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His Royal Highness Prince Charles

Clarence House

London, SW1A 1BA

United Kingdom

31stOctober 2017

UK MUST SPEAK OUT AGAINST GRAND CORRUPTION AND HUMAN


RIGHTS ABUSES AS MALAYSIA DESCENDS INTO KLEPTOCRATIC
DICTATORSHIP

We call on His Royal Highness as a representative of Her Majestys government


to urgently address Malaysias spiralling human rights abuses and ongoing
crackdown on Malaysian rights activists and opposition politicians on his
upcoming visit to Malaysia.

As HRH will be aware, the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is currently
embroiled in the 1MDB corruption scandal the US Department of Justice (DOJ)
has described as the greatest kleptocracy case in history alongside allegations
of widespread electoral fraud. Shortly after the DOJ report, The Guardian
published a detailed article about their investigations, 1MDB: The inside story of
the worlds biggest financial scandal1.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has been silencing his critics, by sacking his deputy
prime minister and the Attorney-General, quashing an internal investigation by
the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, and revoking the publishing licences
of newspapers. Najib Razak and his government continue to use the Sedition
Act, the Peaceful Assembly Act, and other draconian laws to silence human
rights defenders, journalists, opposition politicians and civil society activists in his
Barisan Nasional (National Front) coalitions six decades hold on power.

Grand Corruption

In July this year UK Parliamentarians tabled an Early Day Motion2 stating:

That this House is alarmed about allegations of the misappropriation of billions


of dollars from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a state-owned investment
firm intended to promote economic development in Malaysia, including by the
current Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak; notes related on-going
investigations in a number of countries, including the US and Switzerland; further
notes the statement by the FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, in connection
with the largest single action so far by the US Department of Justices
Kleptocracy Asset Initiative, that the Malaysian people were defrauded on an

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enormous scale; highlights the continuing restrictions on freedom of expression
and of association in Malaysia, as well as the misuse of the Sedition Act,
targeted particularly at Government critics, including opposition politicians and
MPs, such as Anwar Ibrahim, jailed following legal proceedings which fell far
short of international standards, and Rafizi Ramli MP; encourages the
Government of Malaysia to allow international observers, including from a range
of Commonwealth countries, at its upcoming General Elections, to demonstrate
its commitment to free and fair elections, particularly given Malaysia will be taking
up the Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth in 2020; and calls on the
Government to ensure that allegations of misappropriated funds from Malaysia
having been used to buy assets in the UK is thoroughly investigated.

Crackdown on Human Rights

The Malaysian Government continues to curb fundamental human rights in


Malaysia through:

4. a) Suppressing freedom of expression and assembly in the context of


elections, in particular through crackdowns on leaders and participants of
rallies organised by Bersih, the civil society coalition demanding free and
fair elections3,4.

b) The ongoing political detention of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim5.


Money politics, unfettered cash distribution, threats and biased electoral
delineation activities were rife during the 2013 General Elections. Despite
this, the opposition coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim won 53 per cent of the
popular vote. In order to silence him and his popular movement, he was
later imprisoned for a second time on trumped up, politically motivated
charges of sodomy. The United Nations has denounced Anwar Ibrahims
imprisonment as arbitrary and in violation of international law. He
continues to be denied access to impartial medical treatment for a serious
shoulder injury.

c) The continuous harassment, arrest, detention and prosecution of


journalists, cartoonists, activists and opposition leaders working to expose
the latest developments related to the 1MDB grand corruption scandal
involving Prime Minister Najib, including the use of anti-terror legislation,
the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 this law allows for
detention without trial.

d) Continuous use of the Sedition Act 1948 to limit freedom of expression


in Malaysia. Many Members of Parliament and human rights defenders
are facing charges for raising concerns on issues of corruption and human
rights, which is all too often termed activities detrimental to parliamentary
democracy. Convicted MPs face being stripped of their parliamentary
seats and disqualified from contesting in elections.

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Religious Extremism

Malaysians continue to witness a narrowing of the official definition of orthodox


Islam, and an accompanying escalation of intolerance towards not only non-
Sunni Muslims and other faiths, but also towards more tolerant interpretations of
Sunni Islam. The states powerful and well-funded religious institutions are
increasingly used to suppress dissent of all kinds, under religious pretexts. Most
recently, this has included the persecution and deportation of visiting Turkish
Muslim writer Mustafa Akyol6, and the charging of his host Dr Ahmad Farouk
Musa and his organisation the Islamic Renaissance Front for abetting Mustafa
Akyol for giving a religious talk without proper accreditation7.

In 2014, Najib Razak announced that Islam and its followers are now facing new
threats under the guise of humanism, secularism, liberalism and human rights8.
He went on to state that, we will not tolerate any demands or right to apostasy
by Muslims, or deny Muslims their right to be governed by Shariah Courts and
neither will we allow Muslims to engage in LGBT activities.

In 2013, freedom of religion was one of the key issues discussed during
Malaysias second cycle of the UN Universal Periodic Review, with several states
including Austria, Canada, Italy and Poland making critical comments and
recommendations.

