VZCZCXRO7724
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHKL #1516/01 2230813
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 110813Z AUG 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7328
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 001516 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/11/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV PINR KISL KIRF KDEM KPAO MY
SUBJECT: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DEBATE LEADS TO GOVERNMENT 
WARNINGS 
 
REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 680 
     ¶B. 05 KUALA LUMPUR 4424 
     ¶C. 05 KUALA LUMPUR 3784 
     ¶D. KUALA LUMPUR 157 
 
Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark for reasons 1.4 b, 
 d. 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Pressure from non-Muslims to examine religious freedom 
in Malaysia has generated passionate debate here in recent 
months, leading to PM Abdullah's July 25 warning, repeated on 
August 11, for the media and public to refrain from openly 
debating contentious religious and racial issues.  For the 
first time, the PM's warning also extended to Internet-based 
news providers and bloggers.  Non-Muslims concerned with the 
creeping Islamization of Malaysian law, politics and society 
recently attempted to organize several public fora to discuss 
the perceived erosion of Malaysia's constitutional protection 
of non-Muslims' religious freedom.  The events were either 
canceled or shortened by police inability (or unwillingness) 
to control vocal Muslim protesters who had gathered at the 
venues.  Meanwhile, hardline Muslims have organized their own 
new groups to "defend Islam."  The country's law minister 
recently acknowledged that vocal Islamic hardliners were 
pushing the GOM to take stands, pursue policies and enact 
legislation "we don't believe in," in order to win greater 
political support from conservative Muslims.  The Malaysian 
government is clearly concerned over the direction and 
divisiveness of the religious freedom debates and their 
potential effects on Malaysia's inter-religious, inter-ethnic 
relations.  Keeping a lid on the current debate will prove no 
easy task given the deep concerns of non-Muslims over gradual 
Islamization in Malaysia, the politically-charged religious 
conversion cases now before the courts, and the political 
leverage wielded by conservative Muslim Malays.  End Summary. 
 
The Constitution as a Religious Rallying Point 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (SBU) In March, the Malaysian Bar Council sponsored an 
800-participant conference on the question of whether the 
Malaysian constitution should be amended to improve 
protection of the religious freedom of non-Muslims.  The 
conference came on the heels of controversial secular court 
rulings that ceded jurisdiction in religious conversion cases 
involving non-Muslims to the country's Shari'a courts (refs 
A, B and C).  The atmosphere at the gathering, which was not 
covered in the mainstream media, was much more highly charged 
than similar events we had attended.  The Q&A session 
concluding the conference lasted more than two hours and 
included statements by two Malay Muslims deemed religious 
"deviants" by the GOM.  Human rights activist and leading Bar 
Council member Malik Imtiaz told the audience that while 
non-Muslims were working to amend the constitution to clarify 
and protect their religious rights, a vocal minority of 
Malaysian Muslim leaders were seeking to expand the influence 
of Islamic law into areas now governed by secular law. 
"Muslim aspirations are becoming the basis for pursuing an 
Islamic state in contradiction to the constitution," Malik 
said.  He warned that if moderate Muslims and non-Malays did 
not become more active in promoting religious freedom, 
"Malaysia could become a theocratic state in the next five to 
ten years." 
 
¶3. (SBU) At a similar event on May 14 in Penang, the police 
intervened to abruptly end a forum entitled "The Federal 
Constitution: Protection for All."  Police explained they 
were unable to properly control the approximately 500 vocal 
Muslim protestors who arrived to disrupt the event.  The 
forum was organized jointly by local NGO Aliran and an 
umbrella body of 13 NGOs named "Article 11" (referring to the 
freedom of religion clause in Malaysia's constitution).  In 
the wake of the Lina Joy, Nyonya Tahir, M. Moorthy, and S. 
Shamala court cases related to religious conversion (refs A, 
B and C), the organizers intended the forum to discuss 
religious freedom in Malaysia - especially with regard to the 
constitutionally defined, turbulent jurisdictional interface 
between the civil and Shari'a court systems.  As the third of 
a series of road shows on the topic, the May 14 event was the 
first to encounter an organized demonstration. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The fourth such forum hosted by the Article 11 
coalition was similarly cut short on the advice of the 
police, after 400 Muslim protestors gathered outside the 
event's hotel venue on July 22 in Johor Baru.  Although the 
function ended nearly two hours earlier than planned, only 
the question and answer session was eliminated; all speakers 
on the forum's panel were given the opportunity to make their 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001516  002 OF 003 
 
 
full presentations.  Demonstrators included representatives 
from PAS Johor, UMNO Youth, as well as NGO groups like Jemaah 
Islam.  They chanted verses and waved banners reading, "We 
are ready to sacrifice for Islam," "Don't touch on the 
sensitivity of Islam," and "Stop Anti-Islam Act." 
 
Muslims Also Organizing Themselves 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) On July 24, over 10,000 Muslims attended a forum in 
Kuala Lumpur entitled "The Shari'a and Current Issues." 
Centered around the contentious issue of apostasy, speakers 
called on authorities to strengthen the country's Islamic 
institutions.  The forum resolved that Malaysia be widely 
viewed as an Islamic state, that legal prohibitions against 
prostelytizing Muslims be strictly enforced, and that 
individual behavior of Muslims be considered a matter of 
public accountability.  In addition, Muslim civil and Shari'a 
lawyers recently set up a group called "Lawyers in Defense of 
Islam" to counter perceived attacks on Islam, and several 
Islamic NGOs have likewise formed a coalition called 
"Pembela" (Defenders of Islam).  Pembela planned to hold a 
demonstration on July 28 in front of the Federal 
Court building to push for rejection of Lina Joy's 
application to renounce Islam (refs A and C), but a public 
statement by PM Abdullah (see paragraph below) forced them to 
cancel the demonstration. 
 
