Rights group says ISA a 'recipe for abuse'

Rights group says ISA a 'recipe for abuse'

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Detainees in Malaysia have been beaten and humiliated under a notorious security law which is a "recipe for abuse", Human Rights Watch said in a new report on Wednesday.

The New York-based rights group compiled accounts of the abuse in December 2004 of more than 25 people being held under the harsh Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for indefinite detention without trial.

"Those held under the ISA are defined as a group that has virtually no rights, so it is hardly surprising that prison guards treat them as less than human," said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division.

"Malaysia's Internal Security Act, which gives the government unchecked powers to detain individuals for long periods without charge, is a recipe for abuse," the group said.

Mohamad Faiq Hafidh, who has been held since January 2002, said he had been continuously beaten at Malaysia's infamous Kamunting prison over two days in December.

"I was handcuffed ... and my head was pushed down to waist level. My head was struck with a baton and my eye was hit, injuring it," he said in the statement.

"When I reached room seven (of the cell block), I was continuously beaten and then forced to strip naked, ordered to crawl while entering the room and then my buttocks were kicked and that was how I stumbled inside, naked," he said.

Marking the 45th year the ISA has been in operation, former detainees said in August that they were routinely tortured during interrogations, stripped naked, beaten with broomsticks and threatened with rape.

Pressure group Abolish ISA Movement said some detainees had their heads bashed against the wall, needles stuck in their fingernails and nails inserted into their genitals. Some were forced to re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and made to drink urine, it said.

Human Rights Watch said no prison officials have been disciplined following the revelations and that the government denied its requests for an interview or to visit Kamunting.

"Malaysia's policy amounts to the executive branch presuming the guilt of people without charge or trial," Adams said in a statement.

The United Malays National Organization (UMNO) which has ruled Malaysia for nearly half a century has misused the ISA "to silence critics", resulting in the detention of more than 10,000 people since 1960, he said.

"Malaysia should end its use of ISA detention and rely on its robust criminal law and capable judiciary to tackle security and other alleged crimes," Adams said.

"Malaysia aspires to be a leader in the region and a developed country by 2020. The ISA is not a sign of leadership or development -- it is a sign of repression," he said urging the government to set up an independent inquiry into the allegations of abuse.

The ISA allows for two-year detention periods without trial, which can be renewed indefinitely.

Malaysia is currently holding over 100 people in detention under the act, more than 80 of whom are described as suspected Islamic militants.