Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said an important indicator on whether a country was reaching developed status was how it was doing on the human rights front.
He said in Malaysia’s case, the country could be seen to be moving either backwards or forwards depending on what other countries were being compared with it.
“If you want to compare Malaysia with less developed countries, we are doing much better. But if you intend to become a developed nation, then you shouldn’t be comparing yourself with less developed countries but the more developed countries instead,” he said at a question and answer session during Suaram’s 2016 Human Rights Report launch.
Sevan said the country was still lacking in many aspects of human rights, including the number of deaths in custody.
“Just take a look at our deaths in custody for example. This year alone, we have already registered five to six deaths in custody in just half a year and this is not good.”
Suaram also revealed today that it had misreported the number of deaths in police custody in it’s 2016 Human Rights Report Overview launched in December last year. It had earlier reported two deaths, but in its 2016 Human Rights Report today, it noted that the number of deaths in custody was actually 15.
Apart from deaths in custody, Sevan said it was difficult getting accurate statistics in the first place because of a lack of freedom of information.
“Like when it comes to deaths in immigration detention centres, it’s very difficult for us to know the number. The immigration department has no annual statistics on how many people die. Why not?
“Similarly, there also isn’t an annual report from the home ministry or police departments on how many people have died in custody or how many people were detained under Sosma (Security Offences (Special Preventive Measures) Act). There is no freedom of information. This is an important indicator to show how we have ‘progressed’ in terms of human rights.”