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It is most unbelievable to hear the Honorable Minister reply
in Parliament to MP for Bagan Datuk’s question on custodial deaths in police lock-ups. Indeed the reported reply from the Home Minister not only
rubs the rakyat’s concerns for His Majesty's subjects the wrong way, it also batters the Prime Minister’s
leadership further.
Certainly the PM cannot blame a “Chinese tsunami” or an “Anwar
Reformasi” if the rakyat continue to lose faith and confidence in his minority-votes
polled government even though His Majesty has asked all political factions to
accept the GE-13 results. In the first place the Home Minister’s rebuttal that that ONLY
two out of the 231 deaths in police custody since Year 2000 was “owing to police brutality”
smacks of gross inconsideration. It certainly gives the perception that it is
all right to have detainees die from police “brutality” because it was "only two".
Dear Honorable Home Minister, there is no law on this planet
earth where even ONE death from the hands of law protectors is justified! So it
is a shame that you appear to dismiss the deaths so lightly. His statement that the authorities “are very committed to
avoid deaths in custody” becomes instantly hollow and unbelievable.
In the first
place why should there be deaths while helplessly detained in a lock-up? And for him to demand that “perception has to change” is absolute
absurdity. The fact is being sidelined; the truth is being rubbished. This is
not a case of changing perceptions. It is about ensuring that we have zero
deaths unleashed by police brutality. His assurance that the authorities “will not compromise or
protect any policeman….who uses force to the point it causes death in custody”
only raises more questions of suspicion.
In the first place, if that is the
truthful commitment then why the adamant reluctance to implement the highly
recommended Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission – IPCMC? If you mean what you say and say what you mean Mr. Honorable
Home Minister, why insist in replacing the IPCMC with your version of the
Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission – EAIC? What is your contention and
justification, pray tell the world including our impartial Judges.
Even
a learned Judge as in the hot-from-the-oven case of the late Mr. Kugan,
has reprimanded the police and wonders why the IPCMC is not
being implemented. So what perception do you think the rakyat will
ventilate? And looking at your answer in Parliament at length as you
absolved yourself of any blame for the 231 deaths, it raises greater concerns
and waxes the rakyat’s heart further.
The rakyat wonder:
·
How could two detainees slip, fall and die in
the lock up? Does the Minister not know anything about ‘unsafe conditions’ and ‘unsafe
acts’? To what extent will the authorities take responsibility for the unsafe
conditions in a lock-up? Or is that too lumped on the detainees?
·
How could 29 detainees under the supposedly
watchful eyes and ears of the police man on duty commit suicide without the law
keepers hearing or seeing the dangerous attempt? Or did someone sneak in
cyanide for the suicidal death?
·
How could two inmates fight inside a lock-up and
as a result die? What on earth were the policemen on duty doing during such
fights that cause death? Or was it a case of ‘it is none of our business if you
fellows chose to clobber and strangle each other to death’?
·
And talk about the 166 detainees who died
because of “illness”. Holy mackerel! Do humans at the wink-of-a-second just die
suddenly because of HIV, asthma, and heart attacks without any indicating symptoms or difficulties? What have our Health
authorities got to say? When you haul in someone and get the courts to approve
a detention period, is it not the responsibility of the police to ensure that
all health requirements are addressed with critical acuteness?
Dear Honorable Minister, your answers in Parliament not only
discredit the police further, but it certainly also dents the PM’s leadership.
Certainly you will not now blame the rakyat or the opposition political parties
or the activists for losing confidence in your role as the country’s Home
Minister. Or shall we say the detainees died because it was God’s will
and so to even question the custodial deaths is to question God Almighty? Maybe
that would have been a better answer in parliament rather then your lengthy
rebuttals that sound just as ridiculous if not more.
Let us see more common sense, a higher degree of logic and a better inventory
of emotion quotient prevail within the august House of Parliament, please.
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