The Government as a Member-State of the UN and the Human Rights Council must fulfil its commitments by ensuring that Malaysia’s laws are in line with the international human rights principles. The Commission have conducted relevant training for law enforcement agencies with the view to enable the officers to fulfil, promote and protect human rights in Malaysia.

To date, the following 5 law enforcement agencies have participated in SUHAKAM’s human rights training programmes:

  • Royal Malaysia Police (RMP)

The Royal Malaysian Police (RMP) is the main frontliner that protect human rights. They hold great responsibility for maintaining law and order as well as peace and security in Malaysia. Since 2002, the Commission in collaboration with the Training Division of RMP have been conducting various training programs for RMP officials,  aimed at expanding the expertise of RMP officials in the field of human rights through sharing of information on police standard and international human rights.

These training programmes also discussed policy, facilities and safety requirements constraints, as well as contemporary security challenges faced by RMP which can complicate the protection and respect for human rights in law enforcement. The training also considered areas that may be improved to strenghten human rights practices among officials, as well as encourage the empowerment of human rights in policing work.

RMP also periodically invites the Commission to deliver human rights briefings to new recruits and RMP officers at the RMP training institute. A collaboration is on-going to develop the Human Rights Module for PDRM to be used by the RMP trainers in their training later.

  • Malaysian Prison Department

The Malaysian Prison Department has a huge role in fulfilling and protecting human rights, particularly for prisoners who are currently undergoing sentence and detention in prisons. Recognizing its importance, starting in 2005, the Commission collaborated with the Malaysian Prison Department to conduct various training programs including Human Rights Workshop for Record Officers and Medical Practitioners working in prisons.

The objectives of the training programmes were to provide exposure to international human rights standards regarding the treatment of prisoners and its relevance with the Prisons Regulations 2000, the need to respect basic rights of prisoners, particularly women inmates, juveniles, inmates with health issues and other vulnerable groups; as well as to provide a platform for officials to discuss challenges they faced in fulfilling their human rights obligations in prison.

The Commission is frequently invited to provide briefing to new recruits at the Prison Training Center, besides working closely to develop a Human Rights and Prison Module to be used in the Malaysian Prison Department training programmes.

  • Malaysian Immigration Department

Following efforts taken by the Commission to address issues of treatment to migrant detainees particularly in immigration detention centre (IDC) since 2018, the Commission had introduced human rights training programme to senior officials and officers of Malaysian Immigration Department (JIM). The Commission had also collaborated with the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to host a series of “Human Rights Workshops: Immigration Detention Monitoring” for JIM officials working in IDCs in Malaysia. The purpose was to provide information and clear understanding about international human rights standards regarding detention and the differences between refugees, asylum seekers, stateless and illegal immigrants.

  • National Anti-Drug Agency (NADA)

The National Anti-Drug Agency (NADA) is the enforcement agency responsible for addressing the misuse of drugs in Malaysia. In carrying out enforcement work which relates to humans, there are several human rights aspects that should be taken into account. Since 2018, the Commission began conducting human rights training for NADA’s officials at the Cure & Care Rehabilitation Center (CCRC), Cure & Care Vocational Center (CCVC) and Cure & Care Clinic (C&C) throughout Malaysia. Subsequently, the Commission began extending human rights training programmes to NADA enforcement officials at State and District levels according to zones.

In general, the training programme provided a platform for the Commission and NADA to exchange ideas and discuss issues related to human rights and NADA including  arrest and detention, as well as challenges faced by NADA officials that can complicate the implementation of human rights in their daily tasks.

  • Local Authorities

The Commission collaborated with the PBT Training Center to organise various human rights training programs for the PBT Enforcement Officers of several states, including Perak, Selangor, Penang and Kuala Lumpur since 2011. Some of the key aspects highlighted in these training programmes include Person with Disability (PWD) rights and access to public facilities,  complaints related to local authorities, international human rights standards and human rights in the Federal Constitution, as well as the rights of law enforcement officials. These sharing sessions aimed at ensuring that the human rights principles are observed in local authority’s daily work. Target groups for these training programmes were officials of the local authority of various departments and units.

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