Enforced disappearance: When the authorities think you can’t handle the truth

We are still awaiting answers to the disappearances or kidnappings of Amri Che Mat, Pastor Joshua Hilmy and others.

These are not just cases that can be whitewashed and forgotten, just because we have a different government.

It is precisely because we have a different government that has been elected that we expect justice to take root. Otherwise, it is the same wine in a fresh bottle.

The government or its institutions cannot suppress the truth. The motive behind these abductions must be established irrefutably and irrevocably. It is a matter of public safety.

How can we prevent the next one, if we don’t know why these incidents happened and if we are intentionally prevented from knowing?

How will the nations of the world and our neighbours trust a fellow nation that may have knowledge about the kidnapping of its own people and yet does virtually nothing? Can such a nation ever be trusted? Behind the façade and veneer of diplomacy, there will always be concerns over this questionable decency and lack of accountability.

We overestimate and elect politicians into a government, believing that power and the innate goodness of these individuals will translate into collective strength for transformative justice.

But the lack of action on the government’s part implies that those individuals elected to power may also be complicit in the horrible silence in the face of cruel evil.

Ordinary people have not expressed enough outrage on a massive scale to force the ‘pythons’ in government to disgorge the obvious bulge that they have not digested. It is the obvious skeleton in the closet.

These are just a few of the many cases that suggest that the government may not want to go all out to improve its humanity. It would rather imprison itself in silence for fear that the crime, if exposed, may be far too shameful.

Are the government and its institutions complicit in such boorish thuggery, where hidden hands are sanctioned and supported to intimidate and threaten ordinary people?

Do we have soulless, remorseless, ruthless monsters within the corridors of power, who are untouchable and granted immunity with impunity to do anything? Can no elected person do anything to stop the scourge of evil?

If there are no response or updates, are we to consider that certain segments of government machinery and its services may be acting as opponents of the people?

The non-action from the government strongly suggests that it lacks the conscience to share the truth to ordinary people, some of whom are paying their salaries.

Could it be that faceless anonymous persons with unchecked powers embedded within the government may hold sway over a prime minister and his entire cabinet?

There is a pervasive prevalent fear of the unknown that is crippling the system. Is this fear meant to serve as a tool to control the people?

Or would the truth of the corrosive nature of rogue elements, if exposed, have the potential to destroy the system? If so, the advantage or benefit of hiding the truth seems outrageous.

Why is this government, which is perceived as different, giving us this terrible vibe that the lives of ordinary people do not matter?

What is there to hide that jeopardises national security and could compromise our international image?

When the government is much too willing to use laws to ensure that the truth is suppressed, the truth could be unimaginably far worse than what we are being told or informed. If so, then the cover-up is frightening.

Does this nation have a ‘soul’? If so, the past, the present and the future dictate that we challenge this wall of silence and have the truth exposed.

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

AGENDA RAKYAT - Lima perkara utama

1. Tegakkan maruah serta kualiti kehidupan rakyat
2. Galakkan pembangunan saksama, lestari serta tangani krisis alam sekitar
3. Raikan kerencaman dan keterangkuman
4. Selamatkan demokrasi dan angkatkan keluhuran undang-undang
5. Lawan rasuah dan kronisme

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