CASSA LAUDS ASIA’S FIRST – THANKS TO GOVT & PERMATA EFFORTS IN CHILD COURTS ESTABLISHMENT!

Advocates of child protections cannot but be delighted that in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) we have an international treaty that legally obligates countries to protect children’s rights.

If I am not mistaken – Articles 34 and 35 of the said convention protects children from all forms of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.

And among them, there are four key areas that are mentioned:

1. The outlawing of the coercion of a child to perform sexual activity.
2. The prostitution of children.
3. The exploitation of children in creating pornography.
4. States are also required to prevent the abduction, sale, or trafficking of children.

As of December 2014, 195 countries have ratified the Convention, including every member of the United Nations and it is inexplicable that both the United States and South Sudan have not!

Legislation against child sexual abuse varies by country based on the local definition of who is a child and what constitutes child sexual abuse.

However, despite some anomalies, most countries in the world employ some form of age of consent, with sexual contact with an underage person being criminally penalized.

But two striking agreement by most civilized nations is that an adult’s sexual intercourse with a minor below the legal age of consent is referred to as statutory rape based on the age old entrenched principle that any apparent consent by a minor could not be considered legal consent.

But despite so has these fundamentals prevent children from being victims to sexual crimes?

Are you aware that one child is raped in South Africa every three minutes, according to a 2009 report by trade union Solidarity Helping Hand?

A 2009 survey by the country’s Medical Research Council found that one in four men admits to raping someone, 62% of boys over 11 believe forcing someone to have sex is not an act of violence and a third believe girls enjoy rape, the Independent reported.

More than 67,000 cases of rape and sexual assaults against children were reported in 2000, according to press reports!

Very sadly, several of the victims were as young as six-months-old, a number of whom died from their injuries, while others contracted HIV.

Many people in South Africa believe that sex with a virgin can heal someone from HIV/AIDS.

Sadly in India, leading NGO Asian Centre for Human Rights in its 2013 report claims sexual offenses against children in India have reached epidemic proportion.

The report stated that more than 48,000 child rape cases were recorded from 2001 to 2011 and that India saw an increase of 336% of child rape cases from 2001 (2,113 cases) to 2011 (7,112 cases).
It is rather shocking sending chills down our spines to learn that over 48,838 children were raped in just 10 years.

We are old that it is rampant, indiscriminate and cuts across class, geography, culture and religion.

It happens in cities and villages, by fathers, brothers, relatives, neighbors, teachers and strangers!

In 2012, the Indian Parliament passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act, which incorporates child friendly procedures for reporting, recording of evidence, investigation and trial of offenses.

According to a 2007 study by the Indian Government of nearly 12,500 children from across India, 53% of children – boys and girls equally – were victims of sexual abuse.

As for Zimbabwe, we are told by a Police spokesperson in 2012 that rape cases against children continued to increase countrywide.

In 2011, there were 3,172 rape cases of juveniles recorded countrywide, an increase from 2010, when 2,883 were reported.

On the ground in Harare, capital of Zimbabwe, a clinic went on record to state that it had treated nearly 30,000 girls and boys who had been abused in the previous four years.

If one thought that was horrendous, in the United Kingdom, more than one in every 200 adults – are pedophiles, according to figures released by Scotland Yard in 2000.

In 2012/13, there were 18,915 sexual crimes against children under the age of 16 recorded in England and Wales, according to the National Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

Included in that figure were 4,171 offenses of sexual assault on a female child under 13 and 1,267 offenses of sexual assault on under-13 male children.

Other reports in the UK cite that one in 20 children (4.8%) have experienced contact sexual abuse and over 90% of children who experienced sexual abuse, were abused by someone they know.
If you thought that the United States of America were any better you are in for a shock!

Accordingly to the US based Children Assessment Centre (CAC), we are told that the true prevalence of child sexual abuse is not known, but all agree that in 2014 there could have been over 500,000 babies born in the US, victims who were sexually abused before they turn 18!

