SUARA RAKYAT MALAYSIA

Address:  433A, Jalan 5/46, Gasing Indah, 46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Telephone: +6 03 7784 3525                                Fax: +6 03 7784 3526

Email: suaram@suaram.net                                Web: www.suaram.net

Press statement: 25 June 2008

Public assemblies should be allowed without police permits

SUARAM welcomes Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar’s willingness to accept the recommendations made by the Royal Police Commission when he stated that Section 27 of the Police Act 1967 will be reviewed. However, SUARAM is of the opinion that public assemblies should be allowed without the need to obtain police permits, as the right to assembly is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution. The Minister’s statement that applications for police permits should be made nine days before the date of the event and that the decision be made in three days, shows the unwillingness of the government to do away with the police permit.

In relation to this, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) has repeatedly called for the respect for freedom of assembly. In its “Bloody Sunday incident” report, released in March 2007, SUHAKAM recommended that “peaceful assemblies should be allowed without a licence”. On 12 December 2007, SUHAKAM Chairman Abu Talib Othman once again reiterated this principle by stating that any limitation under Section 27 of the Police Act was against the right to assembly and that the section should be revoked.

In the past one year alone, we have witnessed several peaceful and well-organised demonstrations in Malaysia. Numerous peaceful assemblies were denied permits where they were sought, and were quashed by the police using teargas, water cannons and force. SUARAM, in its “Malaysia Human Rights Report 2007 on Civil and Political Rights”, launched last week, noted numerous cases where peaceful assemblies were met with harsh crackdown by the police. In one incident in Batu Buruk, Terengganu in September, the police even opened fire at a crowd of unarmed civilians, seriously injuring two.

Suffice to say, these incidents happened mainly because the Police Act gives powers to the police to deny the right to assemble.

SUARAM strongly urges the Home Ministry to take into account not only the recommendations of the Royal Police Commission, but also those made by SUHAKAM in relation to the right to assemble. We urge the government to do away with the need to apply for police permits for public assemblies. The sections of the Act should instead be replaced by a provision which compels the police to assist organisers of peaceful assemblies.

The willingness of the government to accept the recommendations of the Royal Police Commission should also extend beyond the recommendations relating to Section 27 of the Police Act 1967. SUARAM urges the government to also accept the Royal Police Commission’s other recommendations, particularly the conduct of inquests on all deaths in police custody and the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) – all of which have passed their deadlines for implementation.

Released by,

Tah Moon Hui

Coordinator