squeak. speak. roar!

Five Hindraf leaders detained under ISA

PETALING JAYA: Police said they have detained all five leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) under Section 8 (1) of the Internal Security Act.The five are P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, R. Kenghadharan, V. Ganabatirau and Vasantha Kumar. They were picked up at various locations in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Seremban.They will be detained for two years.

Yesterday, was released on police bail after having been arrested on Tuesday for a second sedition charge.

Uthayakumar was among three Hindraf leaders who were charged at the Klang Sessions Court on Nov 23 for allegedly making speeches to incite hatred at a gathering in Batang Berjuntai, Selangor, on Nov 16.

The Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA) is a preventive detention law in force in Malaysia. Any person may be detained by the police for up to 60 days without trial for an act which allegedly prejudices the security of the country or any part thereof. After 60 days, one may be further detained for a period of two years each, to be approved by the Minister of Home Affairs, thus making indefinite detention without trial. In 1989, the powers of the Minister under the legislation was made immune to judicial review by virtue of amendments to the Act. Now, only the courts are ‘allowed’ to examine and review technical matters pertaining to the ISA arrest.

Since 1960 when the Act was enacted, thousands of people including trade unionists, student leaders, labour activists, political activists, religious groups, academicians, NGO activists have been arrested under the ISA. Many political activists in the past have been detained for more than a decade.

The ISA has been consistently used against people who criticise the government and defend human rights. Known as the ‘white terror’, it has been the most feared and despised, yet convenient tool for the state to suppress opposition and open debate. The Act is an instrument maintained by the ruling government to control public life and civil society.

The ISA goes against the right of a person to defend himself in an open and fair trial. The person can be incarcerated up to 60 days of interrogation without access to lawyers.

The first 60 days

A person detained under the ISA during the first 60 days is held incommunicado, with no access to the outside world. Furthermore, lawyers and family members are not allowed access to the detainee during this initial period. Only after a two-year detention order is signed, the detainee is carted off to the Kamunting Detention Centre to serve his or her two-year term, in which family members are allowed to visit.

Torture

Torture goes concurrently with ISA detention. Former detainees have testified to being subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. This may include one or more of the following: physical assault, forced nudity, sleep deprivation, round-the-clock interrogation, death threats, threats of bodily harm to family members, including threats of rape and bodily harm to their children. Also, detainees are confined in individual and acutely small cells with no light and air, in what is believed to be secret holding cells. These interrogation techniques and acts of torture are designed to humiliate and frighten detainees into revealing their weaknesses and breaking down their defences.

Prolonged torture and deprivation have led to detainees signing state-manufactured ‘confessions’ under severe duress. During the first trial of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, police told the courts that the process of ‘extracting confessions’ under duress was called “turning over” and suggested it was a standard practice of the police.

The Legislation

Relevant sections of the legislation are as follows:

Section 73(1) Internal Security Act 1960:
“Any police officer may without warrant arrest and detain pending enquiries any person in respect of whom he has reason to believe-

1. that there are grounds which would justify his detention under section 8; and
2. that he has acted or is about to act or is likely to act in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to maintenance of essential services therein or to the economic life thereof.”

Sect 8. Power to order detention or restriction of persons.
“(i) If the Minister is satisfied that the detention of any person is necessary with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to the maintenance of essential services therein or the economic life thereof, he may make an order (hereinafter referred to as a detention order) directing that that person be detained for any period not exceeding two years.”

Taken from corruption watchdog Gerak’s website here.

—

We have our own Guantamano Bay right here in Malaysia.

Where is Perdana Global Peace Foundation? This Damai Malaysia? Or Malaysians for Peace?

Silence from them or anybody means they are condoning the use of torture and detention without trial for Malaysians.

One things for sure, Abolish ISA Movement will say something. Human rights groups across the world will say something. I will definitely say something.

Will you?

I beg that you do because all the have now are the people’s voice.

I humbly beg that you do.