[ENGLISH VERSION BELOW] Kami, Eliminating Death and Abuse in Custody Together (Edict), bimbang mengenai satu laporan (Free Malaysia Today, 18 Jun 2020) bahawa menurut Ketua Polis Kuala Lumpur, Mazlan Lazim, individu yang pada mulanya dikatakan oleh beliau dikenali sebagai Dhan Bahadur, seorang warganegara Nepal, kini adalah individu yang identitinya tidak dapat dikenalpasti.
“Dhan Bahadur” didakwa mati di dalam tahanan di lokap polis Jinjang pada 31 Mei, empat hari selepas beliau ditahan, iaitu pada 27 Mei.
Terkini, Mazlan mendedahkan bahawa “Dhan Bahadur” telah ditahan “bersama rakan-rakan serumahnya”, dan mereka memanggil beliau dengan nama yang sama.
Edict difahamkan bahawa “Dhan” bekerja dengan sebuah syarikat kawalan keselamatan sebagai pengawal keselamatan di sebuah kondominium di Kuala Lumpur. Adakah pihak polis telah bertanya dan menahan majikan beliau?
Kami berasa hairan apabila pihak polis dilaporkan telah meminta kepada “mana-mana pihak yang mempunyai maklumat” untuk menghubungi mereka.
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Apakah maklumat yang ingin dicari pihak polis? Apakah kes yang sedang mereka siasat? Mengapa pihak polis tidak menghubungi kedutaan Nepal untuk mengesahkan identiti tahanan selepas mereka menahan Dhan? Mengapa pihak polis tidak menyiarkan wajah Dhan bagi mendapatkan bantuan dalam mengenalpasti identitinya? (Dhan Bahadur adalah nama yang biasa di kalangan warga Nepal.)
Kami ingin mengingatkan pihak polis bahawa secara purata, empat orang mati di dalam lokap setiap tiga bulan. Kes-kes di mahkamah telah memutuskan bahawa punca kematian adalah disebabkan tindakan dan pengabaian pihak polis.
Terdapat juga banyak kes di mana pihak polis menggunakan kekerasan berlebihan ke atas suspek. Sebagai contoh, kes Syed Azlan yang mati di dalam tahanan pada tahun 2014 selepas mengalami 61 kecederaan dalam masa kurang daripada empat jam selepas ditahan (sepertimana yang diputuskan oleh Mahkamah Tinggi Johor Bahru pada Disember 2019).
Edict menggesa pihak polis untuk mengambil kira bahawa setiap kes kematian dalam tahanan adalah sebagai suatu kematian yang boleh dielakkan dan mempertimbangkan setiap tindakan dan pengabaian pihak polis yang mungkin telah menyebabkan kematian “Dhan”.
Edict mendapati ironinya: Mazlan, yang mana pegawai-pegawai beliau pun gagal untuk mengenalpasti identiti individu mereka sendiri telah tahan di dalam lokap dan kemudian ditemui mati, begitu pantas membuat kesimpulan bahawa tidak berlaku “kesalahan” yang mungkin mencadi punca kematian tersebut.
Edict juga maklum bahawa menurut Mazlan, pihak polis telah meminta pihak Imigresen untuk mengesahkan rekod “Dhan” (barangkali rekod cap jari) namun sehingga hari ini masih belum ada sebarang maklum balas. Adalah mengejutkan bilamana ketika kebimbangan tentang penularan Covid-19 di kalangan warga asing, Jabatan Imigresen tidak begitu responsif.
Edict juga menggesa pihak kedutaan Nepal untuk membuat laporan polis mengenai kesilapan pengenalpastian identiti tersebut. Tanpa laporan tersebut, kami tidak yakin bahawa pihak polis akan memulakan siasatan rasmi mengenai kesilapan pengesahan identiti tersebut dengan serius.
Budaya memperlakukan nyawa manusia seperti objek yang tidak bernilai mesti dihentikan.
18 Jun 2020
English version
The police don’t know who died, but are sure there’s no wrongdoing
Eliminating Deaths and Abuse in Custody Together (Edict) notes with concern a report (Free Malaysia Today, 18 June 2020) that according to Kuala Lumpur police chief Mazlan Lazim the person whom he earlier said was Dhan Bahadur, a Nepali national, is now a person whose identity is unknown.
“Dhan Bahadur” allegedly died in custody in Jinjang lockup on 31 May, four days after he was arrested on 27 May.
Mazlan has now revealed that “Dhan Bahadur” was arrested “together with his roommates” and that they all called him by the same name.
Edict has learned that “Dhan” was employed by a security agency, and worked as a security guard at a condominium in Kuala Lumpur. Have any of the employers of “Dhan” been questioned or detained?
We are baffled that the police have been reported to be asking “those with information” to contact them.
What information are the police seeking? What case are they investigating? Why didn’t they contact the Nepal embassy for verification the moment they arrested Dhan? Why have they not circulated his photo to ask for help in identification? (Dhan Bahadur is a common name in Nepal.)
We remind the police that on average four persons die in their lock-ups every three months. Numerous judges have determined that the cause of the deaths is acts and omissions by the police.
There have also been many cases of police using excessive force on suspects – for instance, Syed Azlan who died in 2014 after sustaining 61 injuries less than four hours after he was arrested (as decided by the Johor High Court in December 2019).
Edict calls upon the police to treat every death in custody as an avoidable death, and to consider every possible act or omission on the part of the police which may have caused the death of “Dhan.”
Edict notes the irony: Mazlan, whose officers could not even correctly identify the person whom they locked up and then “found dead”, so quickly ruled out “wrongdoing” as a possible cause of death.
Edict further notes that according to Mazlan, the police asked the Immigration Department to verify “Dhan’s” records (and presumably fingerprints) but to date have not received a response. It is shocking that amid the Covid-19 concern over foreigners, against a background of information technology, the Immigration Department is so unresponsive.
Edict also calls upon the Nepal Embassy to lodge a police report about the wrongful identification. Without such a report, we cannot be sure the police will launch a formal investigation of the misidentification and treat it with the seriousness it deserves.
The culture of treating lives like inanimate objects must end.
19 June 2020
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