General background

• Population of 34.4 million in 2026 (34.2 million in 2025) with 47.5% female, 11% non-citizens, and a median age of 31.3 years in 2025 (30.9 years in 2024)
• Upper-middle-income economy with per-capita gross national income annual growth of 6.4% and higher than average income inequality (Gini index of 39)
• 13-state federation with parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
• The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) is the national human rights institution

International obligations and commitments

Of the nine core international human rights instruments, Malaysia is party to only three – CEDAW, CRC, and CRPD. Malaysia ties with Brunei having the fewest ratifications in the region lagging behind all other Southeast Asian countries.

Malaysia acceded to CEDAW in July 1995. However, it maintains reservations to Article 9(2) (equal right to confer nationality on children) and parts of Article 16(1) (marriage and family relations) declaring the interpretation of the convention is subject to the Federal Constitution and sharia law. Earlier reservations to Articles 2(f), 5(a), 7(b), 9(1), and 16(2) were withdrawn in 1998 and 2010.

Article 8(2) of the Federal Constitution was amended in 2001 to add “gender” to the grounds on which discrimination is prohibited, and laws such as the Domestic Violence Act 1994 and the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act 2022 give partial effect to the Convention. Malaysia still has no comprehensive gender equality law.

Malaysia acceded to CRC in February 1995. Reservations remain to Articles 2, 7, 14, 28(1)(a), and 37 covering non-discrimination, name and nationality, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, free primary education, and freedom from torture and arbitrary detention.

Malaysia is also party to the two CRC optional protocols, on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

CRC principles are domesticated chiefly through the Child Act 2001, which consolidated Malaysia’s earlier child protection laws, and the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017.

Malaysia signed CRPD in April 2008 and ratified the convention in July 2010. However, it considers Article 15 (freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment) and Article 18 (liberty of movement and nationality) as non-binding.

The CRPD optional protocol has not been ratified.

Domestically, the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008 was enacted ahead of ratification. The law has yet to be fully harmonised with CRPD and disability is still not a ground for protection against discrimination under the Federal Constitution.

Other treaties

Beyond the nine core treaties, Malaysia is not party to other key international human rights instruments including:

• 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol;
• Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (accession withdrawn in April 2019);
• 1948 Genocide Convention, and
• Conventions on Statelessness.

Malaysia has ratified 8 of the 10 fundamental labour rights conventions having denounced ILO Convention 105 on the abolition of forced labour in January 1990 (originally ratified in 1958). It has not ratified ILO Convention 87 (on freedom of association and protection of the right to organise) and ILO Convention 111 (on employment and occupation discrimination).

Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) reviews every member state’s overall human rights record through the UPR process, in which other member states make recommendations that the government accepts, in full or in part, or “notes”. Malaysia has undergone four reviews since 2009.

Other commitments

Malaysia has been elected as a member of UNHRC three times serving the 2006–2009, 2010–2013, and 2022–2024 terms. During these periods, it has co-sponsored the following UNHRC resolutions, indicating firm commitments to human rights issues at the international level:

• Safety of the child in the digital environment (A/HRC/RES/56/6)
• Promoting Human Rights and Sustainable Development Goals through Transparent, Accountable and Efficient Public Services Delivery (A/HRC/RES/52/8)
• The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment (A/HRC/RES/48/13)
• Ensuring respect for international human rights law and international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel (A/HRC/RES/S-30/1)
• The safety of journalists (A/HRC/RES/39/6)

Global ranking: Where Malaysia stands?

Malaysia consistently sits in the middle of international rankings measuring key indicators for human rights and democracy.

Legal framework

The Federal Constitution provides for:

• Article 5: right to life and personal liberty;
• Article 6: prohibition of slavery and forced labour;
• Article 7: protection against retrospective criminal laws and double jeopardy;
• Article 8: right to equality;
• Article 9: prohibition of banishment and right to freedom of movement;
• Article 10(1)(a): right to freedom of speech and expression;
• Article 10(1)(b): right to freedom of peaceful assembly;
• Article 10(1)(c): right to freedom of association;
• Article 11: right to freedom of religion;
• Article 12: right to non-discrimination in education;
• Article 13: right to property; and
• Article 119: right to vote.

Articles 9, 10, 12, and 119 are guaranteed to citizens only whilst the rest extend to all persons. In practice, the following laws are often cited as restricting the constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental liberties:

• Personal liberty (particularly laws permitting detention without trial):
  • Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA),
  • Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (POCA),
  • Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (POTA),
  • Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985;
• Speech and expression:
  • Sedition Act 1948,
  • Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA, particularly Section 233, broadened in 2024 amendment),
  • Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA),
  • Official Secrets Act 1972 (OSA),
  • Penal Code provisions on criminal defamation (Sections 499–500) and “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy” (Sections 124B),
  • Online Safety Act 2024 (OnSA);
• Peaceful assembly: Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA);
• Association:
  • Societies Act 1966, and
  • Universities and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA).

The right to privacy does not have express guarantee in the Federal Constitution but it is read into Article 5 (right to life and personal liberty) per case law. The Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (PDPA) is limited to commercial transactions and do not apply to the government. Malaysia does not have national freedom of information (FOI) law. Only two states have implemented FOI – Penang and Selangor – and this right to information is not expressly guaranteed in the Federal Constitution but implied in Article 10(1)(a) (see Sivarasa Rasiah v Badan Peguam Malaysia & Anor).

Recent developments

• Online Narratives and Digital Threats: The Spread of Misinformation, Disinformation, and Hate Speech Against Rohingya Refugees in Malaysia (cijmalaysia.net)
  May 24, 2026 · Centre for Independent Journalism
• Committee on the Rights of the Child: Concluding observations on the combined second to fourth periodic reports of Malaysia (CRC/C/MYS/CO/2-4)
  February 5, 2026 · Committee on the Rights of the Child
• Consideration of reports of States Parties – Replies of Malaysia to the list of issues in relation to its combined second to fourth periodic reports (CRC/C/MYS/RQ/2-4)
  February 5, 2026 · Committee on the Rights of the Child
• The State of Freedom of Expression in Malaysia 2025 (cijmalaysia.net)
  December 9, 2025 · Centre for Independent Journalism
• Malaysia Human Rights Report 2025 (suaram.net)
  December 5, 2025 · SUARAM
• Visit to Malaysia – Report of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Claudia Mahler (A/HRC/60/24/Add.1)
  July 4, 2025 · Human Rights Council
• Malaysian Media Landscape: A Snapshot of 2024 (cijmalaysia.net)
  May 16, 2025 · Centre for Independent Journalism

Compiled by Khairil Zhafri ([email protected])