Human Rights Defenders #1: Tan Sri Razali Ismail

In this eight-part series with The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), we speak to the eight appointed commissioners about their work, find out why they are passionate about human rights, and the issues that they will pursue during their three-year terms. On this first episode, SUHAKAM’s chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail gives us an overview of the commission’s mandate, how he would like to make the government more responsive to human rights, and what we should do to address the refugee situation in our country.

Tan Sri Razali retired from the government in 1998 after 35 years in the foreign service. After retirement, he was the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Myanmar from 2000 to 2005, where he worked on securing the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest and assisted in the country's transition to democracy.