The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) will move its Human Rights Day celebration to Sunday (Dec 9).
It tweeted on Friday (Dec 7): “Suhakam’s #HumanRightsDay celebration will now be held on 9 December 2018. Join us in #StandingUpForHumanRights.”
Earlier, Suhakam said it will be postponing their Human Rights Day celebration on Saturday (Dec 8).
Suhakam chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail said it is with “deep regret and disappointment” that the celebration will be postponed to a later date.
He said that the police had informed them and the Prime Minister’s Office, without divulging further details, on the “serious security risks” arising out of tomorrow’s events that borders on national security.
“Suhakam is disappointed that a government that is committed to human rights would seem to be influenced by tactics of pressure and extremism that has resulted in the need to postpone the celebration that was planned a few months ago.
“We apologise profusely to the public, our guests, the participants and volunteers to our celebration,” he said in a statement on Friday.
Razali had said that the decision to hold the Human Rights Day celebration on Saturday at Padang Timur was decided back in October.
It would have coincided with the anti-ICERD (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) rally scheduled to take place at Kuala Lumpur’s Dataran Merdeka from 2pm to 6pm.
Held from 9am to 3pm, the Human Rights Day celebration will have Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the guest-of-honour.