Dr. Irene Fernandez

Her Story

Dr. Irene Fernandez

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18 April 1946 – 31 March 2014

Place of Birth: Sungai Petani, Kedah

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Education

• Fr. Barre’s Convent, Sg Petani, Kedah (Primary & Secondary School)

• Teacher’s training college, Kuala Lumpur

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Working Experience (short summary)

• Young Christian Workers (YCW, Malaysia) - President, 1972 - 1975

• Consumer Association of Penang (CAP)

• All Women’s Action Society (AWAM) - founding member and first President

• Malaysian AIDS Council - founding member

• Asia Pacific Women Law and Development (APWLD) - founding member

• Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) - founding member

• Tenaganita - founder and Executive Director, 1991 - 2014

• Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN-AP) - Chairperson

• International Migrant Alliance (IMA) - founding member, Vice Chairperson

• Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM-Asia) - founding member, Director

• Committee on Asian Women - former executive member

• Asian Rural Women’s Coalition (ARWC) - steering committee member

• Coalition of Agricultural Workers International (CAWI) - steering committee member

• Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) - steering committee member

• People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS) - steering committee member

• Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on the human rights violations committed by the Aroyo administration (2007) - juror

• BERSIH People’s Tribunal on GE-13 - organising committee member

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“We belong to one race, the human race and we have only one earth. This solidarity of people must ensure that we put people and the planet before profits. The earth we are given is not just for us but also for those who come after us. They need a tomorrow and that rests on us today” - Irene Fernandez

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Irene was born on 18th April 1946 in Sg. Petani, Kedah. Her parents were migrants from Kerala, India - their migrant experience, and what she saw in the rubber plantations and estates in Kedah shaped her early perspectives on workers, poverty and migration. Trained as a teacher,  Irene felt frustrated with the restrictions in the school curriculum that did not allow her to address and respond to the multiple needs of her students, many of whom came from poor households, often coming to school hungry and tired, from working to support their families. She turned her frustration into activism, and soon began a life as an activist that would span over four decades until her passing. Foundational to her philosophical and analytical frameworks was the social justice teachings of the Catholic church, in particular the influence of liberation theology. Irene would often invoke the framework “see, judge, act” as a necessary grounding to move her into action. Following her formal work as a secondary school teacher (she would serve as a ‘teacher’ to many through the course of her life), Irene focused her energy on organising workers, in particular through the Malaysian chapter of the Young Christian Workers movement (YCW), where she served as the President of YCW Malaysia from 1972-1975, and as a member of the international committee from 1973-1975. In the 1970s, she worked with textile workers to organise the first textile workers union - she’d remain committed to strengthening trade unions, and in particular the development women leaders in the labour movement.

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Through the course of her life, Irene worked on a multiplicity of human rights issues, often moving where she felt she was most needed, and often with communities who were the most marginalized and disenfranchised. She often urged fellow activists to ‘move out of silos’, building alliances across communities and strong analyses and action across issues. Through her role in the Consumer Association of Penang (CAP) in the 1970s, Irene worked on building consumer education amongst the public, including the formation of consumer clubs in secondary schools. She was often committed to undertaking a multi-pronged strategy in her work - working with people and communities at individual levels, responding to needs, building knowledge, undertaking public campaigning and advocacy. Her work on consumer rights, workers rights and gender justice also led her to lead campaigns to support the right of women to breast-feed, and campaigns to boycott Nestle.

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Irene worked on addressing and ending all forms of sexual and gender-based violence - understanding that a gender lens was critical in every ‘issue area’. With other women’s rights activists, she campaigned for the Domestic Violence Act, and alongside her sister, Aegile Fernandez and colleagues, she started one off the first (if not the first) half-way home for women and children living with HIV/AIDS in Malaysia; she organised and worked with women in the plantation sector, intersecting health, workers rights and women’s rights, especially as it concerned women-pesticide sprayers. She was also critical in the founding of several women’s rights organisations and networks in Malaysia and in the region.

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In 1991, Irene founded Tenaganita (‘Women’s Force’), an organisation that was born out of the struggles of workers (in particular women workers) in the plantation and manufacturing sectors. The organisation then grew to focus on migrant workers, with the increased recruitment of migrant workers during Malaysia’s ‘development boom’ of the 1990s. In 1995, through the course of their work with migrants and on HIV/AIDS, Tenaganita submitted a short memorandum to the government on the ‘abuse, torture, and ill-treatment of migrants in Malaysia’s immigration detention centres’. The report was picked up by news outlets. In 1996, Irene was arrested and charged under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (1984) for “maliciously publishing false news”. In response to the charges, Irene and colleagues built a global campaign to expose the cruelty of immigration detention centres, and to defend the rights of migrants and refugees. She often said that she knew that the charges against her were intended to silence her -the only response then was to speak louder, and build people power in response to counter the intimidation. After 13-years of a trial that was widely criticised for being flawed and unjust, Irene was found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison. She was eventually acquitted.

