EXECUTIVE SUMMARY We were not prepared for what turned out to be a deadly pandemic and strict Movement Control Order (MCO) in March. However, SUHAKAM Commissioners and officers quickly recovered to re-strategise and review our approach to ensure we could continue carrying out our operations throughout the year. In terms of our education mandate, SUHAKAM drafted training modules for the Prisons Department, Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) and Teachers’ Education Institute, to help institutionalise and improve human rights training in several government agencies. SUHAKAM held two online training sessions in June for Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) students focusing on issues related to the refugee community, and with Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) on torture and United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) on 5 December. SUHAKAM continued to raise public awareness of UNCAT by developing an animated educational tool. SUHAKAM also undertook to translate the full text of UNCAT into the Malay language. We subsequently published a bi-lingual (Malay-English) UNCAT booklet with funding from the European Union (EU). SUHAKAM conducted two SUHAKAM Bersama Masyarakat (SBM - ‘Meet the People) sessions - one was via Facebook Live on 22 July, and the second was a face-to-face event with plantation workers in Batang Padang, Perak, on 15 September. In general, EU Funding of SUHAKAM’s work relate to the promotion of human rights and for educational purposes. We continued to review various legislation affecting human rights in Malaysia. They include the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012, Lock-Up Rules 1953, anti-hopping legislation from human rights perspectives, Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 and an amendment to the SUHAKAM Act 1999 (Act 597). We engaged seven research consultants under the ‘Promoting the Accession of Remaining International Human Rights Treaties in Malaysia’ project, to analyse the compatibility of the remaining treaties and United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) with domestic laws. They undertook both primary and secondary research. Apart from a literature review, they conducted public polls and surveys to obtain public opinion and perspective on each treaty. xiv ANNUAL REPORT 2020