Irene Fernandez is a human rights defender in Malaysia, and the director of Tenaganita, a non-governmental organization that promotes the rights of migrant workers in Malaysia. In 1995, Tenaganita issued a report that documented ill-treatment of migrant workers in detention centres. The report demonstrated patterns of sexual abuse, denial of medical care and abuse in the detention centres. In March 1996, Irene Fernandez was arrested and charged with "maliciously publishing false news". The trial was the longest in the history of Malaysia, lasting seven years, during which Irene Fernandez appeared in court 310 times. On 16 October 2003, she was found guilty and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment.

Following Irene Fernandez's trial, the court stated that her case "must be made an example" for other non-governmental organizations and those criticizing the government. Her case is currently under appeal.

Amnesty Success Story!

There is no current action on this case, updates will be made available on this website.

Amnesty International's Concerns

There are an estimated 2.4 million migrant workers in Malaysia, half of them without legal papers. The government considers these undocumented migrants as "illegal immigrants", and regularly arrests and detains them in immigration detention centres, before deporting them. Amnesty International is concerned that poor conditions in detention centres and the documented patterns of abuse against those detained have not been addressed by the government.

Amnesty's Involvement

Amnesty International Canada has issued numerous appeals on the case of Irene Fernandez, including as part of our Stop Violence Against Women Campaign and our Greeting Card Campaign. In June 2006, Irene Fernandez was briefly in Canada to attend a conference, and also spoke at AI Canada's Toronto Office.