Verdict against Irene Fernandez: An Attack against Human rights Defenders
According to APWLD (Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development) sources, on 16 October 2003 a human rights defender of Malaysia namely Irene Fernandez was sentenced to twelve months imprisonment by the state Court. The verdict was pronounced following an allegation of her publishing an investigative report against the inhuman torture conducted by the Malaysian government upon the migrant workers. Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) resolutely condemns as well as denounces in the strongest terms such oppressive actions of torture and ill treatment.

It is to mention that Irene Fernandez is the Executive Director of "Tenaganita", a human rights organization based in Malaysia. Apart from working on women's empowerment, this organization also works on various human rights issues of migrant workers in Malaysia. While working on the issue of migrant workers, the problems of Bangladeshi workers working there came to their knowledge. They interviewed 340 ex-detainees who were being held in custody in different detention camps of Malaysia. These former detainees shared the painful experience of inhuman torture and cruel treatment conducted upon them by the Malaysian police and immigration authority. Addressing these issues on migrant workers, Irene Fernandez published a report in various national dailies of Malaysia under the title "Memorandum on Abuse, Torture, Dehumanized treatment & Deaths of Migrant Workers at Detention Camps". The severity of torture and abuse exposed in the report stirred strongly the Malaysian society. Instead of getting concerned over the issues being raised, the Malaysian government being irked by the incident filed a case vide case no. A83-195-96 against Irene Fernandez on 25 August 1995 under section 8A(1) of the Printing Presses & Publication Act of 1984 for maliciously publishing false news. She was then arrested and later on released on bail. Irene highlighted mainly into sixteen issues relating to the inhuman conditions that the migrant workers in Malaysia are experiencing. In her report, she compiled painful accounts in different stages at the detention camps including various means of physical torture, sexual harassment, malnutrition and serving of inadequate food, dehydration, denial of medical care, death in custody etc.

After receiving news of Bangladeshi workers being abused and tortured in detention camps of Malaysia, Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) made contacts with those Bangladeshis who returned home from those camps. ASK interviewed about forty such Bangladeshi ex-detainees, among them four Bangladeshis later on provided testimony in favour of Irene in the Malaysian court.

The verdict against Irene Fernandez raised concern among the human rights defenders around the world. Such a verdict not only represses the freedom of press but also foreshadows the fundamental human rights of the migrant workers in Malaysia. We hope that the Malaysian government shall immediately release Irene Fernandez being respectful to human dignity and guided by good conscience. Moreover we expect that the Bangladesh government shall deeply consider the issue of upholding human rights of tht Bangladeshi migrant workers in Malaysia notwithstanding the matter of giving highest priority to the issue of acquiring wage earners from different countries including Malaysia.