HR/98/10
24 February 1998

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Mary Robinson, made the following statement today:

?I am gravely concerned to learn that the Federal Court of Malaysia has decided that defamation suits filed against the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Mr. Param Cumaraswamy, can proceed, effectively finding that he is not immune from legal process in Malaysian domestic courts.

In its decision of 19 February 1998 dismissing the Special Rapporteur's application for leave to appeal, the Federal Court, the highest court in Malaysia, stated that the Special Rapporteur was neither a sovereign nor a diplomat but in layman's terms an "unpaid, part-time provider of information." I believe this profoundly misconstrues the role of Special Rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights.

The Court ignored a certificate presented in March 1997 by the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, asserting that Mr. Cumaraswamy, as Special Rapporteur, enjoys the protection provided under the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations. The Secretary-General had determined that the words which constitute the basis of the complaints in this case were spoken by the Special Rapporteur in the course of his mission. Mr. Cumaraswamy was therefore immune from legal process with respect to those words.

The Court's decision also ignores the 1989 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in the Mazilu case in which the Court advised that independent experts, such as a Special Rapporteur, are entitled to all the privileges and immunities, including immunity from legal process of every kind, as provided in Section 22 of the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations.

I agree fully with the Chairman of the Meeting of Special Rapporteurs, Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who told the Secretary-General in July last year that "threatening the immunity of one expert constitutes an attack on the entire system and institution of the United Nations special procedures and mechanisms."

The Special Rapporteur mechanism covering both country and thematic mandates is a vitally important component of the United Nations work in the promotion and protection of human rights. It is essential that the independent experts who accept to act as Special Rapporteur without payment for their services enjoy the protection offered by the Convention on Privileges and Immunities.

I would urge the Government of Malaysia to respect its obligations under the Convention and ensure that Mr Cumaraswamy is protected from further action in this matter.