Malaysian police guilty of rights abuses: Inquiry<\/p>\n
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Malaysia's police were guilty of
\nviolating human rights and \"cruel and inhuman\" treatment of
\ndetainees after a mass anti-government protest last November, a
\ntop-level inquiry found Monday.<\/p>\n
The government-backed Human Rights Commission of Malaysia, in
\na 66-page report of its first public inquiry since it was
\nestablished in April last year, found police used excessive force
\nagainst protesters.<\/p>\n
Water cannon and teargas were brought to bear on some 5,000
\nsupporters of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim gathered on
\nthe Kesas highway near Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 5 and 116 people were
\ndetained.<\/p>\n
Police had declared a planned rally in support of Anwar
\nillegal and blocked access to the venue, sparking the
\ndemonstration led by key opposition leaders including Anwar's
\nwife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.<\/p>\n
Some detainees later complained to the commission -- known by
\nits Malay acronym Suhakam -- of police brutality and a three-
\nmember panel began the inquiry in December.<\/p>\n
\"The panel is clearly of the view that there were several
\nviolations of human rights arising from the Kesas highway
\nincident,\" the head of the panel, former chief justice Anuar
\nZainal Abidin, told a press conference.<\/p>\n
He cited the use of force on demonstrators, confiscating and
\ncausing damage to private property, causing injury to detainees
\nand a delay in providing medical aid to them.<\/p>\n
The human rights commission, which interviewed 16 police
\nofficials, said it had not pinpointed the officers involved in
\nthe alleged abuses, but stressed that police had committed
\noffenses including \"the cruel and inhuman treatment of
\ndetainees.\"<\/p>\n
\"The agency responsible for the human rights violations is the
\npolice, (but) no individuals have been identified, apart from two
\nofficers who were named for kicking a car,\" the report said.<\/p>\n
\"The agency responsible for the human rights violations is the
\npolice,\" it said.<\/p>\n
\"The panel finds that the treatment of persons detained was
\ncruel and inhuman.\"<\/p>\n
Anuar blamed the violations on \"total denial and domination
\naction,\" a police term referring to steps taken to gain total
\ncontrol of a situation.<\/p>\n
The panel said it was \"extremely disturbed\" that special
\nbranch police later gathered security intelligence by questioning
\ndetainees on matters unrelated to the alleged offence they were
\nheld for.<\/p>\n
It voiced concern over \"misuse of police bail for an
\nindefinite period\" and said those not charged within a month
\nshould be released unconditionally.<\/p>\n
The panel said it was not an offense to wear a tee-shirt
\nbearing a picture of Anwar, and criticized police for detaining a
\n17-year-old girl for five days on that basis.<\/p>\n
It said an attack on a plainclothes police officer at the time
\nwas probably \"orchestrated to turn an otherwise peaceful
\ngathering into a violent one.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, lawyers have filed a court application seeking to
\nfree the son of the spiritual leader of Malaysia's opposition
\nIslamic party detained under a security law, an official said
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
A 'habeas corpus' application was submitted Sunday to a high
\ncourt in eastern Kelantan state to challenge the arrest of Nik
\nAdli Nik Abdul Aziz under the Internal Security Act (ISA), said
\nParti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) youth chief Mahfuz Omar.<\/p>\n
The hearing has been fixed for Sept. 5, the Sun newspaper
\nreported.<\/p>\n
Nik Adli, 34, is a teacher at a religious school in Kelantan
\nand the son of Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, PAS's influential
\nspiritual leader and Kelantan chief minister.<\/p>\n
He was among 10 people arrested earlier this month under the
\nISA, which allows indefinite detention without trial, on
\nsuspicion of being members of the so-called \"Malaysian Mujahideen
\nGroup\" waging a \"holy war.\"<\/p>",
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