Prime Minister Warns Against Religious Debate 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6. (SBU) On July 25, PM Abdullah Badawi urged an end to 
public discussions about sensitive religious topics.  He 
ordered an immediate stop to all Article 11 fora, claiming 
that "they are bound to raise tension in Malaysia's 
multi-religious society."  He also warned the media by 
saying, "The issue of religion is very sensitive, more 
sensitive than the issue of race, so the press should be 
responsible and not blow it up.  They should not report news 
that could cause anger or tension, and result in something 
undesirable."  For the first time, in his dual role as 
Internal Security Minister, the PM expanded his recurrent 
warnings to the mainstream media to include alternative news 
sources such as bloggers and Internet-based news providers. 
He reminded the alternative media that they face potential 
GOM action under the same criminal defamation and sedition 
statutes as mainstream media providers.  On August 6, Deputy 
Internal Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow reiterated the PM's 
earlier comments by saying, "Actions that provoke Muslims' 
sensitivities to the extent of disturbing the peace are in 
conflict with the 
federal constitution." 
 
Applicable to Muslims, Too 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (U) The Prime Minister's comments also applied to Muslim 
groups, a point repeated and emphasized by Home Minister 
Radzi Sheikh Ahmad on August 10.  "What the Prime Minister 
said is meant for everybody.  It is not applicable only to 
non-Muslims...  The Prime Minister asked everyone to cool off 
and hold on."  The Home Minister spoke in reaction to two 
seminars announced for the August 12-13 weekend focused on 
defending Muslim rights and combating apostasy. 
 
¶8. (C) A leading member of Article 11, Ramdass Tikamdas of 
the Human Rights Society of Malaysia (HAKAM), expressed his 
disappointment to us over the PM's statements and questioned 
the Prime Minister's claim to represent all Malaysians.  He 
said, "How can the PM, who claims to be the PM for all 
Malaysians, say we cannot discuss these issues?"  Commenting 
on the general silence emanating from moderate ethnic Malays 
about the religious freedom debate, Tikamdas warned, "If 
reasonable and rational Malays do not make a stand now, all 
will be lost."  Another Article 11 leader, Ivy Josiah, 
questioned, "What Islam Hadhari is the PM advocating?  Is he 
supporting mob rule?"  She noted Abdullah's targeting of 
Article 11 activities, while Muslim groups used mosques to 
advance their religious and legal agendas, as they did with 
their recent forum on apostasy.  The Article 11 group is 
seeking an appointment with Abdullah to present their 
concerns. 
 
Protecting the Islamic Flank 
---------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) In January, the PM's non-Muslim cabinet members sent 
him a letter requesting a review of constitutional provisions 
affecting the legal rights of non-Muslims.  The historically 
unprecedented letter was quickly withdrawn by the ministers, 
following strong public rebukes by UMNO Muslim leaders (ref 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001516  003 OF 003 
 
 
D) and conservative Muslim intellectuals.  During a recent 
public roundtable, Law Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz claimed that 
vocal Islamic hardliners within the Islamic opposition party 
PAS were prompting the Malay ruling party UMNO to pursue 
actions and policies "we do not believe in" in order to win 
greater political support from Muslims.  He proclimed, "We 
are doing a disservice to our nation," and he urged 
secular-minded Muslims to "speak up, even at the risk of 
being labeled as infidels or apostates."  Constitutional law 
expert Shad Saleem Farruqi told us, "In this country in the 
last twenty years, a certain amount of Talibanization has 
taken place," as Malay politicians aligned themselves with an 
increasingly conservative Muslim electorate.  Malaysian Bar 
Council President Yeoh Yang Poh expanded on Shad's 
assessment, predicting that Malaysia was "on the road to 
disaster," if constitutional guarantees on religious freedom 
and separation continued to erode. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10. (C) The Malaysian government is clearly concerned over 
the direction and divisiveness of the religious freedom 
debates and their potential effects on Malaysia's 
inter-religious, inter-ethnic relations.  Ironically, Prime 
Minister Abdullah made possible these debates through gradual 
relaxation of GOM controls over the press and public 
expression since 2003.  Both non-Muslim and Muslim groups 
have taken advantage of this new space to raise publicly the 
most sensitive questions concerning the role of Islam in 
Malaysia and the meaning of religious freedom for Malaysia's 
substantial non-Muslim minorities.  The Prime Minister's 
comments and those of his cabinet have drawn a boundary to 
such discussions; we will see how far the government is 
willing to go with enforcement and whether this favors the 
politically powerful Muslim majority.  Increased 
self-censorship in the media is one likely outcome.  Keeping 
a lid on the current debate while avoiding a major reversal 
of civil liberties will prove no easy task given the deep 
concerns of non-Muslims over gradual Islamization in 
Malaysia, the politically-charged religious conversion cases 
now before the courts, and the political leverage wielded by 
conservative Muslim Malays.  In the end, Malaysia still will 
need to face the fundamental issue of the constitutional 
guarantees on religious freedom. 
LAFLEUR