Human rights activist Irene Fernandez dies

Human rights activist and Tenaganita Executive Director Irene Fernandez passed away today due to heart failure.

Her sister and fellow activist Josie Fernandez confirmed this matter to Astro AWANI.

“Irene passed away at 10.58am at the Coronary Care Unit of the Serdang Hospital.

“Close family members were by her side when she took her last breath,” Josie said adding that her last wish is to be cremated.

Irene, 67, who leaves behind a husband and three children, was hospitalised in the Serdang Hospital since Tuesday.

Her body will be brought to her Seremban home before being brought to the family's home in Subang Jaya on Wednesday morning.

A funeral service will be held at the Divine Mercy Church in Shah Alam.

She will then be cremated and her ashes will be buried alongside their parents in their hometown, Sungai Petani, as she had wished.

The high school teacher gave up her teaching profession in 1970, to become a full-time organiser for young workers.

Always very vocal in the movements that she believed in and supported, she led many campaigns especially women-based ones such as the consumer programme for a breast-feeding campaign and stop violence against women campaign.

According to the Right Livelihood Award website, various women's groups mushroomed as a result of her campaigns including All Women's Action Society.

Irene also founded the Tenaganita organisation in 1991 and it campaigns for the rights of foreign workers, up to three million of who are in Malaysia.

In 1995, Irene published a report on the abuse of migrant workers, cataloguing the malnutrition, physical and sexual abuse and the appalling conditions the workers endure.

Titled Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Conditions of Migrant Workers in Detention Centres, the report led to her arrest a year later.

She was charged under Section 8A (1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

In 2003 she was found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison. By 2005, she was still on bail pending an appeal.

After 13 years of struggle, the social activist was finally freed from the charge after her conviction was set aside by the High Court.

Notably, 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", in 2005.