Suhakam

What Suhakam does

Suhakam (Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia, or the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia) is a statutory body established by the Malaysian government to monitor, promote, and advise on human rights protection within the country. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, the commission operates as Malaysia's official national human rights institution with a mandate that no private organization can replicate. Its core work centers on reviewing laws, policies, and practices against human rights standards, issuing public statements on rights-related issues, and engaging government agencies, electoral bodies, and political parties to embed rights-based practices into state operations.

The commission's current strategic focus, as evidenced in the source data, is on inclusive electoral participation for persons with disabilities. Suhakam has called on the Malaysian Electoral Commission, other government agencies, and political parties to implement physical accessibility at polling stations, produce accessible election information formats, adopt disability-friendly voting procedures, and create pathways for people with disabilities to be nominated as election candidates. The scale of the issue is substantial: 28,976 registered voters with disabilities were identified in Negeri Sembilan alone ahead of a state election, underscoring the structural barriers the commission seeks to address.

Suhakam does not operate as a commercial enterprise. It is funded by the Malaysian government as a public statutory body, with 51-100 employees and no commercial revenue model, pricing structure, or distribution channels. All output is advocacy and policy-oriented, distributed through official communications to government bodies, agencies, political parties, and the public. There are no disclosed subsidiaries, no funding rounds, no acquisitions, no patents, no proprietary technology products, and no commercial partnerships. The commission's institutional influence derives entirely from its statutory mandate and the credibility of its 25-year operational track record.

Name

Suhakam

Legal name

Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (Human Rights Commission of Malaysia)

Website

https://suhakam.org.my

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Suhakam is Malaysia's statutory Human Rights Commission, established in 2000 to monitor, promote, and advise on human rights protection. It serves persons with disabilities, government agencies, the Electoral Commission, and political parties, with a current focus on inclusive electoral participation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Human Rights Commission

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Human Rights Monitoring, Documentation & Advocacy (BPADAGAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB), Disability Rights & Accessibility Advocacy (BPAGAFAF)

Keywords

• Human rights monitoring
• Human rights advocacy
• Statutory advisory
• Rights protection
• Electoral inclusion

Headquarters

HQ city

Kuala Lumpur

HQ country

Malaysia

HQ region

Asia

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Core offering

Suhakam is Malaysia's national statutory human rights commission that monitors, promotes, and advises on human rights protection across the country. The organization engages in policy advocacy, public awareness, and works with government bodies and political parties to ensure inclusive participation, with a specific recent focus on inclusive electoral processes for persons with disabilities ahead of the Negeri Sembilan state election.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Human Rights Monitoring Ongoing monitoring of the human rights situation in Malaysia, with public reporting and statutory advisory functions to protect and promote fundamental rights for citizens.
• Policy Advocacy and Advisory Statutory advisory services provided to government bodies, agencies, and political parties on human rights compliance and inclusive practices.
• Electoral Inclusion Advocacy Specific advocacy for inclusive electoral participation, including physical accessibility requirements at polling stations, accessible election information formats, disability-friendly voting procedures, and initiatives promoting people with disabilities as election candidates.
• Public Awareness and Education Public statements, press releases, and awareness efforts to promote human rights understanding in Malaysia and reach the broader public.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves2 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Broad incumbents

• Australian Human Rights Commission: Australia's national human rights institution with a broader, more established mandate covering human rights and equal opportunity. A more mature and well-resourced peer operating in the same institutional category.
• National Human Rights Commission of Korea: South Korea's national human rights institution with comparable statutory mandate. A more mature and better-resourced institutional peer in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Canadian Human Rights Commission: Canada's federal human rights institution with comparable statutory mandate to promote and protect human rights. A more established and well-resourced institutional peer in a Commonwealth jurisdiction.
• Equality and Human Rights Commission (UK): Britain's statutory body for human rights and equality with broader remit and substantially greater resources. Comparable institutional model at a much larger scale.

Emerging players

• Provedor for Human Rights and Justice of Timor-Leste: Timor-Leste's national human rights institution with mandate to monitor, advocate, and advise on human rights. An emerging institutional peer in a smaller Southeast Asian jurisdiction with similar scope.

Direct peers

• National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC): India's statutory national human rights institution established by statute with a comparable mandate to monitor, promote, and protect human rights. Most directly comparable peer given similar statutory structure, national scope, and quasi-governmental status.
• Human Rights Commission of New Zealand: New Zealand's national human rights institution with mandate to promote and protect human rights under statute. Closely comparable in scope, statutory grounding, and operational model.

Regional players

• National Human Rights Commission of Thailand (NHRCT): Thailand's national human rights institution with mandate to promote and protect human rights. Comparable regional peer with similar statutory role in a neighboring ASEAN jurisdiction.
• Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP): The Philippines' constitutional human rights commission with comparable investigative, monitoring, and advisory functions. A directly comparable Southeast Asian peer with a similar institutional mandate.
• Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM): Indonesia's national human rights commission with an analogous monitoring and advocacy mandate. A strong regional peer operating in the same Southeast Asian context with similar statutory authority.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MalaysiaNHRI
• Facebookfacebook.com/SUHAKAM
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/human-rights-commission-of-malaysia-suhakam

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Suhakam