[Malaysia] Abolish Emergency Ordinance?

Abolish The Emergency Ordinance!
by S. Arutchelvan, JUne 7, 2005
Suaram

In the past one week, there were numerous reports in the local dailies about how underworld thugs have been released and are now in the loose. SUARAM views the way the media and the authorities portray the use of Emergency Ordinance (EO) on these suspects as highly irresponsible and in bad taste.

In the past one week, there were numerous reports in the local dailies about how underworld thugs have been released and are now in the loose. SUARAM views the way the media and the authorities portray the use of Emergency Ordinance (EO) on these suspects as highly irresponsible and in bad taste. In the first place, EO or Public Order and Prevention of Crime Ordinance 1969 is an emergency law created after the May 13 incident. This law which allows for detention without trial is obsolete and cannot be used at current time. However, throughout the years, the government has comfortably used this law to detain people arbitrarily and without much evidence.

We are alarmed by reports of overcrowding in Simpang Renggam Detention Centre (where EO detainees are being kept) and the authorities’ growing inclination to detain people under this law. EO is not as (in)famous as the Internal Security Act (ISA). Yet, the number of EO detainees is 10 times the number of ISA detainees. According to the Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), as of November 2004, 1,007 people were detained under EO in Simpang Renggam Detention Camp.

While the police conveniently accuse these EO detainees are highly wanted criminals, the former has failed to provide sufficient and sensible evidence. We are puzzled by the way the authorities handle these cases. If these EO detainees are criminals who would endanger public order, on what grounds the authorities choose to detain them under the EO for a period of 2 years, instead of prosecuting them in an open court and serving them sentence corresponding to their offences?

The Malaysian police have comfortably taken short cuts to arrest people without trial under laws which is no longer applicable in current context. Numerous human rights violations and tortures committed by the police on these detainees have been reported. In fact, various levels of human rights violation and degrading conditions in Simpang Renggam Detention Centre were highlighted during a hunger strike partook by more than 400 EO detainees in the centre in last November.

Along with other leading and credible human rights organizations including Aliran and HAKAM, SUARAM has repeatedly called for the repeal of this draconian laws. In recent years, SUHAKAM as well as the Bar Council have also joined the call. In its newly released report, the Royal Commission on Police, under its recommendation No.61, states that the Act has outlived its purpose, that there has been issues of violations of human rights, and hence urges the government to repeal the EO.

In spite of all these calls, the circus around the EO continues. The local media seeking answers for how come so many EO detainees are on the loose. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister responded by saying that they are not to be freed, followed by the IGP’s proclaimation that the majority of the suspected underworld thugs released on technical grounds have been re-arrested. Then we have the Deputy Internal Security Minister who says that his ministry was unprepared for the avalanche of habeas corpus application.

The Royal Police Commission’s report has clearly pointed out pitfalls of shoddy investigation. The commission has recommended various steps for police to take on to improve their investigation. Rather than focusing on this aspect, it is deeply regrettable that the authorities as well as the political leaders simply ignore the calls for professionalism but irresponsibly talk about how to implement detention without trial laws more efficiently.

The comments by these people have failed to address the fundamental and globally acknowledged principle which emphasizes that everyone is innocent till proven guilty, and that all suspects must be brought in front of a court of law and entitled to due process.

SUARAM does not tolerate half measures. We call for all laws which allows for detention without trial be outlawed and repealed. We call on the authorities to release or charge all EO detainees. The state and the police must respect the court’s decisions. Re-arrest persons released by the court would only vindicate that the rule of law in Malaysia is illusory. - um