Humanists reiterate calls on Malaysia to protect non-religious rights

At the UN Human Rights Council, Humanists Malaysia and Humanists International have, for the second year in a row, called on Malaysia to protect the rights of the non-religious by ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The statement was delivered by Humanists International’s Timea Szeteiova, at the UN Human Rights Council, as part of its General debate on human rights situations that require the Council’s attention. The statement was prepared by Humanists Malaysia, with the support of Humanists International.

The statement followed a joint intervention delivered at the Council’s 60th session in September 2025, in which the two organizations urged Malaysia to recognize that the right to freedom of religion or belief is a right shared by everyone: those who hold beliefs, those who change them, and those who choose not to believe at all. They returned this year to the same question, asking how long Malaysia can uphold constitutional freedom while failing to extend its full protection to those who need it most.

Malaysia has still not ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – the principal UN treaty on civil and political rights, including the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief. It is a party to three of the nine core international human rights instruments. The Covenant, the statement argued, does not impose foreign values but articulates a fundamental principle of human dignity, which is that no government should control a person’s conscience.

Article 11 of the Malaysian Federal Constitution provides that every person has the right to profess and practise their religion. That assurance is compromised, the statement said, when individuals are denied a genuine right to change their faith, when “apostasy” is punished or made subject to coercive measures under state laws, including compulsory “rehabilitation”, and when non-believers lack effective protection against discrimination, hostility, and persecution. Religion in Malaysia is largely a matter for the individual states, and since the insertion of Article 121(1A) into the Federal Constitution the civil courts have declined to hear matters falling within the jurisdiction of the Sharia courts.

Featured Photo by Theodore Nguyen.