Asia-Pacific, Civil Society, Headlines, Human Rights

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: Police Defy Oversight Plan

Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR, Jun 2 2006 (IPS) - Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi’s plan to set up an ombudsman to oversee the functioning of Malaysian police, that has an unsavoury reputation for abuse and rights violations, has come up against opposition but postings on the force’s official website have revealed the full extent of defiance by the men in uniform.

Following a meeting Badawi had with police associations over the setting up of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), some officers seem to have run amok on the official site, even threatening to allow crime to grow if such a watchdog ever comes into being.

Badawi has said he would make good on an election promise to reform the police and after several cases of police excesses surfaced, last year, announced that the IPCMC would be set up.

But soon after the meeting, last week, the police website carried warnings that the force would ‘retaliate’ by allowing crime to escalate and also demanded an eight-hour-five-day-week schedule like other civil servants.

Some Malaysians found the threats hilarious and indicative of how out of touch with the modern world the police force, created in colonial times, had become. Opposition lawmakers and human rights activists, however, saw the reactions on the official website as dangerous to civil society.

The postings, since removed, stated: “The explicit and implicit effect of the formation of an independent body is that the real organ which exercise powers of control over the police will be the commissioners of the body and NOT the minister. Let politicians beware that they will eventually lose powers, control and influence over…”

The postings allowed a rare glimpse into police attitudes on human rights and on the steps being taken to restore transparency and accountability within the force.

”Definitely, it is blackmail! It is unprofessional for them to act as such. It should not even cross their mind to do such things,” said Simon Sipaun, vice-president of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia.

Opposition lawmakers are urging Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi to act quickly and put an end to what they say is an “open police revolt” against his government.

“It is unprecedented for police to act with such arrogance. Threatening to allow crime to rise is utterly irresponsible and a complete surrender of the moral and legal authority of the police,” Lim Guan Eng, secretary general of the opposition Democratic Action Party, told IPS.

The IPCMC has been a bone of contention between police and opposition lawmakers and human rights groups since two separate commissions of inquiry recommended it last year.

One commission was set up to study and recommend ways to turn the 86,000-strong force, often accused of corruption and inefficiency, into a 21st century entity that is respected and admired by the people. Forming the IPCMC was a key recommendation.

Another commission was set up after a young woman was stripped naked and forced to do sit-ups in a police lock up. The abuse, secretly video-taped, found its way into the Internet sparking an international outcry. This commission also recommended the setting up of an IPCMC.

While civil society has been urging the government to hasten the setting up of the IPCMC, the police have been actively opposing and trying to hamstring its creation with help from a group of government backbenchers, officers’ associations and section of Badawi’s cabinet.

Malaysia’s police chief, Bakri Omar, has sought to distance himself from the posting on the police website. “It is an internal document and not meant for public consumption,” he said. But Omar has publicly opposed the IPCMC plan.

The recent criticism has however mortified the police leadership. A brief statement was issued saying they will abide by any decision made on the IPCMC by the government or the attorney general.

In this and other controversies, Badawi has been accused of being indecisive. “Clearly civil authority needs to act fast to reassert control over the police,” Lim told IPS. “Such disrespect, defiance and insubordination cannot be allowed to go unpunished or it will blur the legal authority, established since Merdeka (independence from colonialism), of civilian and political control over the police force,” he said.

Such an open rejection, Lim said, is an embarrassment for Badawi, who favours setting up the IPCMC but has passed the buck to the attorney general for ‘further study and fresh recommendations’.

“The IPCMC is the only alternative to cleaning up the police force to serve the larger national interest as a protector of the people to fight crime and maintain order in an efficient and trustworthy manner,” Lim added.

Critics of the police are angry at police high handedness in handling civil protests. On Sunday, a peaceful demonstration of about 1,000 people protesting sharp hikes in fuel prices turned bloody after police blasted them with water cannons and ploughed in with batons swinging. Several protesters were injured and received treatment for broken heads and limbs.

“This brutal and unaccountable behaviour is another reason why an oversight committee is urgently needed,” said Yap Swee Seng, executive director of Malaysian Peoples Voice or SUARAM, a leading human rights non government organisation .

“Unless and until the commission is set up to hold police officers accountable for their corrupt and brutal acts, the culture of police violence will continue with total impunity,” he told IPS.

“It is clear that Badawi lacks the political will to push through the promised reforms,” said S. Arulchelvam, secretary general of the Socialist Party of Malaysia. “It is just not going to happen.”