Suhakam chairperson Rahmat Mohamad

Suhakam chief: Immigration concerns, human rights need balance

BobbyO: What a hypocrite. Now he is singing a different tune? Why stand in the way or confuse the Malays when Pakatan Harapan was prepared to sign the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd) agreement? Were the Malays informed of the truth that only two Muslim nations have not signed the agreement? All other Muslim nations have already agreed and signed.

Or was it a cynical effort by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and you to create confusion and give the then opposition the opportunity to destabilise the Harapan government? Since you have been rewarded for your contribution, you are now singing a different tune. But as you are representing the nation on the global scale, you cannot fool the international crowd.

Dr Raman Letchumanan: All the right words by Suhakam chairperson Rahmat Mohamad, but let's see some action. New brooms always sweep clean until one gets on all fours on the floor to scrap out 60 years of well-entrenched scum and dirt.  For a start, set some timeline. In your own words, you know all the solutions. Great. Can you commit during your tenure that you would accomplish the following?

1. Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Work with the government to put in place the necessary laws. You cannot say, as it is, our Penal Code does not recognise the four major crimes as criminal. It may be in the matter of wording, but certainly, those are crimes of the most vile ones.

2. Ratify Icerd. This is the most basic of human rights violation. There cannot be any excuse for not ratifying it. I recognise Article 153 but if one looks at it objectively; it has been shown that Umno and Co have abused it to the core, making the Malay masses as poor as ever and the so-called protectors of race and religion rich beyond belief. Not only the Malay masses are betrayed, the whole country is in ruins. You cannot protect the people when the house is crumbling.

Read former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak and Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's court cases and you will understand what I am saying. Like the chief justice said, if you don't understand, ask, don't talk rubbish.

3. On the management of refugees and illegal workers, as you have acknowledged, the solutions are simple. We are crying out for cheap labour, yet we have so many able-bodied refugees who cannot work. This is purely a symptom of corruption among the various enforcement agencies, not a lack of ideas. This is one area where you need to focus on - corruption and abuse of power in our civil service. That is the root cause of all human rights violations.

So, will you take up this challenge or will you just keep talking and find excuses for the inaction during your tenure?