Swiss ambassador Michael Winzap had lashed out at what he called a general indifference in the country over the death of Adelina Lisao, the Indonesian maid who was forced to sleep with her employer’s Rottweiler dog, saying it was a horrific crime that should not be dismissed as an isolated incident.
Klang MP Charles Santiago said the foreign diplomat raised an important question on Malaysians’ humanity, or lack thereof.
“While Winzap screamed slavery, we chose silence. But is the abuse of domestic help and human slavery new to Malaysia?
“Remember Nirmala Bonat? The court ordered her employers, a husband and wife team, to pay a meagre sum of RM10,000 compensation in 2014 for inflicting injuries on her breasts, back, arms, head, face, mouth and nose, besides the emotional stress,” Santiago said in a statement.
The Swiss envoy made his comments during a question-and-answer session to announce Amnesty International’s latest human rights report on Malaysia yesterday.
“There was no outcry in Malaysia despite the horrific crime, and you read reports in the newspapers claiming it was an isolated incident. This is horrible,” he said.
“This is slavery, what is happening. Is Amnesty International, a very important human rights organisation, highlighting such issues and making sure the people of Malaysia know about it?”
Santiago said thousands of migrant workers continue to work under slave-like conditions in the country.
“Verité, in its 2014 report, interviewed 501 workers in Malaysia’s electronics industry and found that 28% of them were coerced.
“As much as 40% of Malaysia’s workforce is made up of migrant workers and most of them face exploitation, poor living conditions, curtailed freedom and harassment,” he said.
Santiago then brought up the case of Lokesh Sapalinga, a 27-year-old Indian national, whom he said had been a victim of “human slavery”.
“He was paid a salary of RM20 and held captive under squalid conditions in a factory in Sarawak.”
However, Santiago believes this issue of abuse should not be just limited to migrant workers.
“We also abuse the poor, the disenfranchised and the marginalised, such as the LGBT community.
“We can sit in front of a UN-body and lie about ‘equal treatment’ to the LGBT community but ground reality is starkly different and appalling,” he said.
He was referring to representatives from Putrajaya who on Tuesday told a United Nations (UN) committee on women’s rights in Geneva, Switzerland that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is being treated “equally” in Malaysia.
Santiago cited the brutal killing of a 27-year-old transgender woman, Sameera Krishnan, saying it defies such a claim by the government.
“She was attacked with a knife and received slash wounds to her hands, arm, head and legs. Sameera was also shot up to three times. But the police said it wasn’t a hate crime.
“Our newspaper published a ‘how to spot a gay’ checklist, while Prime Minister, Najib Razak calls them a threatening ‘deviant culture’.”
He also pointed out how the rights of the Orang Asli continue to be trampled on.
“Their land is forcefully taken away for development and they end up being physically abused and prosecuted if they fight back.
“There is a huge lack of access to medical facilities for these indigenous population in the country, and their children to education,” he said.
“So is it any surprise that a foreign diplomat was forced to speak his mind?”
Santiago questioned when would Malaysians feel the way Winzap did and do something about the situation.
“When would we, as citizens, rise against such atrocities? When would we stand up and fight for ourselves and others? When would we band together to put a stop to such injustice?
“If we don’t do it now, we never will. And all of us should hold ourselves responsible for having failed to protect those who are less fortunate than us.”