Global rights group urges Malaysian unis to stop silencing students

Malaysian universities should stop using disciplinary rules to silence students and restrict debate, New-York based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in defence of the six Universiti Malaya students who were found guilty of breaching campus regulations for holding a press conference without prior approval. HRW Asia deputy director Phil Robertson said universities should instead be a place for open discussions and debate. "Students should not be penalised for peaceful speech under the guise of enforcing school discipline," he said in a statement today. The six, dubbed the UM6, held a press conference in December to protest the university's plan to impose an internet quota on campus. A disciplinary hearing had let them off with a warning. Robertson said that UM "repeatedly" sanctioned students for speaking out on matters of public interest, banned speakers from campus, and blocked student assemblies. He said the university had used the broadly-worded Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA) and campus rules enacted pursuant to that law. UUCA prohibits students from being involved in political party activities on campus, or from joining or saying anything that "may reasonably be construed" as expressing support for "any society, organisation, body or group of persons which the Board determines to be unsuitable to the interests and well-being of the students or the University". Robertson said using UUCA's broad discretion, UM enacted disciplinary rules forbidding students from holding any assembly or circulating any document without prior approval, stopping them from activities the university deems detrimental to the university. He added that Malaysian universities should be encouraging engagement by their students instead of trying to stop them. "Malaysian universities should celebrate civic engagement by their students, not repress it. "The restrictions in the UUCA and the university disciplinary rules are contrary to the spirit of academic freedom, violate principles of free speech and assembly, and should be repealed." This was the second time a group of UM students were penalised, after eight students known as "UM8" were found guilty by the university in December 2014 for inviting then opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to speak. – February 22, 2016.]]>