporting Soros/US NED-sponsored Malaysia's Opposition

by Noor Aza Othman

Mon Jul 25, 2016 23:58

My dear friends in Ireland, if you still remember me,

Firstly, I want apologize to all my Muslim brothers and sisters; I have done so much wrong towards Islam and Muslims, including my Turkish Muslim brothers and sisters in Germany (who have to fight hard against the ever brutal anti-Islam/anti-Muslim ZioNazis). During my grave stupidity times, I thought Islam was the root of all my problems but actually Islam is the saviour of all my problems. I also want to apologize to the Malaysian Govt. at that time.

Thankfully, before it's too late, I realized the truth; that is, anything which is organized by the Malaysia's Opposition ([especially by racist and fascist anti-Indigenous/anti-Muslim party of DAP (Democratic Action Party – ('democratic', my foot) - suspected to receive much hidden donation from ISrael, to the total of US 300 million and training from Mossad, through Singapore-based account] including under the guise of the so-called Human Rights March - is actually towards the evil goal of Regime change in order to topple our current Indigenous Muslim PM, DS Mohd. Najib Tun Razak who is the son of our greatest Independence and Development leader, the late PM, Tun Abd. Razak Hussein.

I remember crying at ten years old when he died at a young age of 54 years old, in London in 1976, supposedly from 'leukimia' illness, but actually I suspected he was murdered as of many great and brave 'Third' World independence leaders at the time and until now - see http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-cia-has-attempted-to-a...26864 , The CIA has Attempted to Assassinate 50 Foreign Leaders Including Chavez, Global Research, March 15, 2013; and ati - http://imeu.net/news/article0024562.shtml , Israel's History of Assassinating Palestinian Leaders, The IMEU, Nov 6, 2013.

Tun Abd. Razak left many legacies to help the poor, especially the Indigenous (Bumiputera, as called in Malaysia) peoples in the rural communities (who were much oppressed by British Imperialism), particularly through providing free education until the highest level, and poverty-reduced development schemes, including protecting our Indigenous identities and rights especially in protecting our Indigenous land-ownership, and building national oil company , Petronas, and further nationalizing strictly necessary institutions such as in some sectors of banking, transport, housing, education, commerce etc. under the new Economic Policy (NEP - mainly to provide socio-economic and political justice to the oppressed poor) - see http://ww.rmaf.org.ph/newrmaf/main/awardees/awardee/pro...le/77 , Abdul Razak, Tun bin Hussein, © Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation 2012.

In my own family, despite that my father had to stop schooling at 12 years old and my mother, at 10 years old due to poverty and the lack of secondary school in rural areas, (in a devious strategy devised by the British to keep the Indigenous poor uneducated, with only basic minimum skill and literacy to be used as slave labour), all their six children managed to gain the highest education, mostly from Western universities, as sponsored by the Government under the NEP - thus proving one of the most evil British propaganda wrong - because when given the opportunities with the right socio-economic and political environment, Indigenous Malay Muslims especially, have proven themselves , that we are not 'stupid'! Now such glorious legacy is being continued under Tun Razak’s son, our current beloved Indigenous PM - thus, is why he is much hated especially by the ZionistDAP!

And it's so pathetic that the US who can keep supporting sociopath Genocidal ISrael and invade the Muslim World to commit endless Genocide, and now dare to interfere in another Muslim county?! They are still doing it now by trying to tarnish our PM’s reputation with endless unproven charges of corruption, since the Zionist Soros/US NED-sponsored Opposition is not in power yet - see http://landdestroyer.blogspot.my/2015/08/us-vs-china-us....html , US vs China: US-Backed Mobs Seek to Overthrow Malaysian Government, August 24, 2015 (Tony Cartalucci - LD).

We can easily guess why, and yet this hypocrite US cannot even convict the ever corrupted Soros and the Swiss Banks accused of money laundering in the Quantum Fund scandal which is registered in the tax haven of the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean- see http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/secrets...0.htm , GEORGE SOROS AND THE ROTHSCHILD CONNECTION; and see who actually owns US/British regimes at - http://www.whale.to/b/bollyn.html , How Mossad Controls Our Political Parties, by Christopher Bollyn, 25 October 2008.

Noor Aza Othman.

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Protest called -28th Jan to highlight the abuse of Human Rights in Malaysia

Comments (13 of 13)