The National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) accused the government of misleading the Universal Periodic Review Board about the practice of female circumcision (FC) in the country.
Suhakam chairman, Tan Sri Razali Ismail said that the inaccuracy in describing female circumcision as a Malaysian culture could further damage Malaysia’s international standing on human rights.
Malaysian delegates were in Geneva, Switzerland last week during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on human rights. The delegation team defended the practice of infant female circumcision as a "cultural obligation" in Malaysia.
Tan Sri Razali also said that Suhakam was disheartened with the “unconvincing and misleading” response, poorly attempted by the representative of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development in Geneva, that FGM was not practised in Malaysia.
Female circumcision is considered FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) by the UN World Health Organisation.
In Malaysia, the most prevalent form of ‘FGM’ among Muslims is Type I, where midwives or doctors remove the clitoral hood, usually when the girls are still infants or children.
The Deputy Prime Minister who is also the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, has reiterated the government's stand on female circumcision, calling it a part of Malaysian culture. She said this when commenting on the statement made by the delegates to the UPR. She also said that it is not the same as the mutilation (FGM) practised in Africa.
Photo: Utusan
Source: NST