Irene Fernandez

{{Short description|Malaysian human rights activist (1946–2014)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Irene Fernandez

| honorific-suffix =

| image = File:Irene Fernandez 2008.jpg

| image_size = 200px

| caption = Fernandez in 2008

| awards = Right Livelihood Award

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| birth_name = Irene Fernandez

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1946|4|18|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Malaysia

| residence = Malaysia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|3|31|1946|4|18|df=yes}}

| death_place = Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

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| citizenship = Malaysian

| party = People's Justice Party

| religion =

| occupation = Human rights activist
Politician

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Irene Fernandez (18 April 1946 – 31 March 2014) was a Malaysian human rights activist and politician. She was a People's Justice Party (KeADILan) supreme council member [http://www.therocket.com.my/en/wishes-from-civil-society-tenaganita/ The Rocket - DAP Newsletter] and the director and co-founder of the non-governmental organization Tenaganita, which promotes the rights of migrant workers and refugees in Malaysia.{{cite web |url=http://www.tenaganita.net/our-founder/ |title=Our Founder:Irene Fernandez |date= |work=TENAGANITA |accessdate=31 March 2014}}

In 1995, Irene Fernandez published a report on the living conditions of the migrant workers

entitled "Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Conditions of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres".{{cite news|url=http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/24/nation/20081124141426&sec=nation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217234418/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2008%2F11%2F24%2Fnation%2F20081124141426&sec=nation|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-12-17|title=Activist Irene Fernandez acquitted|publisher=TheStar Online|accessdate=2008-08-24}} The report was based in part on information given to her by Steven Gan and a team of reporters from The Sun, who had uncovered evidence that 59 inmates, primarily Bangladeshis, had died in the Semenyih immigration detention camp of the preventable diseases typhoid and beriberi.{{cite web |url=http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/icij/journalists/profile/791/ |title=ICIJ Journalists: Steven Gan |author= |date= |publisher=International Consortium of Investigative Journalists |accessdate=29 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100404032452/http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/icij/journalists/profile/791/ |archive-date=4 April 2010 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports/article/101376/Virtual-Democracy-in-Malaysia.aspx |title=Virtual Democracy in Malaysia |author=Steven Gan |date=Summer 2002 |publisher=Nieman Reports |accessdate=29 January 2012}} When Gan and his colleagues were blocked by Sun editors from printing the report in the paper, they passed it to Fernandez.{{cite web |url=http://cpj.org/awards/2000/awards00.php |title=IPF Awards 2000 - Announcement |author= |year=2000 |publisher=Committee to Protect Journalists |accessdate=29 January 2012}}

She was arrested in 1996 and charged with 'maliciously publishing false news'. After seven years of trial, she was found guilty in 2003 and convicted to one year's imprisonment. Released on bail pending her appeal, her passport was held by the courts, and as a convicted criminal, she was barred from standing as parliamentary candidate in the 2004 Malaysian elections.{{citation needed|date=January 2012}}

In 2005, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for "her outstanding and courageous work to stop violence against women and abuses of migrant and poor workers".{{cite web|url=http://www.rightlivelihood.org/irene-fernandez.html|title=Right Livelihood Award Recipient: Irene Fernandez|publisher=rightlivelihood.org|accessdate=2006-08-30|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020160022/http://www.rightlivelihood.org/irene-fernandez.html|archivedate=2007-10-20}}

Irene Fernandez's appeal at the High Court resumed on 28 October 2008. On 24 November 2008, Justice Mohamed Apandi Ali overturned her earlier conviction and acquitted her, ending the thirteen-year case.{{cite news|url=http://www.mysinchew.com/node/18566|title=Irene Fernandez Freed|publisher=Sin Chew|accessdate=2008-08-24}}{{cite web |url=http://www.fidh.org/Ms-Irene-Fernandez-finally |title=Ms. Irene Fernandez finally acquitted! |author= |date=25 November 2008 |publisher=International Federation for Human Rights |accessdate=30 January 2012}}

She died on 31 March 2014 of heart failure.{{cite news|url=http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/03/31/Activist-Irene-Fernandez-dies/|title=Activist Irene Fernandez dies|newspaper=The Star Online|accessdate=2014-03-31}}{{cite news |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2014/03/31/malaysians-pay-tribute-to-irene-fernandez/|title=Malaysians pay tribute to Irene Fernandez|author1= Rashvinjeet S. Bedi |author2= L. Suganya |date=31 March 2014 |work=The Star |accessdate=31 March 2014}}