KUALA LUMPUR: The organising committee of the Women's March Malaysia (WMMY) 2023 today condemned the actions taken by the police towards its participants, speakers, organisers and observers.
It said the Notice 111 sent out to seven participants, speakers, and organisers of WMMY in the middle of the night marked a troubling precedent against democratic action under the newly-elected unity government.
"We recall and remind this current government of its long history of democratic actions and expressions and the use of public assembly and protests over the last several decades before it came to power.
"We are disheartened and disappointed at being penalised for exercising our democratic right to fight for a better Malaysia.
"Do we not deserve to express our thoughts, talk about the issues that plague the lives of one too many people, and ask for changes that will create the Malaysia Madani that the unity government wants," it said in a statement today.
It said Article 10 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution clearly states that every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression, and all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.
"The organisers took all the necessary steps to inform relevant authorities and follow the rules and regulations in place before the march."
The committee said Malaysia has an obligation as a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women to ensure the full protection of human rights for women and girls, including transgender people and sexual minorities.
"The heavy-handed reaction of the police against peaceful protesters at the Women's March will reflect badly on Malaysia's upcoming CEDAW review this year, shining light on the disproportionate use of police powers on a national and international level."
It said the police should desist from investigating and charging anyone merely for exercising the fundamental right to peacefully assemble, instead of allocating priority towards more pressing injustices raised during the march, such as child marriage, online and physical gender-based violence, and protecting groups facing marginalisation.
"This is a critical time for the newly elected government to show their commitment towards improving its human rights record by making it an obligation to assess the impact towards citizens' rights in peaceful assemblies.
"We urge the government to address the trust deficit of citizens towards our core institutions, and restore public confidence by acting on the accepted UN recommendation 151.147: revise the Peaceful Assembly Act to eliminate discrimination and hindrance to the freedom of association and peaceful assembly."
Yesterday, Dang Wangi district police chief, ACP Noor Dellhan Yahaya, said the police are investigating the assembly and march that took place in front of the Sogo Complex and Dataran Merdeka.
He said police had opened an investigation paper under Section 9 (5) of the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 and Section 14 of the Minor Offences Act 1995.
Noor Dellhan said the police were in the process of identifying all the individuals involved and would call them up to record their statements.