UN human rights envoy gets lambasting from Perkasa

UN special envoy Maina Kiai is unfit to comment on the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) because he is an outsider, according to Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali.

"It is Perkasa's opinion that a Kenyan is not qualified to speak on this issue, especially on this country where the practice of democracy is far better than Kenya's.

"It is better if he criticises the UN's handling of Israel's brutality against Palestinians, or of Burma's cruelty to Rohingya Muslims. It can be argued than Malaysia is more democratic than the UN itself," he said in a statement today.

Kiai, (left) who is a lawyer and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association was in Malaysia last week on a familiarisation tour, including calling on Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar.

He told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview that Malaysia fails to meet international human rights standards because it was aimed at controlling rather than facilitating peaceful assemblies.

In addition, he said while organisers of rallies such as Bersih 3.0 are generally responsible for the rally, it is state's duty to ensure that the rally remains peaceful and stop agent provocateurs from disrupting it.

However, Syed Hassan's view (below,right) is that the PAA is uniquely suited for Malaysia's multiracial and multi-religious environment, and could not be compared with legislation elsewhere.

He said he believes that Kiai had been fed with one-sided information when he delivered his criticism and not reflecting the opinion of the majority of Malaysians.

"(However) Perkasa believes that even after Maina gets the answer of the Malaysian majority, his report would still be in the opposite. 

"The way he issues his statements makes it clear that he is also a foreign agent who wants to see our present government to fall in the upcoming general election," he said.