Malaysian inquiry urges reform of security laws

Malaysian inquiry urges reform of security laws

Jalil Hamid, Reuters/Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian police have been abusing powers of preventive detention and should no longer be permitted to use internal security laws to sidestep courts and lock up suspects, an official inquiry found on Monday.

Malaysia's most sweeping inquiry into its police force since independence in 1957 found the police to be the most corrupt department of government, and said it should be overseen by an independent watchdog.

It said the police attracted 5,726 complaints of corruption from 1999 to 2003. One dramatic instance quoted by the inquiry report was a police officer who was said to have assets of more than 34 million ringgit (US$9 million), but it did not elaborate.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said he is forming a special panel to consider how best to act on the recommendations, which the report wants tackled by deadlines ranging from next month to May 2007 in most cases, although a few run up to 2010.

The 634-page report took a swipe at Malaysia's notorious Internal Security Act (ISA), heavily criticized by human rights groups which say it has been used to jail political dissidents for two or more years without trial.

"Preventive laws are not necessary as they breach individual's human rights and deny one's right to be tried in the open court as provided under the constitution and universal human rights laws," the commission said in its report.

"This right has to be preserved."

Among its 125 recommendations, it said ISA detainees should appear before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest and be allowed legal representation. If this is denied on reasonable grounds, they should be allowed to see family and lawyers within seven days, the commission said.

About 100 people are now detained in Malaysian jails under the ISA. They include about 60 suspected Islamic militants.

Rights groups reacted positively to the report.

"We welcome the fact that the report has been made public, because it shows a commitment to transparency," Josef Roy Benedict, of Amnesty International in Malaysia, which campaigned for the report to be made public, told Reuters.

"I can't remember any other time when a whole list of comprehensive recommendations has been made like this, and certainly not for the police," he added.

Amnesty was optimistic Malaysia would implement the recommendations, Benedict said.

"There's never been a task force on their part," he added. "There is also a timeline on these recommendations. These are indications that they are committed to reform."

Another rights group called the report a step in the right direction, but said additional measures were required.

"On the eradication of corruption, I haven't seen any concrete suggestions, though there are suggestions on crime," said Arulchelvam Subramaniam, program officer with Malaysian rights body Suaram.

He urged Abdullah's panel to issue regular reports on progress made toward implementing the report's recommendations.

"Three or six-monthly reports of progress would keep people aware of the progress of reforms," he said.

Malaysian police have been plagued by accusations of brutality, corruption and inefficiency, especially after the 1998 arrest and jailing of former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim on charges widely regarded as politically inspired.

Anwar was initially detained under the ISA, an anti-communist relic of British colonial rule, in 1998 after leading street protests against then premier Mahathir Mohamad.

The commission, headed by a former judge, said police often took the easy way out when they found no concrete evidence and arrested suspects under preventive laws such as the ISA.

"Although such laws have helped ensure Malaysia's peace and security, the commission feels that not all preventive laws in the country are necessary," it said. The commission stopped short of saying which laws were unnecessary.

Anwar, beaten during his first few days in custody by the then police chief and denied lawyer access, was freed last September, earning praise from foreign investors for Abdullah.

Anwar remains an outspoken critic of police and the courts.