Detention of 13 a step back from reforms, says human rights group

November 22, 2011

 

NEW YORK, Nov 22 — The police’s move to detain 13 people under the Internal Security Act (ISA) has contradicted Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s pledge in September 2011 to repeal the security law and is a setback for reform, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today in a letter to the prime minister.

“The detention of 13 people under the ISA shows that it’s still business as usual in Malaysia when it comes to trampling suspects’ basic rights,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at HRW.

“Prime Minister Najib should honour his pledge to rescind the ISA if his reform effort is to be taken seriously.”

The Special Operations Force arrested 13 people — seven of them Malaysians — on suspicion of militant activities in Tawau, Sabah, between November 14 and 16. The detainees have been linked to the Abu Omar group, a Kalimantan-based group implicated in criminal activities.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar alleged that the 13 were seeking to “revive militant activities in Sabah”.

HRW said Malaysia’s duty to provide security for its population needed to be consistent with international human rights standards, adding that the 13 should be prosecuted if there was evidence that they were involved in criminal offences.

“Unfortunately Malaysia’s law enforcers appear addicted to their power under the ISA to detain suspects without criminal charge and hold them without trial,” Robertson said.

HRW noted that the continued use of the ISA and other preventive detention laws ran contrary to Najib’s vision as expressed in his Malaysia Day address on September 15.

In calling for the repeal of the ISA, Najib said that Malaysia would be a “functional and inclusive democracy, where peace and public order are safeguarded in line with the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law and respect for basic human rights become a reality”.

Said Robertson: “The Sabah case highlights the need for the Malaysian government to address broader human rights concerns. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly urged the Malaysian government to abolish the ISA, the Emergency Ordinances, and other repressive laws and not to replace them with new rights-restricting legislation.

“Specifically, the government should abandon announced plans to enact two new laws under article 149 of the Malaysian Constitution, which would permit passage of laws with overly broad and vague security provisions that could be used to detain people without charge and deny basic freedoms.

“Malaysia pledged to respect human rights standards when it ran for a seat at the UN Human Rights Council,” Robertson said. “The renewed use of the ISA flies in the face of those pledges.”