By Gwen Manickam
KUALA LUMPUR — A webinar on The Protection and Promotion of Children’s Rights was hosted by the Professional Standards Office (PSO) of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur’s Committee for Child Protection (CCP) on Aug 14.
The day’s speaker was Suhakam’s first Commissioner for Children (CC) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Law lecturer Prof Datuk Noor Aziah Mohd Awal. The CC’s main role is to protect and promote human rights of all children under 18 throughout Malaysia, regardless of their status. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner (OCC), Human Rights Commission of Malaysia is an independent office responsible for empowering and protecting the rights of children as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Prof Datuk Noor Aziah has more than 25 years of experience in human rights law, especially relating to women and children. She said the CRC has 54 articles, of which the four main principles are: Non-discrimination (article two), whereby every child must have the same rights to develop their potential, the best interest of the child (article three) must be the primary consideration in all actions, the right to survival and development (article six) which underscores the vital importance of ensuring access to basic services and equal opportunity to achieve full potential, and the views of the child must be heard and respected on all matters concerning his or her rights (article seven).
When signing the CRC, Malaysia chose to reserve articles two and seven. Article two, which is one of the core principles of CRC, states, as mentioned above, that parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the child is protected against all forms of discrimination. However, article 12, on the child’s right to education, has been amended to state every citizen instead of every person, thus many children continue to be discriminated against in their right to education.
The reservation of article seven, which states that a child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to be cared for by his or her parents, has led many children (born to Malaysians or foreigners) to be stateless here.
Twenty-six years after acceding to the CRC, in addition to reserving the above two articles, Malaysia continues to retain its reservation of Articles 14 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion), Article 28 (1a) (free and compulsory education at primary level), and Article 37 (prohibition of torture and arbitrary deprivation of liberty).
“These reservations are some of the greatest challenges faced in promoting and protecting a child’s rights. When the government is asked why these reservations are still maintained, the blanket answer is that it conflicts with our Federal Constitution (FC) or with Islamic Law. To me, this is an easy way out instead of saying we are not able to fulfil certain things,” said the author of five books.
“We are always reminded that we have our Fundamental Liberties under the FC such as Liberty of the person (article five), Slavery and forced labour (article six), Equality, and now the word gender is added to it (article eight), Freedom of religion which must be read with article three of the FC and several others. However, if we already have all these protections in place within our constitution, I don’t understand why the reservations are still in place as the courts cannot implement anything contrary to the constitution.”
Thus far, the national policies and laws relating to child protection in the country include the Child Act 2001 which was amended in 2016, Domestic Violence Act 1994, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and AntiSmuggling of Migrants Act 2007, Evidence of Child Witness Act 2007, and Sexual Offences against Children Act 2017.
Some primary concerns regarding the Protection and Promotion of Children’s Rights in Malaysia are the discrimination of children, stateless children, children in medical care, child marriages, children in detention centres, violence against children, mental health issues, and online exploitation of children.
To view this webinar, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQi0D7aGDW0&t=898s
