Gov't urged to protect people in detention at risk of Covid-19

CORONAVIRUS | Human rights group Amnesty International Malaysia has urged the government to put measures in place to protect people in detention from contracting Covid-19, which would worsen the situation.

"As the government extended the movement control order (MCO), Amnesty International Malaysia commends recent moves by the authorities, to reduce imprisoning those who violate the MCO, which would worsen the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The authorities must follow up these measures by protecting the health of all people in detention and should urgently consider measures to release people held in prison and immigration detention centres, especially those at particular risk of the pandemic," said Amnesty International Malaysia in a statement today.

Last week, the government had announced it would issue RM1,000 fines to those caught breaching the MCO instead of arresting and imprisoning them, in an effort to reduce overcrowding in prisons amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Amnesty International Malaysia applauded this move, saying it is more favourable to imprisonment, which they described as "disproportionate" and "counterproductive" during a pandemic.

However, they said prisons and immigration detention facilities remain crowded.

"Prisons and immigration detention centres present high-risk conditions that may increase the spread of Covid-19.

"These places are especially risky considering the overcrowding in many detention facilities," said Amnesty International Malaysia interim executive director Preethi Bhardwaj.

The government should consider alternatives to imprisonment as long as they are not an immediate threat to public safety, Amnesty International Malaysia said, in order to lower the risk of transmission in prisons.

This is especially so in the case of inmates who are elderly or have an underlying health condition.

They also urged upon the government to immediately grant humanitarian release to immigration detainees except in the most extraordinary circumstances which require ongoing detention.

"The government must act promptly to prevent the spread of Covid-19 among detainees in prisons and immigration detention centres.

"Detaining people in immigration detention centres, in particular, is cruel and may lead to a rise in infections not only among detainees but afterwards, the public at large," Bhardwaj said.

Amnesty International Malaysia also pointed out that on March 31, the four lead UN agencies on human rights, global health, migrant and refugees had issued a joint statement calling for the release without delay of migrants and asylum seekers being held in cramped and unsanitary immigration detention conditions.

The four agencies had also called for the immediate release of all children and their families, as well as those detained without sufficient legal basis. - Mkini