The US Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau report Child Maltreatment 2010 found that 16% of young people aged 14 to 17 had been sexually victimized in that year, and over the course of their lifetime, 28% of young people in the US, aged 14 to 17, had been sexually victimized.

Shockingly again thanks to the CAC, we are told that adult retrospective studies show that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 6 men were sexually abused before the age of 18.

To them this means there are more than 42 million adult survivors of child sexual abuse in the US!

In Malaysia, thanks to Police statistics over a two-year period – 2015 to end 2016, we had 2,759 cases of rape, 412 cases of incest, 1,423 cases of molest and 422 cases of unnatural sex involving victims below 18 years of age!

And as a leading consumerist, I have always argued for every such case reported, 10 goes unreported due to pressures exerted and non-reporting!

And today, with these international efforts and challenge, Malaysia cannot but be proud to launch the Special Court, a first in this region, to deal with sexual crimes against children, barely two months after legislation to establish it was passed in the last sitting by Parliament.

And in launching it, Malaysian premier, Najib Tun Razak was right on cue, when he stated at the Palace of Justice, that the said court was the first of its kind to be set up in Southeast Asia!

He reiterated that the agenda and vision of the said courts was to speed up all proceedings and trials of sexual crimes involving children!

The Premier went further and gave timelines, which were critical and crucial in maintaining, the thrust of its inception to settle all cases, that come to it no later than a year, compared with the current situation, when they sometimes stretch into years.

For the record, this Special Court is set up under the Child Sexual Offenses Act 2017, which also provides imprisonment for a maximum of 30 years, a fine of up to RM20, 000, plus a minimum of six lashes of the cane.

The offenses in the law cover child pornography, child grooming, physical and non-physical sexual violation, people in positions of trust or authority (such as family members and teachers) who are involved in or abet the crime, and placing child witnesses under duress.

As eluded by the Premier, it is now pertinent for the speedy establishment of a working committee to draft special guidelines to handle sexual crimes against children.

And as stated by Premier Najib, it is important and critical, that we should have oversight of this from dedicated, individuals from civil society, NGOs, grassroots groups, personalities from the courts, Attorney-General’s Chambers, ministry of women, family and community development!

This article will not be fair nor complete, if, we do not laud the noble efforts of the team at Permata, an early childhood educational programme, led by the Premier’s spouse, Rosmah Mansur, whose vision, contribution, and ideas, led to the concept of the witness room, which fulfills, the wishes and needs of child witnesses, to protect and insulate them from all forms of trauma during the process of litigation and other proceedings, as well, as in line, with global best practices in these efforts!

TIME FOR A CRIME AND VIOLENCE FREE ENVIRONMENT AT OUR LEARNING INSTITUTIONS!

Just when you thought, that the horrific and heinous crime, where 11-year-old Mohamad Thaqif Amin Mohd Gaddafi, a student who was beaten, abused and died from his injuries, post legs amputation and coma would have sent enough ‘shocks and shivers’ down the spines of all non-brain dead Malaysians, enough to initiate steps to address this form of violence against our young!

But sadly no!

We now have two casualties – National Defence University student, Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain and 18 year old T Nhaveen from Penang.
In Malaysian National Defence University student Zulfarhan Osman Zulkarnain, he was rushed to Hospital Serdang with 80% of his body covered in bruises and burn marks.
He eventually succumbed to his injuries and there was yet another death in our institutions of education!

And public response was so super predictable!

There was a super speedy press statement from Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) which expressed concern over the death of navy cadet officer Zulfarhan Osman.

And as always, whether it is death on the roads, at constructions sites, road bullying or in this case, at educational institutions they urged the ministry to set up a committee to enable them, to investigate the incident and find ways on how they can prevent incidences of bullying and ragging in institutions of higher learning.

They went further to state that the committee should consist of experts from relevant fields such as the university or college management officers, counselors, psychologists, academicians and the police!

