Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
The Commission said upholding human rights needs to become the central pillar
of policing and the foundation of their ethical code.
<p>It is an essential criterion by which their actions are scrutinised, it said.
The Commission acknowledges that there is a need to review some laws, rules
and regulations affecting policing to safeguard human rights, as contained in
the Federal Constitution and various international human rights instruments.
</p>
<p>The Commission said it is also concerned about what it called the "culture
of impunity" within the local police force, which is a combination of individual
and systemic acts of corruption, lack of transparency and oversight which the
police had not be held accountable for. </p>
<p>The culture is further bolstered when the police do not recognise the right
of civilians to criticise them. </p>
<p>More often than not, criticisms are met with denial, defensiveness or, more
discouraging, even threats to investigate and charge the complainant of making
false reports. </p>
<p>The Commission recommends a new shift towards police accountability, with internal
mechanisms to hold officers answerable. </p>
<p>On the requirement of police permits from local OCPDs to organise gatherings,
as provided under Section 27 of the Police Act – the Commission said it is a
"bad law" and should be reviewed as it is contrary to fundamental
liberties enshrined in the Constitution. </p>
<p>Among the complaints are: the police grant the permits "grudgingly",
impose excessive conditions and warn owners of the venues against cooperating
with the assembly organisers. </p>
<p>The Commission also called on the police to be more sensitive when dealing
with cases of violence against women and children, noting that many members
of the police force are still no aware of the special needs and rights of children.
</p>
<p>The Commission also noted the callousness and insensitivity of police officers
when dealing with victims of domestic violence, rape and sexual harassment.
</p>
<p>Policemen have been known to carry out intimate and strip searches not in accordance
with regulations as well as with a lack of privacy and sexual assault. Migrant
workers and refugees have, in particular, been vulnerable. </p>
<p>The Commission said the police had been negligent in preventing pictures of
child detainees from being taken and arresting the children in full view of
the public. </p>
<p>The Commission reported an extensive list of allegations of human rights abuses
by the police, such as: abuse of remand provisions under the Criminal Procedure
Code, non-adherence to the presumption of innocence and not conducting any investigation
in the initial 24 hours. </p>
<p>In the list of abuses is also the practice of "chain smoking order";
where successive remand orders are obtained. </p>
<p>This had led to suspects being detained for more than two months in various
police stations, resulting in severe decline of mental and physical health.
</p>
<p>There were also cases of extortions of up to RM100 for a telephone call to
a suspect’s family or lawyer, strip searches in front of other detainees, no
access to lawyers and suspects not being informed the grounds of their arrest.
</p>
<p>In a number of cases where preventive laws are used to detain a person, these
laws were found to provide a convenient "short cut" to crime solving,
instead of going through rigorous and coordinated investigations. </p>
<p>Allegations of torture and degrading treatment involving the police include
rejection of requests to use the toilets, not allowing detainees to sit from
morning to evening during interrogation, forcing them to change clothes in front
of police officers, verbally assaulting with vulgar words and forcing to re-enact
sexual acts, and refusing to provide information on the correct prayer times
for the Muslims or the direction of the kiblat.
Address: Wisma MTUC,10-5, Jalan USJ 9/5T, 47620 Subang Jaya,Selangor | Tel: 03-80242953 | Fax: 03-80243225 | Email: sgmtuc@gmail.com.com