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46000 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Telephone: +6 03 7784 3525 Fax: +6 03 7784 3526
Email: suaram@suaram.net Web: http://www.suaram.net/
Urgent appeal: 9 December 2007
Continued Assault on Freedom of Assembly:
8 Arrested in Lawyers-organised Human Rights Day March
The government¡¯s all-out assault on freedom of assembly continued this morning, during a march organised by a group of lawyers, when eight individuals were arrested. The march, held to mark the International Human Rights Day on 10 December 2007, was intended to start from the Sogo department store to Central Market, was stopped at a halfway point by the police.
At that point, the organisers tried to negotiate with the police to allow them to finish the march.
When negotiations failed, the police arrested seven individuals at Jalan Tun Perak, despite the organisers¡¯ and participants¡¯ willingness to cooperate. Those arrested have been taken to the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.
In addition to the seven, one more individual was arrested in front of Bar Council building, making the total arrests so far eight.
The eight arrested are:
Sivarasa Rasiah (Arrested at Jalan Tun Perak)
N. Surendran (Arrested at Jalan Tun Perak)
Amer Hamzah (Arrested at Jalan Tun Perak)
Eric Paulsen (Arrested at Jalan Tun Perak)
Anthony Andu (Arrested at Jalan Tun Perak)
Noorazah Othman (Arrested at Jalan Tun Perak)
Latheefa Koya (Arrested at Jalan Tun Perak)
One individual arrested in front of Bar Council building
Yesterday, the police gave a warning to the public not to attend the march as no permit has been issued for the gathering. This fresh round of arrests and attack on peaceful assemblies came only in a matter of days after the government had threatened the use of ISA on the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), which organised a massive rally two weeks ago.
SUARAM strongly condemns the government and police¡¯s continued assault on freedom of assembly. We demand that all arrested be released immediately and unconditionally.
We strongly urge the government to stop intimidating the public by pressing charges against participants in assemblies and demonstrations, and deplore its repeated threats to use the ISA.
Actions needed Please write protest letters to the government and the police to register your strongest condemnation and outrage on the latest arrests and the continued assault by the government on freedom of assemblies, and demand that all arrested be released immediately and unconditionally.
Your protest letters should be sent to:
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Dato¡¯ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Prime Minister's Office Malaysia
Perdana Putra Building,
Federal Government Administrative Centre,
62502 PUTRAJAYA,Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel: + 60 3 8888 6000 Fax: + 60 3 8888 3444
Inspector-General of Police
Tan Sri Musa Hassan
Ibu Pejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia,
50560 Bukit Aman,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-22626015Fax: 03-22725613
_________________
SAMPLE LETTER
[Letterhead of your organisation]
Prime Minister of Malaysia
Dato¡¯ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Prime Minister's Office Malaysia
Perdana Putra Building,
Federal Government Administrative Centre,
62502 PUTRAJAYA,Selangor, Malaysia.
Tel: + 60 3 8888 6000 Fax: + 60 3 8888 3444
Dear Sir,
Re: Continued Assault on Freedom of Assembly - 8 Arrested in Lawyers¡¯ March
We are writing to express our outrage over your government¡¯s latest round of assault on the freedom of assembly.
On 9 December 2007, eight individuals were arrested by the police for attending a peaceful march intended to celebrate the International Human Rights Day, a day celebrated across the globe, including United Nations.
We question the need to resort to such actions, especially when the organisers of this peaceful march had tried to negotiate and shown willingness to cooperate with the police.
We view this as yet another attempt by your government to intimidate Malaysian citizens from participating in any form of public assembly.
We demand that all those arrested be released immediately and unconditionally. We further demand that your government stop the assault on freedom of assembly.
We condemn the repeated threats to use the ISA and the ridiculous charges pressed against demonstrators recently. We strongly urge you to stop shaming Malaysia, a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
We would like to remind you that freedom of assembly is guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.
Yours sincerely, [Name]
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