Special police panel a ‘cosmetic kit’ for cover-ups, says activist

 

Human rights activists Rama Ramanathan (left) and Sevan Doraisamy have cast doubt on the ability of the police to investigate themselves.

PETALING JAYA: A human rights activist has described a new special police panel on custodial deaths as “a cosmetic kit” for police to commit cover-ups.

Rama Ramanathan, spokesman for Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances, said the new special panel, announced today by the home ministry, would just “train” the police to be better at covering up their tracks when they caused custodial deaths.

“Those on this panel will learn not to make the mistakes made by their colleagues in covering up. They would end up becoming ‘specialists’ in cover-ups,” he told FMT. “The home ministry has given the police a ‘cosmetic kit’ for them to commit cover-ups.”

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) executive director Sevan Doraisamy said the special panel was “going to be a failure, and we can foresee it”.

However, the NGO Eliminating Deaths and Abuse in Custody Together (EDICT) welcomed the formation of the panel, calling it a starting point for reforms in the current system of investigating custodial deaths.

Rama said the integrity and standard compliance department at federal police headquarters, which will oversee the new panel, could not be trusted to investigate custodial deaths.

He said the department was severely discredited and had been mocked by former Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador and current Johor police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay.

The new police panel will comprise 12 police officers and a civilian staff member. It will be headed by a police superintendent.

Rama said only an independent body could provide transparency in investigating custodial deaths. The police should not be mandated by law to investigate themselves.

He called for the Criminal Procedure Code to be amended, to remove responsibility for investigation of deaths in custody from the police.

“That power and responsibility should be given to an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC),” he said.

Meanwhile, Sevan said he suspected that the home ministry had created this special panel as a tool to weaken the proposed Independent Police Conduct Commission, an alternative to IPCMC that is being proposed by the current government.

“In 2005, a royal commission of inquiry proposed the creation of IPCMC – an independent body that will investigate police misconduct. Now, in 2021, we have the home ministry proposing a special panel, where the police just investigate themselves.”

However, EDICT said the formation of the panel was in line with calls from human rights advocates for custodial deaths not to be investigated by the same police station where these deaths occur.

The group said investigations must also be carried out under the Penal Code and those found guilty must be charged if there are elements of crime or negligence.

EDICT also urged the government to table a specific Coroner’s Act to replace the existing coroner’s court system in the country.

Klang MP Charles Santiago of DAP, in a tweet today, said that the police-led special panel would not provide a sense of confidence to the families of custodial death victims who seek justice. - FMT