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Although she’d dedicate the last two decades of her life to upholding and defending the rights of migrants and refugees (in Malaysia and globally), Irene was deeply connected to the Malaysian civil society movement, and to a multiplicity of campaigns and movements globally. She was a founding member of SUARAM, formed initially to support family members of Ops Lalang ISA detainees; she supported and campaigned for free and fair elections, through BERSIH and as an organising committee member of the People's Tribunal on Malaysia's 13th general election. In 2011, following the formation of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the death of Teoh Beng Hock, Irene joined the 7-member Royal Commission Watch Panel set up by civil society to monitor the performance of the Commission - she was also an active supporter in the justice for Beng Hock movement since it’s inception. She played a critical role in setting up Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN-AP) as a regional network, and served as Chairperson of the Steering Council. Through her work in PAN-AP, she worked to defend the rights of small farmers, indigenous peoples, agricultural workers and to promote and defend food sovereignty.

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Irene Fernandez’s work was expansive, grounded in a deep belief that the dignity of all human beings must be defended; she lived and worked to truly fulfil the indivisibility of human rights. She received many accolades for her commitment to human rights and to the struggle for justice, peace and dignity for all, always using the platforms she was given to further amplify the communities who were disenfranchised and spotlighting critical issues. She urged us to connect complex issues, to critique capitalism, to work at the micro level while understanding the global order (and to build struggles that created one in the vision of human rights).

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Irene passed away on 31st March 2014. She was 67 years old. Her legacy, however, lives on in all who knew and loved her, and in the reverberations of her incredible legacy.

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Awards:

• Human Rights Monitor Award by Human Rights Watch (1996)

• Amnesty International Award (1998)

• Honorary Doctorate in Social Medicine from  Vrije University in Amsterdam (2001)

• International PEN Award for Freedom of Expression (2004)

• Jonathan Mann Award for global health and human rights (2004)

• Right Livelihood Award (‘Alternative Nobel Peace Prize) (2005)

  • Watch: Irene Fernandez’s acceptance speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCobJ4LP9-0

• 1000 PeaceWomen Across the Globe, 1000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005

• Outstanding Person in the Struggle for Land - Asian Peasant Coalition (2013)

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TRIBUTES:

Dr. Irene Fernandez (1946-2014): A life full of meaning, dedicated to the people’s struggle (31 March 2014) - PAN AP Statement https://ipen.org/news/pan-ap-statement-dr-irene-fernandez-1946-2014-life-full-meaning-dedicated-people%E2%80%99s-struggle

Hundreds pay their respects to Irene Fernandez (April 2014) - Free Malaysia Today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8zaRT2J6fY

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Message on Irene Fernandez’s passing (2014) - Asian Peasant Coalition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxtwYwuAZoQ

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A tribute to Irene Fernandez (April 1, 2014) - Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/03/31/tribute-irene-fernandez

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In loving memory of Irene Fernandez (April 2, 2014) - Annie Freeda Cruez https://www.malaysianbar.org.my/article/news/legal-and-general-news/legal-news/in-loving-memory-of-irene-fernandez

BERSIH 2.0 mourns passing of Irene Fernandez – activist, friend, and a great daughter of Malaysia (31 March 2014) - BERSIH 2.0 https://bersih.org/2014/03/31/bersih-2-0-mourns-passing-of-irene-fernandez-activist-friend-and-a-great-daughter-of-malaysia/

Malaysia: ICJ pays tribute to human rights defender Irene Fernandez (April 2, 2014) - ICJ https://www.icj.org/malaysia-icj-pays-tribute-to-human-rights-defender-irene-fernandez/

Migrant, women, peasant groups mourn death of rights advocate Irene Fernandez (April 2, 2014) - https://www.bulatlat.com/2014/04/02/migrant-women-peasant-groups-mourn-death-of-rights-advocate-irene-fernandez/

Irene Fernandez: Anti-imperialist, well-loved by Filipinos (April 5, 2014) - https://pinoyweekly.org/2014/04/irene-fernandez-anti-imperialist-well-loved-by-filipinos/

Champion of oppressed given grand tribute-filled send-off (April 11, 2014) - The Herald/ Malaysian Insider https://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/champion-of-oppressed-given-grand-tribute-filled-send-off/19196/5

Irene’s passing marks the end of an era (April 3, 2014) - Charles Santiago https://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/258971

UNHCR mourns the passing of Irene Fernandez (April 3, 2014) - https://www.unhcr.org/my/news/unhcr-mourns-passing-irene-fernandez

Irene Fernandez: Speaking Truth to Power (April 9, 2014) - Sonia Randhawa https://www.newmandala.org/irene-fernandez-speaking-truth-to-power/

Tribute to Dr Irene Fernandez (April 6, 2014) , International Detention Coalition https://idcoalition.org/tribute-to-dr-irene-fernandez/

In Memorial, Irene’s Fighting Spirit Lives On (May 2, 2014) - Astro Awani https://international.astroawani.com/malaysia-news/memorial-irene-fernandezs-fighting-spirit-lives-35067

“Tenaganita transformed me into a sturdy banyan tree” - reflections from Jayanthi on the impact of Dr Irene Fernandez (October 2, 2021)  https://fb.watch/xYgGIbTLy-/

Mengingati Irene Fernandez - bersama Maria Chin - Melawan Lupa (2022) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqwFYj2Y77w