Suhakam: Toothless tigers, should be disbanded to preserve dignity

Time and time again we come across, members of Suhakam showing their displeasure on the authorities in Malaysia side-stepping and  fringing basic human rights. All the suggestion and plea by Suhakam are falling on deaf ears. Looking at the most recent happenings, on the plea by Tan Sri Hasmy and today's comment by   James Nayagam, another commisioner of Suhakam on the mass arrest of the rakyat who are practising their basic rights as enshrined and guaranteed under the Human Rights Charter and the constitution. My suggestion is, all the respected members in Suhakam should resign en mass, what is the point, when your voices are not heard, your suggestions are ignored, your advice are simply thrown aside. Don't you people have dignity? Don't you people think you do not deserve whatever allowances you are being paid, because you are simply not doing you work...or in simple Malay...'gaji buta"? And as for the other's, some insight on what is the actual history of Suhakam, what is supposedly be called as their powers....what are their jurisdiction and many more, below is a summary which was actually taken fro their official portal:

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) was established by Parliament under the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999, Act 597, the Act which was gazetted on 9 September 1999. The inaugural meeting of SUHAKAM was held on 24 April 2000.

The functions of SUHAKAM as set out in Section 4(1) are:


- to promote awareness of and provide education relating to human rights;
- to advise and assist Government in formulating legislation and procedures and recommend the necessary     measures to be taken;
- to recommend to the Government with regard to subscription or accession of treaties and other international instruments in the field of human rights;
- to inquire into complaints regarding infringements of human rights.

Furthermore, section 4(4) of the Act provides that regard shall be had to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 (UDHR) to the extent that is not inconsistent with the Federal Constitution. This means that whatever rights and liberties not mentioned in Part II but referred to in the UDHR must be considered provided that there is no conflict with the Constitution.

The function of inquiring into complaints about human rights infringements is subject to the conditions imposed by section 12 of the Act. Section 12 empowers SUHAKAM to act on its own motion to inquire into allegations of infringement of human rights, in addition to acting on complaints submitted to it. SUHAKAM, however, may not investigate complaints which are the subject matter of proceedings pending in a court of law or which have been finally decided by any court. Such investigations have to cease if the matter being investigated is brought before the courts

Power

The Act provides SUHAKAM with powers to enable it to discharge its functions effectively. Under section 4(2), the Commission is empowered to do the following:

 to undertake research by conducting programs, seminars and workshops and

 to disseminate and distribute the results of such research;

 to advise the Government and/or relevant authorities of complaints against them and to recommend appropriate measures to be taken;

to study and verify any infringement of human rights;

to visit places of detention in accordance with procedures as prescribed by laws relating to the places of detention and to make necessary recommendations;

to issue public statements on human rights as and when necessary

to undertake appropriate activities as are necessary.

Having read the above , I sincerely believe we could easily conclude that Suhakam is not even functioning 10% of what they was expected to............towards a more democratic Malaysia (GOD willing) ....ciao...a.h.baharom