B. PUBLICATION AND DOCUMENTATION
Publication and Documentation Division (PDD) continued the promotion and
protection of human rights through printed and electronic materials.
1. ANNUAL REPORT
Following the successful debate of Annual Report 2018 in Parliament, in
2019, SUHAKAM hopes the government will continue to submit a motion to
debate the annual report in Parliament in subsequent years.
SUHAKAM’s 2019 Annual Report was tabled in Parliament on 4 November.
BHEUU handled the submission of motion for debate. A series of discussions
were held on 17 and 18 September with Parliament and BHEUU, respectively,
on the proposed debates. BHEUU was also responsible for obtaining
feedback from various ministries and agencies to be submitted together
with the Annual Report for the debate.
On 1 December, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament
and Law), Dato’ Seri Takiyuddin Hassan told Parliament that SUHAKAM’s
2019 Annual Report would not be debated in Parliament this year.
This was disappointing news for SUHAKAM because Parliament is the best
platform to highlight human rights issues that require urgent action by the
government.
The Annual Report also contains SUHAKAM’s recommendations with regard
to the vulnerable communities like indigenous peoples, women, children,
victims of human trafficking, refugees and asylum seekers and migrant
workers.
We note that Section 21 of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act
1999 does not specifically state that Parliament has to debate the Annual
Report.
Nevertheless, SUHAKAM is of the view that it is crucial for Parliament to
debate it so that members of parliament could critically discuss issues of
public interest and propose possible solutions. SUHAKAM hopes that this
debate would be continued in future years.
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ANNUAL REPORT 2020