Aliran calls for unconditional repeal of ISA


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Aliran Media Statement

Aliran calls for unconditional repeal of ISA

isa

We call for an unconditional repeal
Aliran is happy to note that Suhakam in its review of the Internal Security Act 1960 has confirmed what the proponents of natural justice have constantly stated:

that the ISA is disproportionately weighted in favour of national security;
that the law and practice in relation to the ISA have undermined the human rights position in Malaysia;
that an abnormal practice has over the years become an accepted law; and
that people have been detained for counterfeiting coins or for collateral purposes to gather intelligence.

In other words, though the ISA was enacted to deal with the needs of extraordinary times, specifically the communist insurgency, it has been used and abused indiscriminately and with impunity.

To us in Aliran, any law that denies citizens their constitutional rights, robs them of their freedom and violates natural justice is repugnant to our notion of human rights.

We therefore call for the repeal of the ISA without reservation. There are adequate laws in this country to take care of every possible crime that may pose a challenge to the police. The problem is not the absence of legislation but the abuse of government powers to intimidate and penalise legitimate dissent in the name of protecting national security.

Aliran is also concerned about Suhakam's recommendations that substitutes for the ISA can be modelled after USA's Patriot Act 2001 and other post-Sept 11 legislation. These laws have been widely and deservedly criticised for violating human rights and civil liberties in the countries concerned.

While some of Suhakam's recommended remedies may appear to be sound and reasonable, our courts have hardly been pro-active in protecting the basic rights of citizens. To allow the court to extend the detention "by seven days each time" is disturbing and worrying.

Such concern is not unwarranted. If the past practice of extending remand periods is any guide, extensions are likely to be granted readily and easily without demanding strong grounds for extension. Abuses while under detention have exposed that extensions were obtained not to facilitate investigation but as a punitive measure. It is legitimate to ask why a full seven-day period is granted when a particular investigation might only require a couple of days.

Since we have not been given a copy of the report, we wonder what Suhakam's recommendation are with regard to access to counsel, notification to family members and their visitation rights as well as strict safeguards against cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of detainees.

We reiterate our call for an outright and unconditional repeal of the ISA.

Aliran Executive Committee
10 April 2003

This statement was sent to the local media including The Star, New Straits Times, and The Sun.