In June 2014, Najib Razak even encouraged members of his party to be brave
like ISIS fighters.9 Extremist Islamic movements are on the rise in Malaysia,
spurred on by Najibs use of racial and religious extremist rhetoric. The ruling
United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) has forged an alliance with the
conservative Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) in order to secure more rural
Malay votes. As part of the pact, amendments to the Syariah Courts (Criminal
Jurisdiction) Act 1965 seeking to impose stiffer penalties for offences along the
lines of Hudud law are now regularly debated in parliament and are seen as a
worrying development by both moderate Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

In the past year, religious tensions have escalated with a number of kidnappings
and enforced disappearances of Christian pastors and religious minorities in
Malaysia10. In September 2017, the UN Special Rapporteur for cultural rights
Karima Bennoune noted that the discrepancy between reality and rhetoric on
Islamic fundamentalism and religious extremism in Malaysia was extremely
worrying11.

Environmental and Human Rights Devastation in Borneo

Preservation of the environment and nature are issues important to HRH. It will
therefore be devastating to learn that over the last few years there have been a
spate of murders of activists throughout Sarawak12. These activists were
opposing illegal land grabs, illegal logging and mining activities aimed at

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decimating their native customary land and the Borneo rainforest ecosystem13.
British investigative journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown has been instrumental in
exposing issues of endemic corruption and human rights abuses in the state of
Sarawak specifically and Malaysia as a whole, revealing how in the state of
Sarawak, the profits from timber, oil and now oil palm (much of it grown on land
illegally sequestered from the indigenous communities) have gone straight into
the pockets of political cronies, who have run the country for personal profit and
plundered it indiscriminately for the past decades of continuous rule. The once
unparalleled tropical rainforests have been denuded scarcely 5 per cent remain
uncut and the tribal peoples who depended on the forests for their food are
now deprived of their means of subsistence and in several cases starving.

We trust that the issues raised by millions of concerned Malaysians globally will
also be of concern to HRH and will be addressed by Prime Minister Najib and his
government this week as HRH tours Malaysia. We ask you to encourage the
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and his government to:

1. Allow international observers, including from a range of Commonwealth


countries, at its upcoming General Elections, to demonstrate its
commitment to free and fair elections, particularly given Malaysia will be
taking up the Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth in 2020
2. Release political prisoner of conscience and opposition leader Anwar
Ibrahim with immediate effect and allow him access to urgent independent
medical treatment of his choice
3. Stop the persecution of human rights activists and opposition MPs through
the use of the Sedition Act, Peaceful Assembly Act and other laws aimed
at stifling democracy
4. Ensure a thorough, impartial investigation into 1MBD without government
interference
5. End Islamic extremism, religious intolerance and persecution of religious
minorities
6. Halt the environmental devastation of the Borneo rainforest and ensure
native customary rights and indigenous rights are protected and upheld

The UK can and must play a critical role in ensuring a UN member, a


Commonwealth friend and ally like Malaysia heeds its democratic obligations and
respects the rights of its citizens without resorting to widespread violence,
intimidation, corruption and stolen elections.

Joint letter endorsed by

Global Bersih and SUARAM International

References

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1. The Guardian (2016) Ramesh R. 1MDB: The inside story of the worlds
biggest financial scandal
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/28/1mdb-inside-story-worlds-
biggest-financial-scandal-malaysia

1. Early Day Motion 212: 1MALAYSIA DEVELOPMENT BERHAD


http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2017-19/212/

1. Amnesty International. Malaysia: End crackdown on Bersih activists


https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/11/malaysia-end-
crackdown-on-bersih-activists/

1. Human Rights Watch. Malaysia: Rights Decline Under


Najibhttps://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/12/malaysia-rights-decline-under-
najib

1. Guardian (2016) Anwar Ibrahim Malaysia needs democracy. Im in prison


for that belief but I wont change it
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/13/malaysia-
needs-democracy-prison-muslim-majority-country

1. Economist (2017) A Turkish Writers detention sends a sombre message


about Islam https://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2017/10/turkey-
malaysia-and-islam

1. Malay Mail (2017) Scholar Summoned to court for abetting Turkish Writer
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/scholar-farouk-musa-
summoned-to-court-for-abetting-turkish-writer

1. Malay Mail (2014) PM says human rightism, humanism, secularism new


religion threatening Islam
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/pm-says-human-
rightism-humanism-secularism-new-religion-threatening-islam

1. Malay Mail (2014) Be brave like ISIL fighters Najib tells UMNO
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/be-brave-like-isil-
fighters-najib-tells-umno

1. Guardian (2017) Christian preachers dissaperance in Malaysia stokes


fears of crackdown on religious minorities
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/07/christian-preachers-
disappearance-in-malaysia-stokes-fears-of-crackdown-on-religious-
minorities

1. Preliminary Observations by the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the


field of cultural rights Karima Bennoune at the end of her visit to Malaysia.

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http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=
22121&LangID=E (21 Sep 2017)

1. Guardian (2016). Murder in Malaysia: how protecting native forests cost


an activist his life
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/24/in-malaysia-how-
protecting-native-forests-cost-an-activist-his-life#img-1

1. Sarawak Report (2016). Wheres the Change? Taib Family continues to


grab land in Sarawak. http://www.sarawakreport.org/2016/02/wheres-the-
change-taib-family-continues-to-grab-land-in-sarawak/

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