• Home
  • News
    • Press Statements
    • Speeches
    • Bar News
    • AGMs and EGMs
    • In Memoriam
    • Legal and General News
    • Court Judgments
  • Members
    • Circulars
    • Sijil Annual and Payments
    • Benefits
    • Peer Support Network
    • Practice Management
    • Professional Development
    • Opportunities for Practice
    • Mentor-Mentee Programmes
    • Laws, BC Rulings and Practice Directions
    • Resources
    • Become a Member
  • Find
    • Legal Directories
    • BC Legal Aid Centres
    • State Bar Committees
    • Law Firms | Areas of Practice
    • Jobs
    • Useful forms
  • About Us
    • Malaysian Bar and Bar Council
    • President's Corner
    • Committees
    • Previous Committees
    • Contacts
    • Advertising
  • Public
    • Complaints
    • Legal Aid
    • Notices
    • Compensation Fund
  • Search
  • Login
Search for

New login method: If first-time login, the password is your NRIC No. Call 20502191 for help.

 
Lost your password? Remember Me

 
No User ID/Password for firm? Click here for more information. Forgot Firm Username/Password?

Set a new password

If you have lost your password, you must set a new password. To begin this process, please key in your 12-digit NRIC No. below.

Forgot Firm Username/ Password?

Please enter name of firm or registered email address, indicate whether you want to retrieve your firm's username or password, and click "Submit".

Username Password
 
Access to Member Portal

Please key in your membership number, and click "GO"

BC
Resume Practice Request

Please key in your membership number, and click "GO"

BC
Newly-Called Request

Please key in your pupil code, and click "Submit"

Pupil Code

Change Password


Please enter your Password and Confirm Password then click on the Change Password button.
You will receive a new password shortly. Use this new password to access the site.

Password:
Confirm Password:
 
Change Password


Shortcut
  • Legal Directory
  • Find a Job
  • CPD
  • Online Shop
  • e-Library
  • Payments
  • Complaints
  • Committees

Search the site

  • Search Me
Member Login
  • BC Online Facilities
  • Login Type 2
  • Login Type 3
  • Login Type 4
  • News
  • Press Statements
  • Press Statements
News
Press Statements
  • Press Statements
Speeches
  • Speeches
Bar News
  • Notices
  • News
AGMs and EGMs
  • Resolutions
In Memoriam
  • In Memoriam
Legal and General News
  • General News
  • Members' Opinions
  • Legal News
Court Judgments
  • Judgments
  • Go back to list
Press Release | The Malaysian Government Must Uphold Provisions of International and Domestic Law 15 Feb 2018 12:56 pm

The Malaysian Bar calls upon the Malaysian Government to adhere to principles of international law, specifically the customary international law of non–refoulement, and refrain from sending 11 Uighurs reportedly in Malaysian custody back to China.

According to both foreign and local news reports, the 11 Uighurs currently in Malaysian custody are part of a group of 20 that escaped from a Thai detention camp in November 2017.  They had been detained in Thailand for immigration–related offences, having fled Xinjiang due to fears for their safety, and were heading for Turkey.

The Uighurs, who are predominantly Muslim, rebelled against Chinese Government rule in their native Xinjiang Province in July 2009.  The Chinese Government views Uighurs as terrorists, agitating against Chinese rule over their province.

The Malaysian Bar calls upon the Malaysian Government not to repeat the incident in August 2011 when it returned to China 11 Uighurs who were residing in Malaysia, including some who were registered as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Kuala Lumpur.  The fate of those 11 persons is not known.  

The Malaysian Government’s record on respecting international law leaves much to be desired.  Apart from the 11 Uighurs deported to China in August 2011, the Malaysian Government also forcibly detained three Turkish nationals in May 2017 and returned them to Turkey at the request of the Turkish Government, which alleged that these persons had some connection with the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016.  Their fate is also unknown.  In February 2012, the Malaysian Government detained Saudi Arabian journalist Hamza Kashgari and returned him to Saudi Arabia at the request of the Saudi Arabian Government over a tweet he had posted that was allegedly insulting of Prophet Muhammad.  This was despite a Malaysian court order preventing his deportation having been obtained.  Kashgari spent 20 months in jail in Saudi Arabia for blasphemy. 

The possible deportation of the 11 Uighurs back to China raises grave concerns whether the Malaysian Government will “refoule” potential refugees or asylum seekers in violation of international law.  The Malaysian Government must not abdicate or ignore its legal and moral obligation not to deport individuals to situations where their very lives may be in serious jeopardy.

Although China and Malaysia signed a treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters in November 2015, under Section 8 of our Extradition Act 1992 there are prohibitions against extradition in certain circumstances, including:

(1) if the offence in respect of which [an individual’s] return is sought is of a political character or he proves to the Minister that the warrant for his return has in fact been made with a view to try or punish him for an offence of a political character;

(2) if the request for his surrender although purporting to be made for an extradition offence was in fact made for the purpose of prosecuting or punishing the person on account of his race, religion, nationality or political opinions; or

(3) if he might be prejudiced at his trial or punished or imprisoned by reason of his race, religion, nationality or political opinions.
 
The Malaysian Bar cautions the Malaysian Government not to dismiss due consideration of these provisions.  The Malaysian Government cannot simply hide behind the reason of international cooperation in the fight against terrorism, as an excuse to deport the Uighurs back to China.  Other potential factors — such as the massive amount of China’s foreign investment in Malaysia — should also play no role. 

The Malaysian Bar calls on the Malaysian Government, as a responsible member of the international community, to honour, respect and uphold the rules and customs of international law, and the provisions of Malaysian law, and not deport the 11 Uighurs back to China.


George Varughese  
President
Malaysian Bar

15 February 2018

© Copyright Reserved 2023. Bar Council Malaysia.
 

I'm a

 
 
 
 
 

I'm a