MALAYSIA – Amend ISA and Police Act in haste? Talk to civil society!
1 September 2009 3:30 am

Suara
Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) expresses our utmost concern on the
announcement from the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who
has revealed that the Government will make amendments to the Internal
Security Act (ISA) and the Police Act, particularly on the right to
hold assemblies.
(Source: 20 August, FORUM-ASIA member SUARAM)
Suara
Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) expresses our utmost concern on the
announcement from the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who
has revealed that the Government will make amendments to the Internal
Security Act (ISA) and the Police Act, particularly on the right to
hold assemblies. The amendments will be tabled in the October 2009
Parliament sitting with the possibility of approval in the December
sitting. He also revealed that the other Acts that will be amended
include the Multimedia and Communications Act, the Restrictive
Residence Ordinance Act (RRA) and the Emergency Ordinance Act (EO).

SUARAM
views that the announcement from the Home Minister is baseless and he
should not insist for these amendments to be tabled in the October
Parliament session without consultation with civil society and taking
into account concerns from the respected civil society organisations
that are working on the area of concern. 

SUARAM
would like raise question to the Home Minister: Why are the amendments
to the various acts mentioned above being expedited in such a hasty
manner? Are these another form of goodies from the government to the
people of Malaysia before the Permatang Pasir by-election?

With
regards to the ISA, SUARAM would like to question the need for the
Government to make the announcement on specific amendments, especially
on the 60 days and the 2 years detention period. What happened to the
Review Committee that was formed to review on the ISA? Who are the
members of this committee? SUARAM as the Secretariat of the Abolish ISA
Movement or popularly known in its Malay acronym as Gerakan Mansuhkan
ISA (GMI), has never been invited or consulted to be part of this
Review Committee. The Government's announcement on tabling amendments
to the act in Parliament comes as sudden.

The
ISA which was enacted in 1960, have been widely used against those who
commit acts deemed to be "prejudicial to the security of Malaysia", or
threatening the  "maintenance of essential services" or
"economic life". These vaguely defined security concerns have led to
the frequent use of the law against people peacefully expressing their
religious and political beliefs, as well as a number of human rights
defenders.  Furthermore, in 2003, the United Nations Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention considered that administrative detention on such
grounds, even when in conformity with a domestic law,
constitutes a violation of the right to a fair trial by an independent
and impartial judicial authority. It consequently considered that the
detention under such conditions was arbitrary.

To read the rest of the statement, please click here (SUARAM website).

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Also related:
20 August SUARAM "Right To Demonstrate In Public Places Is Central To Freedom Of Expression"
17 August the World Forum for Democratization in Asia "Asian Democrats Express Concern about Violations of Civil Rights in Malaysia"