Are you serious MCPF?

I am rather surprised that for an organization, known for the super speed of their press statements, they were unaware that all what they cited or called for was dealt with in 2004!

If I am not mistaken, to refresh everyone one’s memory, obviously unsettled, with the never ending and spirally up of negative issues embarrassing the nation, did not, the then, Education Minister, Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, set up a task force at the ministry level to monitor and overcome discipline problems in schools and the installation of a hotline at his office to receive reports or complaints about gangsterism in schools?

Now, whatever happened to that said committee or the alleged work, they may have done or omitted to?

As Malaysia’s ASEAN and APEC lead consumerist, I was among the first, then who lauded that action, which I thought then ‘was proactive and aggressive!’

But, sadly nothing came out of that announcement!

Then, there was again, so much media hype, and blitz, over a report entitled ‘School Violence and Juvenile Delinquency in Malaysia: A Comparative Analysis between Western Perspectives and Islamic Perspectives’ where the research had attempted to discover possible preventative methods in reducing school violence and juvenile delinquency, among children in Malaysia from the Islamic perspective.

This research, I am informed, focused more on the behavioral, biological, social, family, and cognitive as the preventative methods of school violence and juvenile delinquency without paying much attention to the human spirituality and the role of religion and faith as the predictor of adolescents’ behavior.

Based on the analysis, it is suggested that religion and faith, plays important role in prevention of aggressive behavior amongst adolescents.

So much for that study and inexplicably, this followed the then ghastly case of violence and crime, in schools, causing the death of top student Mohd Farid Ibrahim, 16, Fourth Former at the Sekolah Menengah Agama Dato’ Kelana Petra Maamor, Seremban after being assaulted by a group of seniors from the school.

Since then, there have been several horrendous cases of violence and of bullying at Malaysian schools and institutions of education!

Let us fast forward to 2017 – with the death of two more students, from School or educational sites based violence related injuries, one in the north and the other is the center which raises anger, breeds grounds for dissent and reservations about the adequacy of such claims by any quarters to address the rather disturbing rise of school gangsterism, violence and crime!

Despite the rather diligent and hard work of our boys and girls, in high command at Bukit Aman, and PDRM, with a sharp rise in Malaysia’s public safety index, the drop in crime, but has not addressed the fears of Malaysians, over the most fundamental human rights – the right to life and security – and as they rightly or wrongly, still ceased to feel safe for themselves and their loved ones, when out in the streets, public places or even, in the privacy of their homes.

In all humility, I cry out in desperation to the powers-that-be, it is time for the days of setting up committees and task forces or of insensitive press statements to be done away with, and for, more effective transparent process going forward to address the rot!

We cannot deny, the ‘elephant in the room’ that we have as a community and others, as politicians, heads and leaders of government agencies, and support services failed to create a crime-free environment in our communities, in schools and educational institutions, due to the strong presence of foreigners, criminal elements, gangsters and as a result, the frequent cases of gangsterism, violence and crime, something virtually unheard-of in the early decades, of the nation’s independence.

There is no need for another multi million ringgit research study, to be conducted by our so called educational intelligentsia or others, as there are enough material to show without an iota of doubt that there is a serious rise in gangsterism and secret society related crime and violence in schools, and in extension society, and social space, which marks a serious breakdown of school discipline and the students’ social and moral values.

I am certain many of you will remember, that Utusan Malaysia in a report in 2004, stated that according to its record, which I find rather conservative, that there had been more than 35 cases of school crimes and violence, involving student injuries and deaths in the past five years since 1999.

In all fairness, the Education Ministry and school authorities cannot be allowed to pass the buck, for the rising school gangsterism, violence and crime to the police!

It is the failure of the parents, the school principals and teachers, who have a duty of care in maintaining a high standard of student discipline and a crime-free educational environment.

