Media Statement
Not Privilege But Basic Human Right:
Dr Thomas Hoogland, the Dutch specialist and head of the Alpha Clinic in Munich, Germany, has recommended that this form of surgery be carried out in Germany as the Kuala Lumpur Hospital lacks the necessary facilities, equipment and support staff.
Given the specialist's recommendation, the delicate nature of spinal surgery and the wisdom of performing it where the facilities and expertise are available to reduce the risks to the patient, Aliran considers that Anwar's request to undergo surgery in Germany is fair and justified.
The BN government has no valid reason not to grant this request. That Anwar is a prisoner is no reason why the government should deprive him of the best available medical treatment. There is no acceptable reason for the government to place obstacles in the path of professionally recommended and urgently needed treatment. Any delay in granting permission for Anwar to undergo the recommended treatment overseas may aggravate his condition and even lead to his paralysis.
The argument that Anwar, as a prisoner, cannot be given special privilege does not hold water. Access to the best medical care and treatment available is not a privilege but a basic human right. Even prisoners cannot be denied that right.
Nor can the public accept the argument that no other prisoner has been permitted to seek medical treatment abroad. The government may continue to delude itself but Anwar is no ordinary prisoner. No other prisoner has been so swiftly brought down from a position of power to be blindfolded, handcuffed and brutally assaulted by the top police officer in the country. That cowardly and wanton attack in all likelihood aggravated Anwar's condition.
The government cannot absolve itself of culpability for Anwar's severe maltreatment. Anwar's confessed attacker has yet to spend a single day in jail for his criminal act. But the government can atone for the criminal assault on Anwar while he was in police custody. It can do so by facilitating, without further delay, Anwar's access to the treatment Dr Hoogland has recommended at the specialist clinic in Germany.
We have not heard or been made aware of any other prisoner requiring specialised medical treatment outside the country. If there are other such cases, Aliran, on humanitarian grounds, would appeal for them to be treated in the same way as we appeal for Anwar to be treated. If the government now implies that it has never made public cases as urgent as Anwar's, then the government has just condemned itself for its callous attitude to human life.
The government should comply with Anwar's request for another reason. Any surgery performed on Anwar overseas will not cost the Government a cent. Anwar's family will bear the entire cost. The government, therefore, should not have the remotest objection to granting Anwar's request for treatment in Germany.
Aliran calls upon the BN government to demonstrate this small measure of compassion to atone for Anwar's being subjected to indignity for two and half years. If the government refuses, Aliran calls upon the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) to intercede to uphold Anwar's human rights.
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Aliran, in the name of humanity, strongly urges the Barisan Nasional government to allow Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim to undergo endoscopic spinal surgery overseas.