This item has been updated since initial publication.
The Malaysian Bar notes that the Government of Malaysia has withdrawn its appeal against the High Court’s ruling granting the family of Koh Keng Joo (“Raymond Koh”) access to the Cabinet Special Task Force Report on his enforced disappearance, and the Court of Appeal’s award of legal costs to the family.1
It has been seven years since the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (“SUHAKAM”) issued its Final Decision on the Public Inquiry into the disappearance of Raymond Koh.2 SUHAKAM found that this was a case of enforced disappearance by State Actors.
Enforced Disappearances violate practically every article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”).3 At the 80th Annual General Meeting, with regard to the enforced disappearances of Raymond Koh, Amri Che Mat, Joshua Hilmy and Ruth Sitepu, the Malaysian Bar unanimously adopted the “Resolution to Condemn Enforced Disappearances and to Urge Legal Reforms to Prevent and Address Enforced Disappearance in Malaysia”,4 condemning enforced disappearances as a grave violation of fundamental human rights that causes lasting and unjust harm to victims and their families, and urged the Government of Malaysia to:
(1) take immediate and concrete steps to fully, transparently and effectively investigate the enforced disappearances of the four individuals, to disclose the truth regarding their fate and whereabouts, to ensure accountability of all those responsible, and to provide their families with access to truth, justice and effective remedies;
(2) immediately accede and unreservedly become a state party to, the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (“ICPPED”);
(3) enact laws to expressly and adequately criminalise enforced disappearances in accordance with international standards; and
(4) ensure that all allegations of enforced disappearances are promptly, impartially, independently and effectively investigated; and that those responsible, regardless of rank or position, are prosecuted and punished in accordance with the law.
The Malaysian Bar hopes that the families of Raymond Koh, Amri Che Mat, Joshua Hilmy and Ruth Sitepu will obtain the answers they have long been waiting for, immediately. The agony of not knowing is an unwarranted and inhumane punishment inflicted upon the families.
Anand Raj
President
Malaysian Bar
3 April 2026
1 “Government withdraws appeal on Pastor Koh report; court awards RM15,000 costs to family”, Malay Mail, 1 April 2026.
2 “Keputusan Muktamad Siasatan Awam ke atas Kehilangan Pastor Raymond Koh”, Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia, 2020.
3 Message from Steven Thiru, President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, on the Occasion of Human Rights Day 2025 | “Human Dignity Denied: Enforced Disappearance and the Rule of Law”, Commonwealth Lawyers Association website, 10 December 2025.
4 Resolutions adopted at the 80th Annual General Meeting of the Malaysian Bar, Malaysian Bar website, 14 March 2026.