Chapter 1 - Report of the Education and Public Relations Group (i) Migrant workers and trafficking in persons A participant highlighted cases where migrant workers were not allowed to work with a new employer while waiting for their claims to be heard in court. In many cases, these workers were repatriated without any money to take home to their families. Delays in the resolution of court cases also left these victims frustrated. The participant expressed hope that the workers would be allowed to earn some money or work under a new employer while waiting for resolution of their cases, or be repatriated expeditiously. The Commission took note of this, assuring participants that it had previously raised the matter with the respective authorities. It acknowledged that the current mechanism on migrant workers has some flaws which would have to be rectified soon. The Commission is of the view that the rights of workers should be respected regardless of their nationality. (ii) Death penalty The Commission emphasised the need to abolish the death penalty in the spirit of Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Commission has co-organised several activities with the Bar Council, the European Union and Amnesty International to raise awareness of the issue. These activities comprised Roundtable Discussions and an inter-university debate competition. The Commission has consistently called on the Government to consider imposing a moratorium on the death penalty or commuting this form of punishment to life imprisonment, especially for those who have been on death row for more than five years. (iii) Sexual minority groups Representatives of the Islamic Development Department and Persatuan Ulama Malaysia expressed concern over issues relating to sexual minority groups, or SOGI. They were of the view that Islamic beliefs and values should be taken into account, and suggested the adoption of the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights. The Commission explained that the UDHR, which was adopted in 1948, lays down 30 principles for every individual, and that it does not mention sexual minority groups. The Commission also said it is concerned about ill-treatment and discrimination of SOGI in Malaysia, pointing out that their rights and fundamental liberties must be respected alongside those of every human being. 2. PERMANENT PARLIAMENTARY SELECT COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS The Commission has, for the past 13 years, prepared and submitted its Annual Report to Parliament in time for its first sitting of the year, and has repeatedly urged the Government to table the Report for debate by Members of the Parliament. To date, this has not been done. Hence, the Commission was pleased with the announcement on 23 October by Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, who said that the 40