Canada concerned over Anwar trial
Dear Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak,
I write with respect in order to inform you about high-level concern in Canada regarding opposition leader Dr Anwar Ibrahim and to request your urgent intervention.
As you must be aware, there is worldwide concern about events relating to this prominent opposition leader's current situation, thus putting a critical spotlight on Malaysia. As prime minister, you are undoubtedly concerned, for example, that the respected Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) recently declared that Dr Anwar Ibrahim's current trial on a charge of sodomy is riddled with defects.
The IPU has now made a decision to send an observer to the coming court hearings. The US expressed its intention to continue to scrutinise this controversial trial. Hundreds of participants, including former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, at the World Movement for Democracy, signed a petition calling for a fair trial as well as for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar.
Further, some fifty Australian parliamentarians recently signed a letter calling for an end to the ongoing sodomy trial. Joining the international outcry, concern is increasingly expressed at a high level in Canada.
Officers of the Canadian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur remain in private and public contact with Anwar Ibrahim and have observed the trial proceedings with great interest. In a recent article, former Canadian Prime Minister the Rt. Hon.Paul Martin called for the charges to be dropped to enable Anwar Ibrahim to 'pursue his vision of a democratic Malaysia, properly respectful of human rights'.
Opposition Liberal Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Bob Rae MP, called on Canada's Parliament to take note of continuing political and legal harassment of Anwar Ibrahim, who has 'long been a compelling spokesperson for democracy and for human rights in his country, and despite an unjustified prison sentence continues to speak out with courage and with determination'.
4. Forty-four Bloc Quebecois Party members of Parliament signed a letter petitioning you avec respect et amitie pour la Malaisie and declaring Nous sommes preoccupes par les accusations de sodomie portees contre Dr Anwar' (with respect and amity for Malaysia….We are concerned about the charges of sodomy against Dr Anwar).
5. Twenty-eight New Democratic Party Members of Parliament have signed a petition, acknowledging the longstanding friendly relationship between Malaysia and Canada, referring to the damage to Malaysia's reputation with Anwar Ibrahim's previous imprisonment and urging that current charges be dropped.
Amnesty International has repeatedly called for the protection and promotion of human rights in Malaysia – a call that was a clear focus of the United Nations' 2009 Universal Periodic Review of Malaysia and strongly supported by Canada's representatives.
Prime Minister, is it not time for Malaysia to become a truly progressive state in the area of human rights? As evident from the widespread concern about Dr Anwar Ibrahim, your leadership into a new twenty-first century era of human rights progress in Malaysia would be welcomed worldwide as a historic, major step forward.
I urge for such a new beginning the ensuring of treatment of Dr Anwar Ibrahim according to international human rights standards.
The writer is Amnesty International's coordinator for Singapore and Malaysia.
I write with respect in order to inform you about high-level concern in Canada regarding opposition leader Dr Anwar Ibrahim and to request your urgent intervention.
As you must be aware, there is worldwide concern about events relating to this prominent opposition leader's current situation, thus putting a critical spotlight on Malaysia. As prime minister, you are undoubtedly concerned, for example, that the respected Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) recently declared that Dr Anwar Ibrahim's current trial on a charge of sodomy is riddled with defects.
The IPU has now made a decision to send an observer to the coming court hearings. The US expressed its intention to continue to scrutinise this controversial trial. Hundreds of participants, including former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, at the World Movement for Democracy, signed a petition calling for a fair trial as well as for the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar.
Further, some fifty Australian parliamentarians recently signed a letter calling for an end to the ongoing sodomy trial. Joining the international outcry, concern is increasingly expressed at a high level in Canada.
Officers of the Canadian High Commission in Kuala Lumpur remain in private and public contact with Anwar Ibrahim and have observed the trial proceedings with great interest. In a recent article, former Canadian Prime Minister the Rt. Hon.Paul Martin called for the charges to be dropped to enable Anwar Ibrahim to 'pursue his vision of a democratic Malaysia, properly respectful of human rights'.
Opposition Liberal Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Bob Rae MP, called on Canada's Parliament to take note of continuing political and legal harassment of Anwar Ibrahim, who has 'long been a compelling spokesperson for democracy and for human rights in his country, and despite an unjustified prison sentence continues to speak out with courage and with determination'.
4. Forty-four Bloc Quebecois Party members of Parliament signed a letter petitioning you avec respect et amitie pour la Malaisie and declaring Nous sommes preoccupes par les accusations de sodomie portees contre Dr Anwar' (with respect and amity for Malaysia….We are concerned about the charges of sodomy against Dr Anwar).
5. Twenty-eight New Democratic Party Members of Parliament have signed a petition, acknowledging the longstanding friendly relationship between Malaysia and Canada, referring to the damage to Malaysia's reputation with Anwar Ibrahim's previous imprisonment and urging that current charges be dropped.
Amnesty International has repeatedly called for the protection and promotion of human rights in Malaysia – a call that was a clear focus of the United Nations' 2009 Universal Periodic Review of Malaysia and strongly supported by Canada's representatives.
Prime Minister, is it not time for Malaysia to become a truly progressive state in the area of human rights? As evident from the widespread concern about Dr Anwar Ibrahim, your leadership into a new twenty-first century era of human rights progress in Malaysia would be welcomed worldwide as a historic, major step forward.
I urge for such a new beginning the ensuring of treatment of Dr Anwar Ibrahim according to international human rights standards.
The writer is Amnesty International's coordinator for Singapore and Malaysia.
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