Executive Summary
In keeping with its mandate to promote and protect human rights, all three Groups have pursued
their key objectives through new and ongoing activities, while extending outreach to additional
target groups or integrating supplementary issues that require attention and intervention.
REPORT OF THE EDUCATION AND PUBLIC RELATIONS GROUP
In fulfilling its function to educate different target groups, the Education and Promotion
Division organised workshops and delivered talks on human rights at tertiary institutions
and schools, including those that have entered into Memoranda of Understanding with the
Commission. In ensuring that the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is observed by
the relevant authorities – especially in providing the required facilities and quality education –
the Commission visited several schools including those for the Orang Asli, and which provide
Islamic or vernacular education. It also conducted training for law enforcement agencies
including the police, the Prison Department and local authorities, on applying human rights
principles in daily duties.
To give effect to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Commission
conducted Roundtable Discussions with several local authorities to identify outstanding issues
and to discuss practical and manageable solutions. In addition, a National Conference on NonDiscrimination was co-organised with Pusat KOMAS and the Institute of Ethnic Studies of
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. In-house training was conducted for the Commission’s staff
on various human rights issues, as well as soft skills requirements.
The Public Relations Division arranged promotional and publicity activities such as courtesy
calls on government agencies and media organisations. It assisted in receiving delegations
from national human rights institutions (NHRIs), United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs,
universities and other organisations. Key activities were a forum on media freedom, road shows
and, for the second consecutive year, the Human Rights Awards ceremony. The Division also
facilitated media interviews and issued press statements on behalf of the Commission.
REPORT OF THE COMPLAINTS, MONITORING AND INQUIRIES GROUP
One of the Commission’s main functions is to inquire into complaints on infringement of human
rights. The Complaints and Monitoring Division examined issues involving the exercise
of police powers, death in police custody, the use of preventive detention laws, the right to
peaceful assembly, treatment of detainees, interests of refugees/asylum seekers and children
in detention. During the year, the Commission monitored 11 public assemblies and observed
a university campus election. As part of its statutory mandate, the Commission visited and
monitored 13 detention centres throughout the country.
The Inquiries Division was involved in the holding of two Public Inquiries. The Public Inquiry
into the incidents before and during the public assembly of 9 July 2011 was concluded in 2012. The
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