KUALA LUMPUR: The Centre for Human Rights Research and Advocacy (CENTHRA) is set to submit the mid-term report of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) this month.
In a statement, CENTHRA secretariat said the report will be submitted to the the Working Committee, Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Earlier today, CENTHRA said it held a research group coordination meeting to finalise the mid-term review of the UPR for the third round, which involved Malaysia.
"Some 21 researchers who were experts from local universities, legal practitioners and CENTHRA activists were present to contribute ideas and views on the progress of the research.
"A total of 10 study themes were presented as a summary of the report covering the themes of Refugee Rights, Migrant Workers, Human Trafficking, Stateless Individual Issues, Freedom of Speech, Children's Rights, Business and Human Rights, Freedom of Religion, Civil and Syariah Courts and International Treaties," the statement read.
The research project was a follow-up to the efforts initiated by CENTHRA since its involvement in the UPR process at the UNHRC, as early as 2014.
"CENTHRA's participation through the Malaysian Alliance of Civil Society Organisations in the UPR Process has strengthened the voice of the Islamic Civil Society Organisations in voicing human rights issues in an accurate and authoritative framework.
"Through continuous support from various parties, especially the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Council, CENTHRA has been able to pay attention to the selected research themes to ensure an accurate picture and data can be obtained to be the basis of reference for this NGO advocacy in the field of human rights."
CENTHRA said this was in accordance with the principles and approach of the centre since its inception and efforts to defend, promote and fight for human rights in Malaysia that must be based on compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948, Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam (CDHRI) 1990, Declaration of Human Rights ASEAN 2012 and the Federal Constitution as well as the provisions of the Syariah law.
"It is hoped that CENTHRA's continuous efforts will be able to strengthen the efforts to defend the human rights of the Malaysian community based on its own mould and consistent with Malaysia's position as a member of the Human Rights Council for the term 2022-2024."