I am certain the professional, no nonsense tolerating Inspector General of Police, would be willing, despite a serious lack of enough resources to assist institutions with issues of student gangsterism, violence and crime, if he is brought into the loop, with updates from our educational institutions!

The IGP is always willing to help in community issues and this, I personally know as CASSA Chief!

And I have no reservations, as well, in calling for the criminalizing of parents, as well, for their failure and a duty of care in such cases.

They cannot and should not ‘outsource” their responsibility towards their children to others!

As I write this piece, I am informed the sad demise of young 18-year-old T Nhaveen from Penang.

All this young lad was doing was, purchasing a burger at a burger stall, with his friend when a group of school students allegedly attacked him with helmets and beat him up.

Though deeply saddened and grieving for his family, I am grateful and encouraged by the statement of Prime Minister, Najib Abdul Razak, who promised that victim, T Nhaveen, who passed away due those horrific and horrendous beatings, will receive justice.

And I believe this is that moment to seize, for a concerted effort to address incidents of violence and school gangsterism and crime, seeking the co-operation of stakeholders like parents, teachers’ unions, educationists, consumer advocates, the nation’s security agencies, members of the civil society and all political parties, to restore the crime-free environment for all schools and educational institutions as it was pre-independence?

UK FILES:

‘One final word, and in all fairness, I must constantly remind readers, that Islam is a religion of peace, a beautiful faith, and that, the fasting month, is, when adherents strive to get closer to God.

The barbaric acts of a few, must not desecrate that Islam, is a religion of peace and goodwill!’

MALAYSIA, ASEAN AND APEC LEAD CONSUMERIST DR JACOB GEORGE SAYS – WAR ON TERROR – YOU’RE EITHER WITH US OR AGAINST US!

November 6th 2001, post the 911 attack, President Bush went ballistic stating that “there was no room for neutrality, in the war against terrorism!”

He reiterated that that the nations of the world must decide – “You’re either with us or against us in the fight against terror.”

In a joint news conference, with the then, French President Jacques Chirac, Bush went on that coalition partners would be called upon to back up their support with action.

Bush then went on, with the same message at the United Nations!

Fast forward, June 5th 2017.

Great Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May emerging from an emergency Cobra meeting at Downing Street, as they are often also called, which is an emergency response committee, a get together of ministers, civil servants, the police, intelligence officers and others appropriate to get to grips with a thorny issue of last night’s terrorist attack, the third in three months, though thanks to the British Counter Terrorist Unit, more than 5 others prospective attacks, were prevented!

For the record, in the first, there was a car and knife attack on Westminster in March this year, which left five people dead, in the second there was a bomb attack at a concert in Manchester two weeks ago killed 22 and left others critically hurt.

And in the aftermath of Saturday evening’s attack, there was again, a weaponised vehicle and knife attack, that saw seven people killed and dozens injured.

Prime Minister May, did not mince her words or thoughts, as he laid four critical protocols Britain would need to undertake to protect it, which hereinafter, I call the ‘May 4 response!’

1. Addressing the simple evil ideology of Islamic extremism.
2. Not allowing this ideology the safe space to breed!
3. Cannot allow the safe space in the real world through military action in countries where the ideology is prevalent and taking a comprehensive action on home grown terrorists!
4. Upgrading and keeping up Britain’s Counter Terrorism Strategy and reviews and upgrading legislation.

She reiterated that though the recent attacks were no connected by organized networks, but, they are connected and bound together, by a single evil ideology of Islamic extremism, that preaches hatred, sows divisions, and promotes sectarianism.

The Prime minister stated, that it is an ideology that the Western values of freedom, democracy and human rights, are not compatible with the religion of Islam.

That defeating, this ideology, is one of the greatest challenges of our time.

She stated enough is enough!

That British society has been far too tolerant, of extremist Islam and that going forward, things had to change!

That this “brand of Islam” is a perversion of true Islam and of the truth!

And identifying it is simple – it is a brand that propagates separation, segregation and divisions in communities!

