Coalition of Malaysian Non-Governmental Organizations (COMANGO)
Cases- Location of case in SG report
- 2014-028-001
- Relevant SG report
- Year of the report
- 2014
- From Country
- Country Geolocation
Latitude: 4.210484
Longitude: 101.975766
- Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
- Malaysia
- From Region
- UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
- UN (Dep.) High Commissioner on Human Rights
- Dates of prior UN action
- 10 January 2014; 22 January 2014
- Type of record
- Named organization
- Was the victim a foreign national?
- No
- Was the victim a minor?
- No
- Type of rights defended
- Unclear in SG Report
- Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
- No
- Reported trigger of reprisal
submissions for the universal periodic review of Malaysia
- Engagement with UN body
- UN Human Rights Council: UPR
- Dates of engagement
- Unclear
- Type of attempted engagement
- Submission of information to UN
- Dates of mentioned reprisals
- after 2 October 2013; November 2013; 8 January 2014
- Reprisal information
On 2 October 2013, COMANGO began to receive threats daily, including from government officials. In November 2013, Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia allegedly distributed 70,000 leaflets on the “masterminds” behind COMANGO which included their images, and announced that it would launch a nationwide campaign against them.
On 8 January 2014, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a press statement declaring COMANGO illegal.
- Types of reprisals suffered
- Administrative reprisal
- Defamation / Defamation campaign
- Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
- Alleged/likely perpetrators
- State actors
- Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
- No
- Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
- No
- Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
- No
- Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
- No
- Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
- No
- How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
- 1
- In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
- 2015
- Follow up information provided in SG report 0
2.The Coalition of Malaysian Non-Governmental Organizations was discussedin my previous report in relation to its engagement with the universal periodic reviewprocess of the country(A/HRC/27/38, para. 28). The Government of Malaysia by letter of 9 September 2014 reaffirmed its continuous support and commitment to the universal periodic reviewprocess and stated that all relevant stakeholders had been able to freely participate in Malaysia’s reviewwithout any restrictions. According to the Government, the allegations of the Coalition were“utterly baseless”(A/HRC/28/85, case MYS 1/2014).In its press statement issued on 8 January 2014, the Malaysian Secretary-General of the Ministry of Home Affairs had not declared the Coalition illegal or unlawful but ratherhighlighted that it was not registeredunder the Societies Act 1996. The Government confirmed that no investigation and judicial or other inquiries were carried out in relation to the Coalition as no report by or against the Coalition were lodged with the relevant authorities (ibid.). The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, in his report of 4 March 2015, while encouraged by the fact that the Coaltion was no longer considered illegal, reiterated his grave concern at the apparent acts of reprisal againstthem (A/HRC/28/63/Add.1, para. 280).
- Followup Trends 0
- Significant positive and negative developments
- Did the government respond? 0
- Yes
- Was this case followed up by a UN body? 0
- UN Special Procedures: Thematic