It looks like the authorities are really determined to make today a Black 14. The arrest this morning of Roslan Kassim from keADILan is deplorable. Roslan has been remanded for seven days. Another keADILan politician, Youth chief Mohd Ezam has been detained while exco member Gobalakrishnan is also believed to have been detained. Police are believed to be looking for four other keADILan officials.

The arrests appear to be a pre-emptive strike against those involved in the preparations for tomorrow's gathering (dubbed Black 14) to mark the first anniversary of Anwar's conviction on 14 April 1999.

Aliran reiterates that the right to assemble peacefully is a universal right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other United Nations treaties. By arresting the keADILan officials, the Malaysian government is once again demonstrating that it will go to any lengths to stifle dissent and crush opposing views. It is probably hoping that the arrests today will dissuade people from turning up at the gathering tomorrow

We would also like to warn about the possible presence of agent provocateurs at tomorrow's planned gathering. If experience is any guide, such provocateurs will be out to trigger violence or resort to acts of vandalism to tarnish the image of peaceful demonstrators. This is a standard and shameful tactic often used in many countries to disrupt peaceful demonstrations and provide a pretext for police to move in and resort to high-handed methods to disperse demonstrators.

Aliran calls for the immediate release of all those arrested in connection with tomorrow's planned gathering. We also call on the Malaysian Human Rights Commission to hold an emergency meeting and to censure the government for its authoritarian actions. It will be a real test as to how independent and credible the new Commission is. If it does not act swiftly, the Commission will only be confirming the widespread scepticism about its ability to stand up against human rights violations. One hopes it will rise to the occasion and prove the cynics wrong.

Aliran Executive Committee
14 April 2000