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Thursday, July 18, 2013

Is the government “so completely heartless”? Pua asks

The cries for the government to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) became louder as another custodial death was reported yesterday.
DAP's national publicity secretary Tony Pua (pic) said the government should now take heed and set up the IPCMC as the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC) was “toothless”.
“The issue isn’t just one of increasing the number of investigating officers in the EAIC (although it will certainly help), but one which is about giving teeth to the relevant commission,” he said in a statement.
He called on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to act on his promise of a “transformative government” and to reform injustices in the system by setting up the IPCMC.
“The question that needs to be asked now is whether the Najib administration is so completely heartless as to see Malaysians die in custody, that no urgent and drastic action needs to be taken to remedy the situation.
“Malaysians are certainly beginning to think so as the authorities have shown a complete lack of remorse in these deaths where there has been substantial evidence of the victims being tortured,” he added.
In the latest case highlighted by Batu Gajah MP V Sivakumar, 27-year-old Chew Siang Giap was found dead at the Batu Gajah prison early Tuesday morning.
His father, who was then called to identify his body at the Batu Gajah Hospital, found bruise marks on the victim's ear, shoulder and thigh. A police report was lodged.
Last week in Parliament, the Home Minister claimed that the IPCMC is unconstitutional and that the EAIC is enough to resolve cases of abuse by the police.
However, Pua rubbished those claims, pointing out that if the EAIC was indeed effective, there would not be such a high number of deaths in police custody.
"In fact since 2011, none of the deaths under police custody have been investigated by the EAIC.  It is of course not helped by the fact that the Government has never been serious about EAIC in the first place, leaving the agency severely understaffed and under-budget.”
Former Chief Justice Tun Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah who chaired the Royal Commission Inquiry on the Royal Malaysia Police which first recommended the IPCMC, also rebutted the minister's claims that it was unconstitutional.
He quoted Article 140 of the Federal Constitution which reads “provides that Parliament may, by law, provide for the exercise of Police Force Commission's disciplinary control over members of the police force in such manner and such authority as may be provided in that law".
Pua insisted that the EAIC was not seen as a "threat or a deterrent" to rogue police personnel as it does not have prosecution powers and can only refer the complaints to the disciplinary authorities of the said enforcement agency.
The EAIC oversees several enforcement agencies, including the police.
The IPCMC, meanwhile, is meant only for the police and would be empowered to caution, discharge, deprive good conduct badges and allowances, stop increment, demote, severely reprimand, transfer or dismiss personnel.
"The Government is free to rename the IPCMC as the EAIC, and expand the commission to include as many agencies as it wants. However, if the commission doesn’t have teeth, then it is certainly designed to fail," Pua added. 

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