[APWW-Meet] PETITION FOR SEXUALITY RIGHTS IN MALAYSIA

[anisha susanna <anishasusanna@gmail.com>]

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An announcement list of the Asia Pacific Women Watch network
working for the advancement of the status of women.
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Dear friends,=20

RE: PETITION FOR SEXUALITY RIGHTS IN MALAYSIA

http://www.petitiononline.com/psrmsia/petition.html

We hope this e-mail finds you well and in good spirits. You will recall
that barely two months ago, Alina Rastam and Shanon Shah wrote and
disseminated a Letter to the Editor entitled "Don't Let Homophobia
Undermine Human Rights". We are pleased to report to you that we managed
to get more than 140 individual signatures and 2 organizational
endorsements within 24 hours of writing the letter. Even after
submission to the media, we kept getting signatures. The letter
eventually carried more than 200 signatures.=20
=20
The letter was carried by Malaysiakini the very next day. It was also
really encouraging that there were several other letters written in
defense of sexuality rights, written by Malaysians, published in both
the independent and government-linked press, like The Star.=20

We therefore felt that it was only logical to expand the framework of
our letter into a full-blown petition, calling for unconditional respect
of sexuality rights for all who live in Malaysia. We hope to get your
support again. Please sign onto the petition, and call on all your
friends and networks to sign on as well. We are hoping to collect as
many signatures as possible - 10,000 signatures? 100,000? 1,000,000?
This is where we will all play a part in this petition - within the next
couple of months, and then have a public event to launch it on  a
significant date this year. Could be any significant date between 25
November and 10 December, which commemorates the 16 Days of Activism
Against Gender Violence. 10 December is World Human Rights Day.=20

Our aim is simple - to get Malaysians from all walks of life, who abhor
all kinds of discrimination on the basis of sexuality and sexual
identity, to have a space to take a public stand in solidarity with each
other. The issue of sexuality is being used as bait by the State, the
leading political parties and several discriminatory organizations. As
we approach Merdeka and Malaysia Day celebrations on 31 August and 16
September, it is important for us to stress that we respect all kinds of
diversity in Malaysia, from racial, to religious, to political, to
sexual. If you believe and want to affirm this, please give this
petition your full support. It's about time we had our voices heard.=20

We do make one initial request though. This petition is an open
petition. Anyone from anywhere in the world can sign if they support it.
But, we'd like to especially focus on getting signatures from our fellow
Malaysians first. As citizens of a country where freedom of expression
and information is curtailed in so many areas - from the environment, to
violence against women, to political participation - it is imperative
that we show each other support and encouragement by making this a
Malaysian-led initiative. We welcome solidarity from around the world,
but we hope this point is understood in the best light.=20

Thank you for your support, and semoga kita sama-sama membina Malaysia
yang menghormati hak dan maruah kita semua!

Ikhlas,
Alina Rastam, Shanon Shah dan tan beng hui

Attached: The text of the petition

http://www.petitiononline.com/psrmsia/petition.html=20
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To:  The Malaysian Government=20
We, the undersigned, call upon the Malaysian Government to stop policing
the moral and sexual practices and behaviour of Malaysian citizens; and
violating the human rights of Malaysians by persecuting them for
engaging in behaviours such as cross-dressing and (for women) dressing
in 'unacceptable' ways; or sexual practices such as consensual anal and
oral sex.=20

There are a whole host of laws which are used by the State to control
and regulate the sexual and moral behaviours and practices of
Malaysians. These include:=20

* Section 377A of the Penal Code which defines sodomy (or anal
intercourse) and fellatio (oral sex) as 'unnatural offences'. Those
convicted of these acts - whether in consensual or non-consensual
situations - can be sentenced to up to 20 years jail and whipped.=20
* The Minor Offences Act which can be used against those whom the
authorities view as behaving "inappropriately" in public.=20
* Syariah laws which criminalise 'khalwat' (being in close proximity
with a person of the opposite sex who is not a relation) and 'zina'
(adultery); as well as cross-dressing and homosexual sex.=20

While we understand that some people disapprove of these acts or
behaviours, we believe that these are essentially matters of personal
conscience, and it should be left to the persons concerned to decide on
them for themselves. It is not the State's role to play moral guardian
to the people or to dictate to them how they should express their
sexuality.=20

There have been many instances in which the State has persecuted
Malaysians on the grounds of alleged sexual or moral misconduct. These
include:=20

* The 12-day jail term imposed on four women dancers at Zouk Nightclub
in 2004, who were charged with behaving inappropriately in public.=20
* The raid at Zouk Nightclub in 2005 where religious authorities rounded
up Muslim patrons and detained them at their headquarters for up to 10
hours on the grounds assessing whether they had flouted Islamic laws of
behaviour. The women patrons, for example, were forced to parade in
front of the religious officers, ostensibly so that the officers could
ascertain whether they were dressed appropriately according to Islamic
regulations.=20
* The persistent harassment of transsexuals and transvestites by the
police and religious officers. The case of Ayu, a male-to-female
transsexual who was seriously assaulted by state religious officers in
Malacca in 2007, to the point that she had to have emergency abdominal
operation, is an example of the brutality which members of this
community have been subjected to by the authorities. The recurrent raids
of functions and gatherings organized by transsexual communities also
constitute serious harassment.=20
* The arrest of politician Anwar Ibrahim in 1998 and 2008 on the charge
of sodomy.=20

We see such incidents as constituting a violation of human rights by the
State; and as being in direct contravention to international standards
such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that no
one should be discriminated against for any reason.=20

We stress that this issue is a larger one than that of 'gay rights.' The
laws on sodomy and fellatio, for example, means that heterosexuals who
engage in these practices can also be targeted, not just homosexuals.
And whether or not one is directly affected by these laws, the fact that
the State is violating the human rights of many citizens on the grounds
of sexual and moral misconduct should be of concern to all who support
social justice.=20

We call upon the Malaysian Government to:=20

* abolish all laws that criminalise sexual practices between consenting
adults.=20
* dismantle State institutions or initiatives that were established with
the purpose of regulating and monitoring people's sexual or moral
behaviour in consensual situations.=20
* cease all persecution of and discrimination against sexual minorities
such as homosexuals, bisexuals, intersexed, transsexuals and
transvestites, and transgendered people.=20

Initiated by:=20
Alina Rastam, Shanon Shah and tan beng hui=20





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