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In light of recent events in Malaysia involving the excessive use of police powers, the latest being the death of A. Kugan while in police custody, it is high time that the rakyat are educated on their rights when they deal with the police.

On the evening of 16 February 2009, the Bar Council launched the Redbook Pamphlet.  The Redbook project has come a long way.  Outraged over the “Nude Squat” video fiasco, a bunch of lawyers came together and decided to compile some relevant information when dealing with the police for clueless people like you and me.  Initially the information was compiled in a booklet format but it has now been compressed into a pamphlet format so that it is easier to carry around.

The event started around 6:10pm when Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (in charge of Law) walked into the auditorium accompanied by Dato’ Ambiga Sreevenasan and Lim Chee Wee, President and Secretary of the Malaysian Bar respectively.  The emcee for the evening, Adiba Shareen then invited Edmund Bon, Chairperson of the Bar Council Human Rights Committee, to briefly introduce the Redbook project.  Edmund took this opportunity to briefly criticise the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission, formerly known as the Special Complaints Commission, as being a diluted version of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (“IPCMC”).  He added that the Redbook pamphlet was published to reach a wider audience.  He hoped that one day citizens of Malaysia will know their rights without referring to the Redbook.

In her speech Dato’ Ambiga thanked the Minister for his continuing support for the Malaysian Bar initiative.  She then went on to say that lack of understanding means Malaysians are unaware of the powers of the police. “Less abuses take place when citizens know their right”, she said.

Coming straight from Parliament and still clad in his official Parliamentary outfit, Dato’ Seri  Mohamed Nazri said that the launch was timely as police abuses still occur after the “Nude Squat” inquiry.  He believed that citizens are entitled to their rights and the police have a standard operating procedure that they must adhere to.  He then went on to say that the Bar Council has made some legitimate recommendations that the ruling government could not implement fully.  For instance, he said, “The IPCMC is not something that we can implement overnight”.  In establishing the IPCMC, the government needs to take into account the other various agencies that fall within the purview of the IPCMC as it does not only cover complaints and misconduct by the police. According to him, there are more than 20 enforcement agencies in this country at the moment.  Therefore, instead of the IPCMC, the government is setting up the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (Suruhanjaya Integriti Agensi Penguatkuasa (“SIAP”)) to encompass all the enforcement agencies. 

The Minister also pointed out that constitutional amendments have to be made if a commission is to be established.  However, he promised that once the commission is in place, there will be a monitoring body to look into complaints by the public of misconduct by the enforcement agencies.   

With that, the Minister launched the Redbook Pamphlet.  This writer hopes that the dissemination of the Redbook will lead to citizens becoming informed and empowered where their rights are concerned, so that instances of police abuse will never take place. Power to the people!

Click here to download the Redbook Pamphlet