MALAYSIA: Torture can never be justified under any circumstance
suaram
International Day in
Support of Victims of Torture
26 June 2008
Joint Press Statement by
Abolish ISA Movement (AIM)/GMI
Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM)
Human Rights Committee, Bar Council
MALAYSIA: Torture can never be justified under any circumstance
On the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Abolish ISA Movement/Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI), a coalition of 80 organisations, together with Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Amnesty International (AI) and Human Rights Committee, Bar Council (HRC) would like to call on the government of Malaysia to show its commitment towards abolishing torture and other forms of ill-treatment by signing, ratifying and implementing the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as well as the Optional Protocol to this Convention (OPCAT).
Torture and ill-treatment remain widespread in
Malaysia, especially against
individuals detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
The most recent case involves an
ISA detainee, Sanjeev Kumar
Krishnan, who is now suffering from torture that he had to endure during his
first 60 days of detention.
According to the police report made by his wife, Sharmila a/p Uthiakumar (made on 20 May 2008), Sanjeev was detained under the ISA on 28 July 2007 in Tanjung Malim, Perak. During the first 60 days of detention, Sanjeev was reportedly kicked and beaten on his body and head. His ribs were kicked while his left leg and hand were beaten several times using a hard object. He was also beaten with a bottle filled with water. During the process, he was further forced several times to drink his own urine. His private parts were beaten and his anus was shoved with a hard object. Since then he has complained of difficulties in moving his left leg and hand and he now has to use a wheel chair.
According to ex-ISA and current ISA detainees, the police have applied no less that 59 types of mental and physical torture, among them, round-the-clock interrogation, sleep deprivation, forcing detainees to strip naked during interrogation, forcing them to urinate in a bottle, forcing them to drink the spittle of their interrogators, shaving and burning their beards, ordering the detainees to make tea and to massage their interrogators, threatening to arrest their family members, kicking and beating the detainees etc. Many of these instances have been well-documented by reliable and credible sources.
On 18 October 2007, an ex-ISA detainee Abdul Malek Hussin won a lawsuit against the Government over his arrest and torture in 1998, and was awarded RM2.5 million in damages. Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Mohd Hishamuddin Mohd Yunus ruled that Abdul Malek’s detention was unlawful and that he had been assaulted and tortured under custody. In his judgement, the judge also noted the existence of “torture chambers” and that acts of torture committed by the police personnel still went unpunished. International law unequivocally prohibits torture and all forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The irrefutable evidence revealed in Abdul Malek’s civil suit against the Malaysian Government for his unlawful detention under the ISA in 1998 reaffirms the fact that torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment goes hand-in-hand with detention without trial.
The ISA was originally enacted to succeed emergency laws
aimed at combating the communist insurgency in the 1940s and 1950s. It has
however been used against political dissidents, students, and labour activists.
Since then, the ISA has been also
used against those who commit acts deemed to be “prejudicial to the security of
Malaysia” or which threaten the
“maintenance of essential services” or “economic life.” The Government
determines which acts fall into these categories and, using a strained
interpretation of the legislation, has detained scores of individuals under the
ISA in cases that would normally
require prosecution.
The failure of Malaysia in ratifying the United
Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading
Punishment (CAT) and its Optional
Protocol further reveals that the culture of torture and impunity is tolerated
by the Government despite it being a member of the UN Human Rights Council.
On this occasion on 26 June 2008, we call on Malaysia to show its commitment in stopping acts of torture and other forms of ill-treatment by signing, ratifying and implementing the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as well as the Optional Protocol to this Convention (OPCAT) and by taking all necessary steps to guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.