Is the police force up for change?

Will BN blame the rakyat for taking to the streets demanding that the cops be made responsible for the next death in detention?

COMMENT

Lawyer and parliamentarian Gobind Singh Deo holds the conviction that cops must be held responsible for the deaths of detainees under their custody; the DAP MP has every reason to come strong on this issue, for there has been a 17-fold increase in fatal police shootings since 2001.

Gobind wants the federal government under Barisan Nasional to amend the law to make police officers liable for the demise of detainees in their charge.

The Puchong MP is worried because most of the fatal police shootings have occurred under dubious situations with no convictions made except in the case of Aminulrasyid Amzah, 15, who was gunned down by the police and A Kugan who died while in police custody.

Incidentally, both the Aminulrasyid and Kugan cases became “hot” topics for the press which gave them extensive coverage.

“This means that the law should presume that the police officer under whom a person is detained for investigation is responsible for whatever happens to the detainee during detention unless the officer can prove otherwise,” Gobind had said in a recent press statement.

Police statistics as of August 2012 showed that 147 people died in police custody between January 2000 and February 2010.

The deaths included 64 Malays while in police custody, with 30 deaths among Chinese detainees, 28 Indians, eight other races, and 14 foreigners.

And yet the BN government argues that implementing the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission or IPCMC is a waste of time!

Are the police working for BN?

The call for IPCMC to be put in place has been made countless times and on all occasions its need has been shot down by the Home Ministry.

It is baffling as to why the BN government is so reluctant to establish such an independent body that will detail the do’s and don’ts for the police force.

Does the federal government’s vehement refusal has to do with the fact that the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) is on its “payroll”, that is, working for BN?

The question is validly raised keeping in mind that the police have a record of working for the “bad guys”, often times allowing the crooks to walk away unpunished.

Had the police been doing their job of ensuring the rakyat is safe, a car mechanic like Kugan would not have met an untimely death in 2009, that too a tortuous one, his body revealing 42 marks and contusions which included V-shaped marks caused by a hot iron.

Despite Kugan’s body bearing proof of abuse, Selangor police chief deputy commissioner Khalid Abu Bakar had the audacity to claim no foul play took place. Khalid instead stated that Kugan died of breathing difficulties.

Trying desperately to conceal the truth, Khalid decided to turn the tables by threatening to take action against those who has trespassed into the mortuary.

The then Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar was just as unscrupulous, echoing a similar warning like Khalid.

Meanwhile, the then Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan urged the public to “wait for the outcome of police investigations”, stressing police would “not hide anything”.

A similar assurance was given by Federal CID director commissioner Mohd Bakri Zinin who said there would be no police cover-up and justice would be seen to be done.

From the IGP to the state police chief to the Federal CID head, all three did a darn good job of lying to the rakyat that justice would be served.

No more pleading with BN

It seems that Gobind’s diplomacy and pleas for the BN government to seriously consider holding the police liable for deaths under their custody is not going to make any impact.

What perhaps will shake the federal government is the people power that demands that deaths in detention must cease. And demonstrations seem to be the only way to get this message across as all pleas and urges to the BN leadership have gone unheeded.

Will BN blame the rakyat for taking to the streets demanding that the cops be made responsible for the next death in detention?

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak knows the force behind the people power and it scares him – no surprise then why he post-Bersih keeps urging the public to find “amicable” ways of voicing their grouses instead of taking to the streets.

But has Najib ever made an effort to ponder why the rakyat is forced to come to the streets? It is because the government has failed in its duties of governing the country in a responsible and accountable manner.

Gobind insists that unless the government takes the necessary steps, there will be no “significant change of attitude on the part of the police to stop the assaults and deaths in police custody”.

The question is – are the police up for a change?

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.