Recent events have again highlighted the need for the original Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to be set up and given the necessary teeth to probe and punish police misbehaviour.
Two and half months after an assault on a deaf e-hailing driver by a police escort of Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim (the video has gone viral) it is surprising and disappointing that no action has been taken against the perpetrator.
Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain, hours after the press conference by the driver and his lawyer, revealed the police escort had faced disciplinary action within the force, without specifying what was the nature of the action.
On top of that, he told Malay daily Berita Harian that the officer was investigated under the Penal Code. The IGP had said on June 5 that the investigation papers had been forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Chambers the day before for further action. So why the delay?
Malaysiakini also reported on Aug 14 that police called up the wife of a PSM member to give her statement despite being uninvolved in the party’s recent peaceful assembly.
“According to PSM deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan, Rajeswary Seniar and her husband Vijayagandi Ramasamy presented themselves to the Putrajaya district police headquarters this afternoon. PSM lawyer Shashi Devan added that Vijayagandi’s phone was confiscated,” the report said.
These and other reports lead to legitimate questions over the way the police conduct their operations without any checks and balances by an independent overseeing body such as a properly constituted IPCMC.
Noble beginnings
Twenty years ago in 2004, then-prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who succeeded Dr Mahathir Mohamad, secured a landslide victory in the general election that year, winning 64 percent of the popular vote and over 90 percent of parliamentary seats.
He had promised sweeping reforms which included strong measures against corruption at all levels.
That’s when talk of an IPCMC first emerged but eventually what came up was a toothless Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC). Abdullah’s advisers apparently misadvised him against the IPCMC so as not to alienate the police.
After Abdullah’s anti-corruption efforts collapsed, Umno/BN suffered its worst setback from a disappointed public in 2008 but still retained power.
It paved the way for Najib Abdul Razak to become prime minister and his nefarious ways the following year. After another major setback in 2013, Umno/BN finally lost power in 2018 to Pakatan Harapan.
The following year, the revived Mahathir, through Harapan in his second round as prime minister, introduced a watered-down IPCMC.
Its second reading was postponed after severe public criticism that the teeth were lacking and it was sent back to the drawing board, but Mahathir was then overthrown in the Sheraton move of 2020, and Muhyiddin Yassin became prime minister.
Ismail Sabri Yaakob succeeded the emergency-imposing Muhyiddin in August 2021. Through the then infamous home minister Hamzah Zainudin, he pushed through the new toothless Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) Act in July 2022.
Regressive law
Amnesty International Malaysia described the IPCC as “regressive” as it “undermines years of consultations”, and that the IPCC will have less power than the EAIC, the authority it is set to replace.
The Madani government led by Harapan’s Anwar Ibrahim came to power in November 2022 through a coalition of disparate parties including Umno. But were they going to revive the original IPCMC? No!
Barely a month into power, back-door home minister - Senator Saifuddin Nasution Ismail - explicitly okayed the IPCC, saying it would be implemented in June 2023.
The Malaysian Bar protested. Its then president Karen Cheah said: “We are disheartened by the government’s plan to forge ahead with the Act, especially when the Malaysian Bar has consistently expressed grave concerns relating to the shortcomings of the IPCC Act.”
Explaining the necessity of an IPCMC instead of the much-diluted IPCC, she added: “The most salient feature of the IPCMC is that it is provided with disciplinary authority over the police. It goes without saying that the police cannot police themselves.
“The IPCMC guarantees accountability because it provides the necessary ‘enforcement powers’ to reprimand and punish errant officers if they break the law.”
Long list of misconduct
The latest news report as I write is this one: “The civil court has ordered the police and government to hand over the classified report on Pastor Raymond Koh’s enforced disappearance to his family.”
This is a long-standing issue as is the death in 2009 of Teoh Beng Hock, a political aide to a state assemblyperson, who fell to his death under mysterious circumstances while being held for questioning by the MACC.
That’s not all, Malaysiakini has an excellent article detailing the many instances of deaths under police custody, titled Death Behind Bars most of which have not been fully investigated till today.
Here are some truly frightening extracts:
A Kugan: 23 years old, male, Indian
Nabbed on suspicion of car theft, A Kugan was found dead after five days in the lockup in 2009, when he was 23.
A post-mortem revealed that Kugan suffered 45 external injuries and widespread internal injuries. A second autopsy revealed that Kugan had been beaten, burned, and starved prior to his death.
Syed Mohd Azlan: 42 years old, male, Malay
Welder Syed Mohd Azlan was arrested on Nov 3, 2014, after a police report was lodged over a brawl involving a firearm in September of that year. He was arrested by 13 police personnel and taken to the Sungai Rengit Police Station, where he sustained 61 wounds in four hours and died.
Chang Chin Te: 34 years old, male, Chinese
Chang Chin Te worked as a mechanic and was arrested with three others at a hotel in Subang Jaya on Jan 10. Their remand period was to last until Jan 15.
His family claimed that Chang’s body exhibited suspicious wounds and swellings and his wife reported that when she saw him at the hospital before his death, he was bleeding from the nose and ear, while his face was swollen and his chest was injured.
Deliver or fall from grace
The regular occurrence of such incidents exemplifies one thing - you need a powerful, independent IPCMC with strong teeth to investigate and oversee our enforcement agencies and take action against them.
Otherwise, there is no way the agencies will change by themselves.
Interestingly, every government that has ignored this very important part of reform has fallen, with Abdullah in 2009, Najib in 2018, Mahathir in his resurrection in 2020, Muhyiddin in 2021, and Ismail Sabri in 2022.
There is no scientific basis of course to draw conclusions. But is it not true to say that the first litmus test of genuine reform is to ensure that enforcement agencies do their work competently, efficiently, and without fear and favour?
If you can’t even do that, can you even talk about reform and getting rid of corruption? You would have failed in your war against corruption even before you started!
The public wants reform - any government that denies them is destined to lose power. - Mkini
P GUNASEGARAM says that the test of a good government is whether it matches words with actions.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
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