ISA duo want Suhakam to probe 'assault'
8:25pm Mon May 12th, 2003
MlaysiaKini
Two Internal Security Act detainees who were allegedly assaulted by security personnel at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak are demanding that the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) probes the incident.
The detainees - Tian Chua (left) and Hishamuddin Rais - relayed this through DAP deputy secretary-general M Kula Segaran who met them today.
"They also want the commission to give them sufficient notice before it begins any investigation so that they (the detainees) can be well prepared," he told malaysiakini.
Apart from the duo involved in the incident, Tian Chua and Hishamuddin Rais, Kula said he also met with Saari Sungib and Lokman Noor Adam. He was unable to meet Dr Badrul Amin Baharon as he was unwell.
The five are serving a two-year detention order for allegedly planning to overthrow the government through militant means, a charge which they have denied.
Kula said the detainees also wanted the Home Ministry to respect the ISA review board’s recommendations to release them.
The board, in its second session with the detainees last week, had once again recommended for their release.
Treatment sought
Meanwhile, the detainees said that Tian Chua was referred to the Taiping hospital last night for treatment following the assault.
They detainees said a doctor at the hospital confirmed that the Keadilan leader bore marks of scratches, bruises and other injuries as a result of the alleged assault.
The detainees added that they were informed by the camp authorities that the raid was carried out on their own accord.
"After the chaos was resolved, Hishamuddin (left) managed to ask (the second highest ranking officer at the camp) - Who gave the order to beat and restrain us? The answer given was that it was on ‘our' order," said the detainees.
In the incident, Tian Chua and Hishamuddin were reportedly assaulted when 30 security personnel in anti-riot gear raided their dormitories to allegedly seize a computer used by Tian Chua to write his doctoral thesis.
Hishamuddin was said to have been "pinned down and handcuffed" before being place for an hour in solitary confinement for shouting at the security personnel to release Tian Chua.
However, camp commandant Abdul Basir Mohamad denied the assault claim, adding that the disputed inspection of the dormitory was a "routine block search".
Meanwhile, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang supported the call by the detainees for an independent Suhakam inquiry.
He added that Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi must invite the commission to conduct a public inquiry
"The minister must also give an assurance that there would be no extension on end of the two-year ISA detention of the detainees," he said in a statement.
Suspend culprits
The National Human Rights Society (Hakam) called for those involved in the alleged assault and preventing the detainees' lawyer Cheah Kah Peng from meeting them to be immediately suspended pending further investigations.
It was learnt that Cheah had been allowed access to the detainees this afternoon but he could not be contacted for further comment. He is expected to relate their plight to Suhakam tomorrow.
The five reformasi activists, along with Keadilan Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, were arrested in April 2001.
They are all supposed to be released next month when their two-year detention order expires. However, the government has the right to extend their detention.
Mohd Ezam is currently serving another two years at the Kajang Prison for breaching the Official Secrets Act by leaking confidential documents relating to a graft probe to the media.
Last Friday, the ISA review committee was said to have expressed their surprise at the continued detention of the reformasi activists despite an earlier recommendation for them to be released.
Questioned following the review board's first recommendation last December, the government said it was not bound to carry out the committee's advice and that it had sufficient reasons to continue detaining the six.