HRC Responds: Stop playing politics with human lives
Sunday, 13 July 2008 10:17pm
Contributed by the Human Rights Committee
The Committee refers to The New Sunday Times’ report on 6 July 2008 entitled
“Hindraf 5 to remain in detention”.
We are glad that the Home Minister has finally conceded that the Government is
unwilling to prosecute detainees held under the Internal Security Act (ISA).
This admission however makes a mockery of our judicial process and Malaysia’s
criminal laws, in particular, the Penal Code which contains new provisions to
combat terrorism. We question the need to enact these laws when the Government
will not resort to the same. Suffice to say, there are adequate laws to
prosecute threats to national security and public order without having to invoke
the ISA.
We further denounce any attempts to “rehabilitate” detainees held without trial.
The Government, as a member of the United Nations, is surely appraised of
article 95 of the United Nation’s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of
Prisoners (1955) which reads as follows:
Without prejudice to the provisions of article 9 of the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, persons arrested or imprisoned without charge
shall be accorded the same protection as that accorded under part I and part II,
section C. Relevant provisions of part II, section A, shall likewise be
applicable where their application may be conducive to the benefit of this
special group of persons in custody, provided that no measures shall be taken
implying that re-education or rehabilitation is in any way appropriate to
persons not convicted of any criminal offence. (emphasis ours)
As the Government violates fundamental international human rights principles,
the Minister errs when he relies on the recommendations of the Advisory Board
that the detainees should continue to be detained as their views “remained
unchanged”. It has been well-documented that hearings before the Board are
conducted without any adherence to rules of natural justice such as the
effective right to be heard and the right to cross-examine the accuser(s). These
hearings are a sham, and the Board has the characteristics of a “kangaroo
court”.
It appears that every time the Government is faced with strong dissent which
threatens its grip on power, the ISA is invoked. The ISA detentions are quite
clearly political in nature, disguised as counter-terrorism measures, even while
Malaysia continues to pay lip service to the promotion of human rights and
fundamental freedoms.
The Committee strongly reiterates the Bar’s call for the release of all ISA
detainees, and the repeal of the ISA.
Dated this 13th day of July 2008
Human Rights Committee
Bar Council
RESPECT DUE PROCESS written by Stephen Tan Ban Cheng,
Monday, July 14 2008 12:21 pm
Whoever we human beings believe in - whether it is Allah, Tuhan, Christ, Buddha, Lord Krishna (in its many manifestations - when our time in this temporal world is up, we go.
Having lived for nearly 60 years on this earth, I have never met a nation-state that can prolong a life by even one minute. Our lives are given by the Divine, and the length of our stay dictated by His Way.
It is therefore wrong, very wrong, very repugnant, for any nation-state to detain any one person without the due process of law. The liberty of the individual must be upheld by the nation-state.
Detention without trial, in whatever form, denies that individual the very liberty endowed by the Divine.
Some day in the future, history will prove that the last great upheaval - Operation Lalang on Oct 27, 1997 - was an engineered event to put more than a hundred Malaysians into detention. It was an abuse of power. It robbed many Malaysians of some time in their lives, time that is God-given.
I am sure our politicians can manage the country without such draconian laws since, without the ISA, our statutory arsenal suffices to nab any offender.
We Malaysians must respect the rule of law and the due process of law.
Stephen Tan Ban Cheng
Bar Council Sub Committees issuing statements? written by Fahri Azzat,
Monday, July 14 2008 12:52 pm
I am unaware of these recent developments where Bar Council Sub Committees have so taken a life of their own that they are now in a position to issue statements on their own motion and not through the Bar Council office bearers. Does this mean that the conveyancing sub committee can now issue policy statements on that they have come up with on their own accord? The last portion of the statement reads: 'The Committee strongly reiterates the Bar’s call for the release of all ISA detainees, and the repeal of the ISA.' Of course it does! It is a mere subcommittee of the Bar and would appear incredibly stupid in taking an opposite position (which is contrary to its own principles). The question here is should any subcommittee spend time, effort and opportunity costs issuing superfluous statements reiterating the Bar's position? I think the volunteers' time and efforts could be better spent than merely reiterating something.
Fahri Azzat
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The Committee refers to The New Sunday Times’ 
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Whoever we human beings believe in - whether it is Allah, Tuhan, Christ, Buddha, Lord Krishna (in its many manifestations - when our time in this temporal world is up, we go.
Having lived for nearly 60 years on this earth, I have never met a nation-state that can prolong a life by even one minute. Our lives are given by the Divine, and the length of our stay dictated by His Way.
It is therefore wrong, very wrong, very repugnant, for any nation-state to detain any one person without the due process of law. The liberty of the individual must be upheld by the nation-state.
Detention without trial, in whatever form, denies that individual the very liberty endowed by the Divine.
Some day in the future, history will prove that the last great upheaval - Operation Lalang on Oct 27, 1997 - was an engineered event to put more than a hundred Malaysians into detention. It was an abuse of power. It robbed many Malaysians of some time in their lives, time that is God-given.
I am sure our politicians can manage the country without such draconian laws since, without the ISA, our statutory arsenal suffices to nab any offender.
We Malaysians must respect the rule of law and the due process of law.
Stephen Tan Ban Cheng