[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein [official profile] on Thursday criticized Malaysia’s proposed anti-terrorism law [press release], known as the Prevention of Terrorism Act [Malaysian Insider report]. Zeid said that the proposed law threatens freedom of expression and would breach international human rights obligations. The act would amend Malaysia’s Sedition Act of 1948 [text], which has also been the subject of substantial international criticism. The proposed law would approve detention without trial [JURIST report], allowing authorities to detain suspects indefinitely, and it would bar suspects from challenging their detainment in court. The government argues the law is needed to fight Islamic militants, as dozens of Malaysians have been arrested since 2013 for suspected links to the Islamic State group.

The Islamic State (IS) [JURIST backgrounder] has caused increasing international alarm over its human rights abuses [JURIST report] since its insurgence into Syria and Iraq in 2013. Earlier this week, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website], Fatou Bensouda, said that although IS has been accused of widespread atrocities throughout Iraq and Syria, the ICC prosecutor’s office lacks jurisdiction [JURIST report] to open a formal investigation into the group. Last month the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) [official website] reported that the actions of IS in Iraq may amount to genocide [JURIST report], crimes against humanity and war crimes. Also in March the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the OHCHR jointly released a report [JURIST report] detailing violations against Iraqi civilians under the spread of IS.