CHAPTER 3 - REPORT OF THE LAW REFORM AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES WORKING GROUP CHAPTER 3 REPORT OF THE LAW REFORM AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES WORKING GROUP A right is not what someone gives you; it’s what no one can take from you. Ramsey Clark The focus of the Law Reform and International Treaties Working Group was on the core international human rights treaties, with the ultimate aim of urging the Government to accede to treaties such as the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination. Over the year, initial preparations were made in anticipation of the submission of independent reports to the United Nations in 2012, on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The Working Group took further steps to highlight pertinent thematic human rights issues such as preventive detention, refugee rights, the death penalty, and the rights of the sexual minorities. 1. RIGHTS OF REFUGEES (a) Meeting with the Malaysian National Security Council and other Government Agencies The Commission continued to monitor the situation of refugees. In March, a meeting was held with the Malaysian National Security Council and other government agencies to convey the outcomes of the Commission’s meeting in December 2010 with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which had focused on current developments affecting refugees in Malaysia and strategies toward accession to the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 (1951 Convention). During the meeting with the Malaysian National Security Council and the government agencies, the Commission highlighted issues of concern, particularly on the refugees’ rights to recognition, work, healthcare and education. The Commission also took the opportunity to inform the meeting that there are NGOs and corporate bodies which are interested in providing assistance to the refugees, but which are uncertain of the Government’s reaction because Malaysia does not recognise the status of refugees. 53