IN the past seven years, I have come to understand an important detail in the debate on human rights: that human rights issues become political footballs to score points for one faction against another, to grandstand, demonise, used for leverage and coercion.
This I suppose is inevitable. Most international human rights organisations are Western-based and funded, from governmental and private sector donors.
We relied on them to speak out against injustices in the developing world, but we learnt to be suspicious of their motives, as their recommendations often amount to trying to reshape our societies in their image.
When I established the Centre for Human Rights Research and Advocacy (CENTHRA) in 2014, I wanted to build an organisation that would provide Malaysia with its own voice on human rights.
Since then, CENTHRA has stood up for an interpretation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Cairo Declaration on Human Rights and Asean Human Rights Declaration closer to be understood from their original source, i.e. the religion of Islam, and one that aligns with the culture and beliefs of our country.
We have been tireless advocates against undue influence of Western political agendas that can creep into the UN's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, which assesses the progress of member nations on rights issues.
One agenda we resisted is the blatant attempt to force Malaysia to implement Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual legislation and policies that run counter to our beliefs and teachings as well as helped push recognition of the religious rights of the LGBT community.
We also called the attention of the UPR to the widespread practice of prohibiting Muslim women from donning the hijab at the workplace, as well as restriction of the right of Muslim men to attend prayers on Friday at the mosque.
CENTHRA insists that every UDHR signatory has the sovereignty and the right to fulfil obligations through their own legislation, in accordance with the needs of society and on the basis of real-world outcomes on the ground.
The UPR must not be used as an instrument to coerce obedience to Western interpretations of human rights issues. We called for balanced and culturally sensitive approaches to controversial causes, such as the LGBT movement, Western campaigns against female genital mutilation, and misrepresentation of the role of syariah courts and legislation.
CENTHRA was an active voice against the genocide of Rohingya in Myanmar, and advocated fair treatment and empowerment of refugees as well as the rights of immigrant workers, farmers, women, orphans and the poor.
We have sought to articulate a stance on religious tolerance that reflects the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, upholding the freedom of all faith communities to practise their religion without discrimination, or interference. We shunned extremism, whether religious or secular.
This was evident during our involvement in the Permanent People's Tribunal on Myanmar in 2017 when we collected from Rohingya refugees in Malaysia first-hand accounts of the brutality they faced at the hands of the Aung San Suu Kyi-led regime.
Another is promoting the rights of the downtrodden in Palestine. We have spoken out against the Donald Trump administration's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and ongoing genocidal policies against Palestinians, whether under the previous Benjamin Netanyahu Israeli government or the current one of Naftali Bennett.
We joined attempts by civil society movements to indict Israel for war crimes before the International Criminal Court, and also assisted another Malaysian non-governmental organisation, MyAqsa Foundation, to submit on Palestine before the ICC as an amicus curie of the ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber. CENTHRA remains determined to deliver justice for Palestine.
It is not easy to be in the moderate, rational middle. But, we are committed to the interests of the nation, to the consensus between the extremes, which is where most Malaysians stand.
CENTHRA believes, and has proven, that Malaysians do not need to rely on others to identify social ills, defend our rights or teach us how to be fair and humane. We are a mature nation, compassionate and refined people. No one cares about our society more than we do.
We had a tradition of caring for and defending one another, eschewing corruption and oppression, upholding the rights of man as contained in Islam as well as various eastern religions and philosophies, such as Confucianism and Buddhism, long before Westerners appointed themselves as the standard bearers of human rights. And CENTHRA is carrying on that tradition.
The writer is founder and chief executive, CENTHRA
