Mar 27, 2018 | News
The ICJ and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) today urged Malaysia’s Parliament not to pass the Anti-Fake News Bill 2018.
The two organizations are concerned that the bill will unduly limit freedom of opinion or expression in Malaysia, and could be used to suppress legitimate criticism of the government.
“The bill is flawed in its design and will be open to abuse by the Malaysian government which maintains a poor track record in upholding freedom of expression,” said Sevan Doraisamy, SUARAM’s Executive Director.
“The term ‘fake news’ is in itself problematic. It is defined in an overbroad manner in the draft law, and therefore vulnerable to arbitrary interpretation and enforcement,” said Emerlynne Gil, ICJ’s Senior International Legal Adviser.
“Given past experience in Malaysia, it is highly likely to be used to suppress legitimate criticism of the government on matters of opinion or where the facts are contested,” she added.
The right to freedom of opinion and expression is guaranteed by the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The bill makes no provision for exceptions or defences such as honest mistake, parody, artistic merit, or public interest. The bill would allow up to ten years imprisonment.
“The penalties are wildly disproportionate,” said Gil. “Indeed, under international standards, imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty for such offences.”
On 3 March 2017, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, together with his counterparts from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), issued a joint declaration on ‘fake news’, disinformation, and propaganda.
The joint declaration emphasized that “the human right to impart information and ideas is not limited to ‘correct’ statements, that the right to also protects information and ideas that may shock, offend and disturb.”
It also said that “general prohibitions on the dissemination of information based on vague and ambiguous ideas, including ‘false news’ or ‘non-objective information’ are incompatible with international standards for restrictions on freedom of expression.”
The ICJ and SUARAM also note that the timing and the lack of transparent consultation on how it was developed raise concerns about the government’s motivation behind the introduction of this bill.
The bill has been introduced during the final days of Parliament sitting and is expected to be voted on within this week, leaving little time for deliberation or consultation.
“Allowing this bill to be passed would only serve as an affront to democratic values. It will be another strike on Malaysia’s already shoddy human rights record,” Doraisamy said.
“Adopting a law that would unduly limit the right to freedom of opinion and expression is not the optimal way to counter disinformation and propaganda,” said Gil.
“The best way is to disseminate accurate information and to make such information accessible to everyone,” she added.
The ICJ and SUARAM strongly urge the Malaysian parliament not to pass the Anti-Fake News Bill 2018 and uphold the right to freedom of opinion and expression in the country.
Contact
Emerlynne Gil, Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia of ICJ, t: + 662 619 8477 (ext. 206) ; e: emerlynne.gil@icj.org
Background
The Anti-Fake News Bill 2018 has been tabled for first reading at the Malaysian Parliament on 26 March 2018 and may be voted on this week or early next week.
The bill defines ‘fake news’, without any defences or exceptions, as including “any news, information, data and reports” which are “wholly or partly false”.
Furthermore, the bill states that ‘fake news’ may be “in the form of features, visuals or audio recordings or in any other form capable of suggesting words or ideas.”
If passed, any person may be subject to a penalty of up to ten (10) years imprisonment and/or a fine amounting to MYR 500,000 (approximately USD 127,681) if convicted of knowingly creating, offering, publishing, printing, distributing, circulating, or disseminating any ‘fake news’ or publication of ‘fake news’.
The bill also seeks to penalize both Malaysians and foreigners alike, even if they are outside of Malaysia, as long as the fake news concerns Malaysia or a Malaysian citizen.
Mar 27, 2018 | Advocacy, News
Today, the ICJ testified before the Canadian House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights on the human rights and rule of law crisis in Cambodia.
Kingsley Abbott, ICJ Senior International Legal Adviser, addressed the Subcommittee on two key issues:
- The misuse of the law in Cambodia under the pretext of the “Rule of Law”; and
- The lack of an independent and impartial judiciary.
Other witnesses were former members of the Cambodian Parliament for the main opposition party, the CNRP, before its dissolution in November 2017, Mu Sochua and Kong Sophea.
Kingsley Abbott also requested that the ICJ’s October 2017 Baseline Study on the state of the rule of law and human rights in Cambodia be added to the record.
Contact:
Kingsley Abbott, ICJ Senior International Legal Adviser for Southeast Asia, e: kingsley.abbott(a)icj.org
Thailand-SDIR-Statement-ABBOTT-Advocacy-2018-ENG (Full opening statement ENG, PDF)
Mar 22, 2018 | News
The ICJ and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) of Zimbabwe, are convening a three-day Orientation Workshop for newly appointed judges.
It is held until 24 March at Troutbeck Inn, Nyanga.
The workshop is the fourth such meeting that the ICJ and the JSC have convened with the support of the European Union.
The training provides a useful bridge for the new appointees as they transition from the bar to the bench.
The topics covered during the training include judgement writing, court procedure and decorum, substantive law, judicial independence and issues of integrity on the bench.
The Hon. Judge President Chiweshe in his opening remarks stated that the objectives of the workshop are to familiarize incoming judges with their new work environment and to acquaint them with the specific divisions of that court.
This is to prepare them for the full assumptions of work in the judiciary. Justice Chiweshe noted that each division, criminal, civil and family law, will expose the judges to its own activities, guided by the judge from that division.
After the training the hope is that the judges will be deployed to their respective regions and stations fully acquitted with the tasks before them and can dispense justice diligently, impartially, fairly, without fear, favour or promise.
In attendance at the first day of the workshop were 17 judges (four female and thirteen male).
Mar 22, 2018 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
Today, the ICJ together with Forum for Human Rights submitted written information to the Committee against Torture ahead of its examination of the periodic report of the Czech Republic.
The two organisations argue that the Czech Republic violates Articles 2, 14 and 16 of the Convention Against Torture, by not ensuring access to a lawyer for children below the age of 15 (the age of criminal responsibility) in the pre-trial stage of juvenile justice proceedings.
1273 children younger than 15 were part of these pre-trial stage proceedings in the Czech Republic in 2017 without access to procedural guarantees, including legal counsel, unlike children aged 15-18 have under national legislation.
Children below the age of criminal responsibility do not benefit from such procedural rights and therefore, during the police questioning, they are typically left without any legal assistance and presence of a lawyer who neither can deter the police from resorting to ill-treatment or other abuses, nor work as a protection for police officers in case they face unfounded allegations of ill-treatment.
This situation constitutes a violation of the obligation to prevent torture or acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which do not amount to torture under Articles 2 and 16 of the CAT. Additionally, the Czech Republic fails to ensure access legal counsel for the purposes of an effective remedy under Article 14 of the CAT.
The joint submission aims to inform the 63rd session of the Committee Against Torture in April-May 2018 during which the Sixth periodic report of the Czech Republic will be examined.
Read the full joint submission here:
Czech-Republic-Joint-writteninformation- against-torture-2018-ENG (Full text in ENG, PDF)
Mar 22, 2018 | News
The ICJ has been awarded a grant from the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Mexico to continue its work in the area of independence of the judiciary in Guatemala.
This initiative titled “Strengthening the rule of law in Guatemala, Phase II” aims to strengthen domestic compliance with, and implementation of, international standards providing for judicial independence through the training of judges, raising awareness on this topic, as well as providing support to judges at risk.
The ICJ will be working together with the Mayan Association of Lawyers and Notaires of Guatemala as a partner in this action, through a sub grant of 1,622,801 NOK.
Guatemala-Grant Agreement with Norway-2018-ENG (full grant agreement, in PDF)
