An open
letter to MPs on Peaceful Assembly Bill
Lim Chee
Wee
3:57PM
Nov 28, 2011
Dear Wakil Rakyat,
You may have heard
that the Malaysian Bar opposes the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 (“PA 2011”) on
the grounds that it imposes unreasonable and disproportionate fetters on the
freedom of assembly that is guaranteed under the Federal Constitution.
There are provisions in PA 2011 that are far more
restrictive than the current law, such as the banning of “street protests”
(assemblies in motion or processions) and the unlimited powers vested in the
police to dictate the time, date, place and conduct of an assembly.
There are also provisions in PA 2011 that are
simply illogical. As an example, although police do not need to be
notified of a religious assembly, such an assembly cannot be held at a place of
worship.
Furthermore, a person living within 50 metres of
a kindergarten or school cannot hold an open house for a festival, a funeral
procession or a wedding reception.
The Prime Minister, in his Malaysia Day speech on
15 September 2011, promised the Rakyat of the following:
I often opine that
long gone is the era in which the government knows everything and claims
monopoly over wisdom. . . .
The government will also review Section 27 of the
Police Act 1967, taking into consideration Article 10 of the Federal
Constitution regarding freedom of assembly and so as to be in line with international
norms on the same matter. . . . (emphasis added)
Be confident that it is a strength and not a
weakness for us to place our trust in the Malaysian people’s intelligence to
make decisions that will shape the path of their own future. . . .
It is absolutely clear that the steps I just
announced are none other than early initiatives of an organised and graceful
political transformation.
It stands as a crucial and much needed complement
to the initiatives of economic transformation and public presentation which the
government has outlined and implemented for over two years in the effort to
pioneer a modern and progressive nation. . . .
In closing, I wish to emphasise that free of any
suspicion and doubt, the Malaysia that we all dream of and are in the process
of creating is a Malaysia that practices [sic] a functional and inclusive
democracy where public peace and prosperity is preserved in accordance with the
supremacy of the constitution, rule of law and respect for basic human rights
and individual rights.
'Outrageous to prohibit
processions'
PA 2011 is neither consistent with “international
norms”, nor “in accordance with the supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law
and respect for basic human rights and individual rights”.
Instead, the Bill will take us further away from
being “a modern and progressive nation”.
It is outrageous that assemblies in
motion are prohibited.
Assemblies in motion provide the demonstrators with a
wider audience and greater visibility, in order for others to see and hear the
cause or grievance giving rise to the gathering.
Assemblies in motion has been described as “a
potent method of expression and is a common phenomenon in democratic
societies”[1].
History is replete with peaceful assemblies in
motion, which were agents of change and of good.
Processions led to nation's
founding
On 27 February 1946 Onn Jaafar, founding father
of Umno and the grandfather of our present Minister for Home Affairs, led a
procession of 15,000 individuals to protest the establishment of the Malayan
Union, which disregarded the interests of the Malay Rulers and the Malays.
This was the first of a series of processions
that successfully opposed the Malayan Union, and later led to our nation’s
independence.
On Feb 27, 2008, the then-Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi led 20,000 people in a one-kilometre procession from the Batu
Pahat Umno office to the stadium to commemorate this rally.
There have been
other processions calling for the abolition of the Internal Security Act 1960,
rights of minorities and electoral reforms.
For the Malaysian Bar, we
organised the Walk for Justice, which was held on Sep 26, 2007, to call for a
royal commission to investigate the VK Lingam video clip and the establishment
of the Judicial Appointments Commission, both of which were subsequently set up
by the government.
The present prohibition of procession robs the
rakyat of a right that currently exists under Section 27 of the Police Act,
which regulates “assemblies, meetings and processions”.
Elsewhere, history is
full of various peaceful processions led by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King
Jr and Nelson Mandela, to name but a few, which brought an end to oppressive
laws, policies and regimes.
It is ironic that the government now wants to
prohibit the very processions that led to the founding of our nation, and
others that moved the prime minister to promise legislative reforms.
These promised reforms now strike back at the
very demonstrations that catalysed them.
The Malaysian Bar is steadfast in its
stand and determination that PA 2011, in its current form, must not become
law.
The Malaysian Bar is resolute that any attempt to
regulate a fundamental liberty guaranteed under the Federal Constitution must
only be done after due consultation with all stakeholders, including opposition
parliamentarians and civil society groups.
No other choice
To this end, the Malaysian Bar has proposed an
alternative bill to be considered, and calls for PA 2011 to be remitted to a
parliamentary select committee for consideration.
At the second reading of PA 2011, we ask that
you, as a wakil rakyat, support our call.
It is not an exaggeration to say that tomorrow,
you will hold the liberty of the rakyat in your hands. We ask that you
treat it with the deference it deserves.
Now, more than ever, you must remember that you
were elected as a representative of the people, to carry out responsibilities
as a 'wakil rakyat'.
Please do not put blind obedience to party and
partisanship before your duties as a servant of the people. The rakyat
should not be made to suffer the consequences of party politics. PA 2011
is an unjust law, being made in undue haste, which has received the
condemnation of the Rakyat.
There can be no other choice.
Do not pass
PA 2011. Support our alternative bill and our call for a Parliamentary
Select Committee.
Yours faithfully,
Lim Chee Wee
President
Malaysian Bar
[1] Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in Leung Kwok
Hung & Ors v Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (FACC Nos. 1 & 2
of 2005, at para. 3).
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