Less than a kilometre away from the Butterworth police station, a forum on the credibility of the force went on uninterrupted despite fierce allegations by panellists that the police were 'corrupted tools of the BN government".Dubbed 'Public Forum: Is the police the defender of the people?' organised by several NGOs at the Dewan Dato' Haji Ahmad Badawi last night, participants reiterated the urgent need to revive the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) which was shelved in 2006.
These renewed calls for the IPCMC come amidst a leadership change in the flagging force where Inspector General of Police Ismail Omar replaced former chief Musa Hassan recently.About 100 participants who attended the meeting despite the heavy rainfall, heard horror tales of police abuse against distinguished political figures like PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim and ordinary folks, including foreign workers.Panellist PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar (left) said the IPCMC would not only be useful for lodging grievances against the police but could be a platform to review the current guidelines, laws and implementation of procedures by the force.
Mahfuz, who is Pokok Sena parliamentarian, said there was an urgent need to review the standard operating procedures to ensure professionalism in the force, and to tackle abuses immediately so that the police would eventually become more humane when investigating and interrogating suspects."When I was in a lock-up before, I had prison mates asking me to pray hard for them before they went in for questioning; they told me that the prayers might help 'soften' the hearts of their interrogators as they had been previously abused till black and blue," he said.
"There must be a mechanism that can be put in place so that abuses does not happen because when the accused is beaten violently, they are compelled to admit the crime even though they did not commit it," he added.The event was organised by Amnesty International (AI), the Penang based Coalition for Good Governance, and human rights NGO Suaram. AI executive director Nora Murat chaired the session.
Never tabled
The much debated IPCMC bill, scrapped in 2007, was drafted by present Chief Justice Zaki Azmi and a few others in 2005.It was never tabled as the police force had rejected the proposals, which was a central recommendation in the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operations and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police.It was initiated when a videotape surfaced in 2005 showing a woman ordered to strip and perform nude squats at the Petaling Jaya police lock-up.
Meanwhile, Penang (DAP) exco member for Town and Country Planning,Housing and Arts, Wong Hon Wai (right), questioned the 'neutrality and double standards' practised by the police - instead of protecting the people from crime, they were alleged to have shielded the wrongdoers. He revealed that in 2009, there were about 7,000 over Special Branch officers and over 8,000 officers in the Criminal Investigation Department but their duty was to monitor NGO activists and opposition politicians, not crime.
Wong, who is Ayer Itam assemblyperson said in developed countries like the United States and Switzerland, the police reported to the state or city council, unlike here, where they are under the jurisdiction of the federal government."This is what gives rise to many incidences of political interference," he said."For example, during elections, we are often trailed by SBs whose main duty is to hear and record what we say in ceramah (political talks); to see whether we are spreading 'slander' against the government," he added.
'Cosmetic changes'
Parti Socialist Malaysia secretary-general S Arutchelvam joked that the police was not really serious in reforming its deteriorating image, saying it was all merely 'cosmetic changes'."When there are complaints that the police physically abuse or shoots their victims arbitrarily, the force comes out with slogans that their personnel is 'friendly'," he said."When there are allegations of corruption, the police issues and wears stickers and badges that say anti-rasuah," he added.Suaram claimed that the police force has been plagued by controversies recently as official government statistic revealed that around 183 people were shot dead by police between 2007 and 2009.
One of the more serious cases involved the death of 14 year old Aminulrasyid Amzah (right) and 18 year old Mohammad Afham Arin in the hands of the police.About 153 cases of death in police custody between 1999 and 2008 were also recorded while in 2009, including well known cases such as A. Kugan, R.Gunasegaran and Mohd Anuar Sharip , said the local NGO.
Source : http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/143695
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