CASE N° MAL/11 - LIM GUAN ENG - MALAYSIA

Resolution adopted without a vote* by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 164th session (Brussels, 16 April 1999)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of the case, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/164/13(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 163rd session (September 1998) concerning the case of Mr. Lim Guan Eng, a member of the House of Representatives of Malaysia, whereby it requested the Committee to carry out an on-site mission to " gather further information directly from the authorities, the parliamentarian concerned and his lawyers " and to act in support of a full pardon for Mr. Lim Guan Eng,

Recalling that the Malaysian delegation at the Moscow Conference (September 1998) had expressed support for such a mission, stating that an IPU delegation would be most welcome in Malaysia and not restricted as to whom it met,

Recalling further that the Malaysian National Group was fully informed and aware of IPU's strict rule requiring the Organisation's human rights missions " to ensure that no witnesses are present during its contacts with the parliamentarian(s) whose situation is the subject of the mission ... ",

Having studied the report of the mission (30 November to 2 December 1998) revealing that the delegation was unable to visit Mr. Lim Guan Eng in the absence of a prison official and was unable to meet a number of authorities with whom it had requested appointments,

Considering the observations made at the hearing with the Committee on the occasion of the 101st Inter-Parliamentary Conference (Brussels, April 1999) by the Malaysian delegation, led by the Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, and the written observations it submitted regarding this matter,

Noting that there are considerable discrepancies in the information supplied by Mr. Lim Guan Eng's family, party and lawyers and the authorities regarding the conditions of Mr. Lim Guan Eng's imprisonment and state of health:

(i) whereas the authorities affirm that Mr. Lim Guan Eng's health does not give rise to any concern and that he has only lost 3 kilos during his detention, his family affirms that he is suffering from ailments which he never had before (severe backache and migraine and inflammation of the nose) and has lost 10 kilos, explaining the difference by the existence of two weighing machines in prison, one in the prison hospital and the other in the prison record office,

(ii) whereas the authorities affirm that he receives preferential treatment and is kept in a single cell, his family states that in the Asingan Security Block where Mr. Lim Guan Eng is jailed, 25 cells are at present occupied of which only two accommodate more than one prisoner, all the others being kept in single cells like Mr. Lim Guan Eng,

Considering that Mr. Lim Guan Eng petitioned both the Governor of Malacca and H.M. the King for full pardon giving him a clean slate, which they turned down respectively 21 March and 10 April 1999 and that, as a result, Mr. Lim Guan Eng has now lost his parliamentary status; considering that, according to the sources, the Pardon Board, on whose advice the Governor of Malacca and H.M. the King must act, was biased as it comprised the Attorney General, who had not delegated his membership in the Board as he may do and since all other members, according to the source, as members of parties allied with the ruling United Malay National Organisation Party (UMNO), had a vested partisan interest in " finishing off " Mr. Lim Guan Eng, as his party had held the Malacca town parliamentary seat without interruption for the past 30 years,

Considering that Mr. Lim Guan Eng may be granted a one-third reduction of his prison sentence for good conduct, in which case he would be released from prison in August 1999,

Considering also that Mr. Lim Guan Eng will remain deprived of his civic rights for five years, such period commencing on the date of his release from prison,

1. Wishes to thank the Malaysian delegation and in particular the Deputy Home Minister for his expression of concern at the way in which the mission had taken place, and accepts the apology offered by the delegation;
2. Notes with deep concern the conflicting accounts of Mr. Lim Guan Eng's state of health and conditions of imprisonment given by Mr. Lim Guan Eng's party and family on the one hand, and by the Deputy Home Minister on the other, and can but be all the more concerned that the mission was prevented from gathering independent information on his conditions of imprisonment and state of health;
3. Reiterates its firm conviction that, in making the alleged statements deemed offensive, Mr. Lim Guan Eng was merely exercising his right to freedom of speech and function of oversight of the Executive, which would be meaningless if it did not include the right to scrutinise the administration of justice; affirms that, in exercising their oversight function, parliamentarians are essential actors in the promotion and protection of human rights; remains therefore deeply concerned at the harshness of the judgment and the limits it sets on freedom of speech and on the right and duty of the people's elected representatives to exercise their essential function of oversight of the Executive;
4. Is deeply saddened that Mr. Lim Guan Eng's petition for pardon for which the Inter-Parliamentary Union had expressed its strong support was turned down and that he has thus lost his parliamentary mandate and his right to stand for election;
5. Expresses the hope that this decision may be reconsidered and appeals to the Malaysian Parliament to make every effort to this end;
6. Requests the Secretary General to convey this decision to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to the Chairman of the Malaysian IPU Group and all other competent authorities;
7. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining the case and report to it at its next session (October 1999).

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