Malaysia
13.11.02
Urgent Interventions
Malaysia: trial of two of the six detainees held under the International Security Act (ISA)
Case MYS 110401.11
Follow-up of Case MYS 110401
Arbitrary detention/Fair trial
Geneva, 13 November 2002
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding the following situation in Malaysia.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by Suaram, a member of the OMCT network, that two of the six detainees held under the draconian International Security Act (ISA) will be brought to trial this week in Malaysia.
According to the information received, the two detainees, Mohd Ezam Mohd Noor and Hishamuddin Rais, will be brought to trial today at Magistrate’s Court 1A, Kuala Lumpur, accused of being involved in an “illegal assembly”. The two activists were arrested in April 2001 with eight others for participating in a rally in favour of the imprisoned former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Five of the detainees were released during the second half of 2001; one of these, Badrul Amin Baharan, was rearrested in February 2002. Six persons are being held at Kamunting Detention Centre, sentenced without trial to prison terms of two years. Badrul Amin Baharan, Chua Tian Chang, Saari Sungib, and Lokman Nor Adam have still had no court hearing.
Mohd Ezam Mohd Noor has been convicted in an unrelated case to two year's imprisonment under the Official Secret Act (OSA) and has since transferred from the Kamunting Detention Center to Kajang Prison.
The Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court rejected on 11 November 2002 the defence lawyers' application to prevent the hearing pending a court case in Ipoh High Court, based on the ISA detanees' lack of access to legal counsel. Among various other people standing standing trial with the two reform movement leaders are YB Azmin Ali, political cartoonist Zunar, Tan Sui Kow and Abdul Ghani Haroon.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the afore-mentioned activists and their supporters. It is equally concerned by the reported absence of adequate legal counsel for the detainees. OMCT urges the authorities in Malaysia to conduct a fair and impartial trial and to ensure that all other detainees held under the ISA are released in the absence of valid charges. Furthermore, OMCT remains gravely concerned about the conditions of detention of all of the ISA detainees, which includes lengthy periods of solitary confinement. OMCT strongly condemns the ISA, notably the powers granted to the authorities under its auspices, which effectively legalise arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention, in complete violation of the detainees’ basic human rights, and urges the Malaysian authorities to reconsider the ISA as a whole, as suggested by Shah Alam, High Court Judge and Justice Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus, during rulings last year, which lead to several ISA detainees being released (see Urgent Appeal Case MYS 110401.2 on June 1st, 2001).
Brief reminder of the situation
The ISA has been frequently used since its enactment in 1960 by the Malaysian authorities, in order to arrest and indefinitely detain human rights and opposition campaigners. The ISA reportedly allows the authorities to arbitrarily arrest, detain incommunicado and interrogate activists, without granting them access to legal counsel or family visits for up 60 days, and without conducting a trial for a period of up to two years. This period is, however, renewable by the Minister for Home Affairs, meaning that the person can effectively be detained indefinitely without a trial. The ISA violates the detainee's rights to access to legal counsel, family visits and a fair trial and is often used to supress the person's rights of expression and to demonstration. Detainees under the ISA are reportedly often subjected to various forms of torture, including physical assault, sleep deprivation, round-the-clock interrogation, threats of bodily harm to family members, including detainees' children, and are allegedly often used to extract false signed confessions from the detainees.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Malaysia urging them to:
i. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the aforementioned persons;
ii. order the “reformasi” activists being detained under the ISA's immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. guarantee an immediate investigation into their arrests and detention, and the reported ill-treatment to which they have been subjected, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister's Office, Federal Government Administration Center, 62502 Putrajaya, MALAYSIA, Fax: +603 8888 3444, E-mail: ppm@smpke.jpm.my
· Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Home Minister, Aras 13, Block D1, Parcel D, Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, 652020 Putrajaya, Selangor, Malaysia, Fax: +603 8886 8014
Please also write to the embassies of Malaysia in your respective country.
Geneva, November 13, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Follow-up of Case MYS 110401
Arbitrary detention/Fair trial
Geneva, 13 November 2002
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information regarding the following situation in Malaysia.
New information
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by Suaram, a member of the OMCT network, that two of the six detainees held under the draconian International Security Act (ISA) will be brought to trial this week in Malaysia.
According to the information received, the two detainees, Mohd Ezam Mohd Noor and Hishamuddin Rais, will be brought to trial today at Magistrate’s Court 1A, Kuala Lumpur, accused of being involved in an “illegal assembly”. The two activists were arrested in April 2001 with eight others for participating in a rally in favour of the imprisoned former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Five of the detainees were released during the second half of 2001; one of these, Badrul Amin Baharan, was rearrested in February 2002. Six persons are being held at Kamunting Detention Centre, sentenced without trial to prison terms of two years. Badrul Amin Baharan, Chua Tian Chang, Saari Sungib, and Lokman Nor Adam have still had no court hearing.
Mohd Ezam Mohd Noor has been convicted in an unrelated case to two year's imprisonment under the Official Secret Act (OSA) and has since transferred from the Kamunting Detention Center to Kajang Prison.
The Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court rejected on 11 November 2002 the defence lawyers' application to prevent the hearing pending a court case in Ipoh High Court, based on the ISA detanees' lack of access to legal counsel. Among various other people standing standing trial with the two reform movement leaders are YB Azmin Ali, political cartoonist Zunar, Tan Sui Kow and Abdul Ghani Haroon.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the afore-mentioned activists and their supporters. It is equally concerned by the reported absence of adequate legal counsel for the detainees. OMCT urges the authorities in Malaysia to conduct a fair and impartial trial and to ensure that all other detainees held under the ISA are released in the absence of valid charges. Furthermore, OMCT remains gravely concerned about the conditions of detention of all of the ISA detainees, which includes lengthy periods of solitary confinement. OMCT strongly condemns the ISA, notably the powers granted to the authorities under its auspices, which effectively legalise arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention, in complete violation of the detainees’ basic human rights, and urges the Malaysian authorities to reconsider the ISA as a whole, as suggested by Shah Alam, High Court Judge and Justice Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus, during rulings last year, which lead to several ISA detainees being released (see Urgent Appeal Case MYS 110401.2 on June 1st, 2001).
Brief reminder of the situation
The ISA has been frequently used since its enactment in 1960 by the Malaysian authorities, in order to arrest and indefinitely detain human rights and opposition campaigners. The ISA reportedly allows the authorities to arbitrarily arrest, detain incommunicado and interrogate activists, without granting them access to legal counsel or family visits for up 60 days, and without conducting a trial for a period of up to two years. This period is, however, renewable by the Minister for Home Affairs, meaning that the person can effectively be detained indefinitely without a trial. The ISA violates the detainee's rights to access to legal counsel, family visits and a fair trial and is often used to supress the person's rights of expression and to demonstration. Detainees under the ISA are reportedly often subjected to various forms of torture, including physical assault, sleep deprivation, round-the-clock interrogation, threats of bodily harm to family members, including detainees' children, and are allegedly often used to extract false signed confessions from the detainees.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Malaysia urging them to:
i. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the aforementioned persons;
ii. order the “reformasi” activists being detained under the ISA's immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iii. guarantee an immediate investigation into their arrests and detention, and the reported ill-treatment to which they have been subjected, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister's Office, Federal Government Administration Center, 62502 Putrajaya, MALAYSIA, Fax: +603 8888 3444, E-mail: ppm@smpke.jpm.my
· Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Home Minister, Aras 13, Block D1, Parcel D, Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, 652020 Putrajaya, Selangor, Malaysia, Fax: +603 8886 8014
Please also write to the embassies of Malaysia in your respective country.
Geneva, November 13, 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.