Front Line welcomes the news of the release of Mr V. Ganapathy Rao and Mr R. Kengatharan, two human rights lawyers with Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF), a coalition of Hindu nongovernmental organisations working on promoting the rights of the Hindu communities in Malaysia, on 6 April 2009.

Further Information

On 6 April 2009, V. Ganapathy Rao and R. Kengatharan were named amongst a list of 13 persons to be freed in an announcement by Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar. The Minister's announcement came immediately after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak made his first address to the nation, during which he declared that “the government has decided with immediate effect to remove the temporary ban on two news publications, release 13 detainees from ISA detention, and conduct a comprehensive review of the Internal Security Act (ISA)”.

V. Ganapathy Rao and R.Kengatharan are not permitted to leave their respective home towns and must be at home in their residence by 7pm each evening. They are also restricted from speaking to the press.

On 13 December 2007, Messrs P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, V. Ganapathy Rao, T.Vasanthakumar and R. Kengatharan were arrested and charged under the ISA on the grounds of threatening national security by organising a peaceful demonstration. All five human rights lawyers had taken up, on a pro bono basis, many cases of death in police custody and police violence.

They had filed many cases against the Malaysian Government and authorities. HINDRAF chairperson P. Waythamoorthy remains in self-exile in the United Kingdom. Whilst Front Line welcomes the release of V. Ganapathy Rao and R. Kengatharan, we express our continued concern regarding the ongoing detention of Messrs P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, and T. Vasanthakumar, who we believe have been detained solely on account of their legitimate human rights activities and their work defending the rights of the ethnic minority Indians in Malaysia. Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of all of the aforementioned human rights defenders.