Putrajaya, Malaysia, 8 September 2025 |
On Monday 8 September 2025, in partnership with Malaysia’s National Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), the Convention against Torture Initiative (CTI) held a national capacity-building activity titled “Closed Door High-Level Dialogue on Torture Prevention: “Advancing Malaysia’s Accession to the United Nations Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) – Issues and Opportunities”, which took place in Putrajaya, Malaysia.
Attended by over 80 participants from key Government Ministries and agencies, namely, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) and the Department of Shariah Judiciary Malaysia (JKSM), alongside representatives from the Institute of Islamic Understanding (IKIM), the Malaysian Bar and academics, this closed-door dialogue built on earlier UNCAT dialogues organised by SUHAKAM in Kuala Lumpur in July 2019 and July 2017, and in which CTI participated.
Featuring participation from the CTI Core States of Denmark, Indonesia and Morocco, the dialogue was opened by H.E. Ambassador Kirstine Berner, Ambassador of Denmark in Malaysia and closed by Mohamed-Ali El Koumir, Chargé d’Affaires a.i of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco in Kuala Lumpur, who shared their countries’ experiences and reasons for becoming a party to UNCAT, and underscored CTI’s availability to continue providing technical assistance to Malaysia.
At expert level, the event counted on the participation of Atu Yudhistira Indarto, Deputy Director for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs at the Directorate for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, in its capacity as a CTI Core State representative, and that of Laura Blanco, CTI’s Legal Adviser and Nid, Senior Adviser and Asia-Pacific representative for the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), alongside Abdelwahab Hani, former member of the UN Committee against Torture, APT Board member and member of CTI’s Group of Friends network, who intervened as panelists.
Organised to build capacity and raise awareness among Malaysian Government officials on the benefits of becoming a party to the UN Convention against Torture, the closed-door dialogue was specifically aimed at:
- Promoting greater understanding of the legislative and institutional requirements for an UNCAT-compliant anti-torture framework, including necessary legislative review and reform;
- Discussing the socio-economic implications, benefits and challenges of ratifying and implementing UNCAT; and
- Exploring religious perspectives, particularly within Islamic jurisprudence, on torture and human rights, and how these align with the requirements of UNCAT.
CTI looks forward to continuing supporting Malaysia and remaining UNCAT non-States-parties who are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and within broader South Asia on ongoing torture prevention and response efforts and in their paths towards UNCAT accession.