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©New Straits Times (Used by permission)
by R. Sittamparam

KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia will conduct awareness programmes to educate magistrates in the country on human rights.

Suhakam commissioner Datuk Siva Subramaniam said the aim was to make magistrates act more humanely in the handling of cases.

He said the inhumane handling of cases by some magistrates had resulted in Malaysians being mistakenly detained at Immigration depots.

He referred to the recent case of a 22-year-old woman who was sentenced to two months' jail by a magistrate and held for nine months at the Lenggeng Immigration depot awaiting deportation.

M. Rajeswari, who was six months pregnant when she was arrested, subsequently gave birth at the depot.

She has now been released and reunited with her family through the intervention of a non-governmental organisation.

Siva Subramaniam said investigations this month led by Suhakam commissioner Datuk Khalid Ibrahim at the Menggatal and Sandakan Immigration depots also uncovered cases of Malaysians being detained there.

According to Khalid's report, there were children aged between 12 and 17 at the two depots who claimed they were born in Malaysia.

Siva Subramaniam said this was a miscarriage of justice when the authorities failed to recognise Malaysians.

He said magistrates should consider the plea of a person who claims to be a Malaysian even if he did not carry an identity card or could not remember the number.

"The magistrates should be humane enough to consider the accused's plea and request police to check with the National Registration Department. Even without an IC a person could use his thumbprint to prove his identity."

He said the Immigration depots could check if any detainee claims to be Malaysian, and police should be more careful when conducting raids on illegal immigrants.

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