Suhakam’s recommendations should be heeded, CCM

Apr 12, 2019

PETALING JAYA: The findings of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) on the disappearance of missing social activists Amri Che Mat and Pastor Raymond Koh should be heeded, says the Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM).

CCM said in a statement Friday (April 5) that the recommendations included the launch of an independent and impartial investigation, the provision of remedies to the families and to take immediate steps to clarify and separate the powers of the religious authorities and the police.

"Suhakam had to take up the inquiry in the absence of an impartial and serious investigation which the Malaysian police should have conducted as part of their statutory duty to uphold law and order in this country," it added.

CCM said that the government should also heed the call by Suhakam to respect freedom of religion as a fundamental right and also to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

"The Pakatan government in its General Election manifesto of 2018 had promised that the country will uphold the rule of law and that all citizens will be treated equal before the law.

"We call upon the Prime Minister to deliver on this promise and bring closure to this matter so that the families affected will find the justice they have been seeking for many years," it said.--The Star