Malaysia has a serious human rights problem, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), which released a 100+ page report entitled \u201cNo Answers, No Apologies\u201d detailing abuses by Malaysian authorities. The report comes on the heels of\u00a0accounts that Malaysia arrested infants\u00a0from the country\u2019s minority Shia Muslim sect, based upon the \u201ccrime\u201d of engaging in Shia religious practices.<\/p>\n
International attention has been given to Malaysia after\u00a0Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing last month, and human rights watchdogs welcome the focus.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnjustified shootings, mistreatment and deaths in custody, and excessive use of force in dispersing public assemblies persist because of an absence of meaningful accountability for Malaysia\u2019s police force, the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP),\u201d says the HRW report.<\/p>\n
The human rights abuses are directed at all sectors of Malaysian society, however significant media attention has been drawn towards the plight of Shia Muslims in Malaysia, who are facing increased discrimination on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong the marginalized in Malaysia, there is a single group perhaps more marginalized than many. They are the people that Malaysia has forgotten. They are the Shia Muslims\u201d says Loyar Burok, a popular Malaysian blog. The article is entitled \u201cShia Muslims in Malaysia: A Cultural Genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n
The issue of anti Shia human rights abuses is slowly becoming endemic to the country\u2019s populace. On Reddit, on a discussion of human rights abuses in Malaysia, one user wrote \u201cIn Malaysia, Shia is considered deviant [\u2026] You also not allowed to form a group to practice your faith. Yes we are stern in protecting our faith and our children faith and to keep it pure from innovation. Regarding Allah words, it was the right move, because there were underground movement to spread confusion among muslim youth in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
When questioned about the morality of the behavior of the Malaysian government, the same user replied with a horrific account of conditions in Malaysia: \u201cThey were not oppressed, most probably they would end up in rehabilitation center to correct their faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last summer, government officials in the Malaysian state of Kedah announced their intention to curb Syiah (the Malaysian word for Shia Muslim) practices, authorities view as illegitimate.\u00a0Malaysian media reported\u00a0that elected officials said \u201cWhen the fatwa is [announced], it will be enforced immediately to ensure Muslims do not deviate from the true teachings of Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same official also expressed an interest in preventing Shia Muslims from exercising their funeral rights, and\u00a0Free Malaysia Today\u00a0reports he said \u201cIt is contrary to our usual practice as a Sunni Muslim. So, this is one of the things that is happening and we will try to avoid it from spreading.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malaysia\u2019s \u201cThe Sun Daily\u201d reported that a nearby state, Pahang, also banned Shia teachings \u201cbecause [Shia] teachings are different.\u201d<\/p>\n
The national government later also banned all Shia teachings, \u201cAll states have agreed that Syiah teachings should not be allowed in the country\u201d said Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom, a minister in the Prime Minister\u2019s Department, according to the Sun.\u00a0Earlier this year, an Imam was arrested and imprisoned for possessing books on Shia teachings.\u00a0In a startling incident, the deputy president of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party was\u00a0obligated to prove he had no ties to Shia Muslims, after he was accused of making positive remarks about Shia individuals.<\/p>\n
Another government official\u00a0complained that more was not being done to combat the religious belief set. \u201cSince the Syiah was gazetted as illegal by the National Fatwa Council in 1984 and 1997, not much enforcement was done,\u201d said Home Ministry Security and Public Order assistant secretary Zamihan Md Zain Al-Ghari according to the Sun.<\/p>\n
Other Malaysian media\u00a0was quoted as saying \u201cThose who practice [sic] Syiah will be severely dealt with, regardness [sic] of status or political ideology, and will not be accepted in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The campaign has not gone unnoticed by Middle Eastern countries and business leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn unofficial boycott of Malaysian goods by Iranian businessmen has left rubber products worth some RM2 million lying in a warehouse in the Middle East nation, a backlash against Umno\u2019s recent anti-Shia campaign,\u201d reported The Malaysian Insider.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the anti-Shia campaign in Malaysia last year, Iranian businessmen refused to buy Malaysian-made products,\u201d said one individual to the paper.<\/p>\n
Malaysian leaders have refused to back down in the face of economic ruin, and Mufti Datuk Wan Zahidi Wan Teh told the Malaysian paper Berita Harian that \u201cShiism could be regarded as a \u2018poison\u2019 that can destroy the harmony and security of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mufti made the remarks at a conference held in Malaysia\u2019s capital entitled \u201cFacing the Shia Virus.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Human Rights Report features a 7 page section on recommendations the country can take to halt police abuses, however stopped shy of recommendations on other pervasive human rights abuses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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