When Rahmat was appointed in July, Lim had said he expected the human rights commission to be in “troubled waters” as it is headed by a chairman who is anti-human rights.

This was because Rahmat was reported to have co-authored a paper in 2019 which convinced the Conference of Rulers to reject ratification of the Rome Statute, by which Malaysia would accede to the International Criminal Court.

The Rome Statute set up the International Criminal Court which prosecutes those who commit international crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression.

However, in an interview with Malaysiakini, Rahmat revealed that he did not oppose the Rome Statute as well as the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

Rahmat explained that he only objected to ratifying the Rome Statute back in 2019, as he felt that necessary preparations were not in place at the time.

In welcoming Rahmat’s explanation, Lim said he shared the former’s stand.

Malaysia should not ratify the treat until the majority of the people supported it and understood it posed no threat but was a step forward in promoting human rights, he said in a statement.

Lim said DAP was “completely in the dark” when the ICERD fiasco blew up at the end of 2018 but was accused of being the anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-royalty forces pushing for the ratification of the treaty.

Lim said the least Rahmat could do now was to take steps for Malaysia to recover from the lessons of the ICERD and Rome Statute fiascos.