Reminds me of a certain individual, who sought foreign refuge, after warrants of arrest, were issued for him at his native country, for serious chargers, and walked with the powers that be, enjoying the glamour, high praises and protection, in a certain Asian country, extensive media attention where that individual fired salvos against those who sought his arrest but, who left to escape Interpol’s intervention and the global attention on him?

And therefore, to succeed to stump out such barbaric and inhumane thoughts and actions, the British community and stakeholders in all tiers must come together as one!

And the moment has come, not to give safe space, as the British Premier says, for terrorist to operate locally, abroad, or to be granted citizenships or permanent residence status!

That in Great Britain, there should be robust action needed to identify and stump them out, across the public sector and in society!

I was excited that Theresa May was neither apologetic nor vulnerable, and she reminded me so much of the late Margaret Thatcher, that “Iron Lady” I came to know personally and admired, during my days at law school in England, when the latter visited the University and our events!

Theresa May stated quite rightly, that this robust action, to follow will require some very difficult and embarrassing conversations!

I believe what she was alluding to, was like President Bush stated post 911 attack – and in the British context, it means, it is time for the Muslim community in Great Britain and others, elsewhere in the civilized world, in extension, to do more than what they are doing now, and the days where one can ‘hunt with the hounds and run with the hares’ are indeed over!

With the advent of technology and assets, in the air, ground and in space above, the digital footprints of terrorists and their sympathizers, are clearly readable!

And the days of providing safe havens, finances, logistics support, breeding and training grounds are over!

I am certain this is not just confined to communities in Europe, in West Asia, the Africa’s, or in Asia, where politicians can say one thing at the UN, in the international arena and conferences, and indulge in another, where domestic politics and political survival is concerned!

Prime Minister, Theresa May, has publicly called for international cooperation in bringing forward more red tape to cyberspace!

This is laudable!

And I believe it must be supplemented by cross border and international initiatives and among them, new international agreements and support, to regulate the internet and other activities in the war against terror, both international and domestic, in the light of the London Bridge terror attack!
Britain and other countries, need more legislation like the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 (IPA 2016) – the so-called ‘Snooper’s Charter’ – which expands the powers of spying agencies and the Government over the internet.

Interestingly, if I am not wrong, the said legislation was initiated by Premier May, when she was Home Minister.

It was an act that required internet service providers, to maintain a list of visited websites, for all internet users for a year and gives intelligence agencies, more powers to intercept online communications.

This is vital as it allows the Police to access the stored browsing history without any warrant or court order.

One final word, in all fairness, I must constantly remind readers, that Islam is a religion of peace, a beautiful faith, and that, the fasting month, is when adherents strive to get closer to God.

The barbaric acts of a few, must not desecrate, that Islam is a religion of peace and goodwill!

Unfortunately, recent events across the world and sadly, yet again here, in Britain, a barbaric attack on soft targets during the holy month of Ramadan; raises may questions in the minds of observers and other communities and faiths!

The actions of these few, who take great delight in barbaric acts, must not draw or invite similar action against peace loving, god fearing, pious, innocent Muslims, who subscribe not to such terrorists acts!

To those with such barbaric acts, thoughts, and suffering from self-created superiority complex, I pray, they have the minimal intelligence to realize that they themselves are the ones, inflicting the most desecration on their own religion!

Surely, they cannot believe, that the fear they evoke among others, is tantamount to respect, admiration or a call to convert?

As Malaysia’s ASEAN and APEC lead consumerist and human rights advocate, I believe it is critical for Great Britain’s Premier, to state very clearly, that things cannot now go back, to the status quo.

Not after, all these barbaric attacks and fatalities!

All walks of the British community, must now come together!

It is pertinent, that immediately, these difficult and embarrassing conversations to address the true and present danger, that home grown terrorists and those who protect, aid and abet them pose, to the British society begin!

May the ALMIGHTY guide us all!