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ABUSE OF POWER
Increasing trend in lawlessness Integrity is still sorely lacking in public life
by P Ramakrishnan
To be fair to the now not-so-new administration, some of its anti-corruption efforts have helped to heighten public debate over wrongdoings in high places. The prosecution of several public officials and the conviction of some of them on charges of corruption, the extended if inconclusive expos� of the AP affair, and the publication of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Police Force suggest that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi was willing to go beyond rhetoric when dealing with issues of corruption and abuse of authority. Yet, each time the administration takes one step forward, it appears to take two steps backward. For instance, just when abuses of power within the police force � particularly with regard to people under remand � become well known, more and more cases come to light of the maltreatment of women, including foreign nationals, by police and immigration officers. Stripped and forced to do ear-squats Only a few days ago, a female detainee was stripped and forced to do ear-squats in front of a policewoman. We know this because the incident was videoed with a mobile phone camera and distributed electronically. We don�t know if the person who shot this video clip did so out of perversity. We�d like to think he or she did so, unnoticed, out of a sense of duty. But we do know that this wasn�t the first time something like this had happened. Not long before this incident, three women from China � one of whom is married to a Malaysian � were detained by the police, on false pretences as it turned out, and forced to strip and perform ear-squats. Around the same time, a transsexual detainee was forced to strip in front of three policemen despite her insisting she was a woman (and had undergone sex-change operations). The policemen made lewd remarks about her body and joked about buying empat ekor after that. Indeed, five years ago, on 5 November 2000, when they assaulted a peaceful gathering of protestors, the police made a woman detainee go through a similar perfomance. Back then, Aliran responded to this strip-and-squat routine with the following words: �We are outraged that one of the four women detained was asked to strip naked at the Kapar Police Lock-Up and was made to do 10 ketuk ketapis � a form of infantile punishment meted out to little children by some unimaginative, stupid teachers which require the children to hold their ears by crossing their hands and doing squats. The woman officer responsible for this punishment is a disgrace to the police force and is unfit to don the uniform.�Many instances of sexual humiliation And, if we go further back into history, we�d recall that many instances of the sexual humiliation of detainees, male and female, had been exposed by ISA victims before. No action was taken against the uniformed personnel who indulged in this form of torture. Are we then to believe that these are isolated incidents best forgotten to preserve the good name of the police force? Can we be appeased by soothing statements that the government does not condone the misconduct of its officers � even while the incidents multiply? Or should the government quickly learn, or honestly admit, and consistently act upon what the public already knows: that is, too many institutions of government are being shielded from reform because of insufficient - and insufficiently strict - follow-up action? Has the government no plan of action to arrest this trend of increasing lawlessness, as it were, among those charged with upholding the law and legal procedures? Violence not our culture? The Prime Minister has taken an important step in demanding that the Minister of Home Affairs should visit his counterpart in China to explain what has occurred recently. But this should not be done principally to reverse the trend of declining visitor arrivals from that country, just as a previous outcry over the harassment of IT-workers from India should never have been about foreign investment alone. Instead, the Prime Minister should immediately institute an evaluation of the processes and procedures of recruitment and promotion of personnel within the uniformed forces in particular and the other departments of government in general. The government, with genuine, reputable and independent public participation, should demand honest and full answers to questions such as:
Until serious steps and uncompromising measures are taken to discipline the police, the public will want to know: Is violence against defenceless citizens and vulnerable foreign nationals our police culture or the culture of our uniformed services? Toilets and monkeys It may even be necessary to ask if the actions of government officers and personnel are in some way reflections of the words of many of our so-called leaders. Of late, the debates in Parliament have frequently been little more than name-calling. Worse, some Ministers are more noted for their coarse language than worthy ideas. For example, when addressing complaints about the wretched condition of the toilet in Parliament, Minister of Works Samy Vellu likened toilets to new brides � they function well when they are new! The MP from Jerai thought there was nothing wrong in referring to Indians by the derogratory term, Keling. Not to be outdone, Kayveas, Minister in the Prime Minister�s Department abused Opposition MPs by saying they behaved like �monkeys�. When so-called national leaders turn out to be such characters, how can they ensure that those whom they lead can be of good character? At the core of this multi-dimensional issue � one which Aliran regularly brings to public attention � is a deep and disturbing lack of integrity in many of our public institutions and the people who work or even occupy senior positions in them. It is simply unacceptable that many in positions of power and authority are guilty of conduct unbecoming of people entrusted with public responsibility to serve the nation. Let us be clear: it is not only the police force that has shown itself lacking in integrity. Where is the integrity of the government when a former secretary-general of the Ministry of Rural Development could be involved in corruption and criminal breach of trust involving RM11 million related to the project for the hardcore poor while protesting squatters are met with police assaults? Actually, not just integrity is missing but also competence, capability and responsible service. How else, after so many banking crises and financial debacles, can government corporations like Bank Islam and Malaysian Airlines suffer their recent heavy losses of public funds? Dear friends, I could, and I�m sure you can, too, list many more incidents that demand firm action to restore integrity and trust in our public institutions. That isn�t necessary here. But it�s vital in the coming year that we in Aliran continue to work with the broad national movement of NGOs and concerned individuals to protect human rights, preserve civil liberties, and advance our common causes of democracy, freedom and social justice. In short, we must demand honest, transparent and accountable government. Only thus will we do what we must to prevent ours from fossilising as a nation with a First World infrastructure but a Third World mentality. Please support our work by buying a copy of our print publication, Aliran Monthly, from your nearest news-stand. Better still take out a subscription now. If you prefer to read our web-based edition, please support our work and make a donation.
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Yet, each time the administration takes one step forward, it appears to take two steps backward.
