Repeal Sosma provisions on detention of minors, Suhakam says after teen’s release

Human Rights Commission says the detention breached the Child Act 2001 and violated international child rights under the CRC.

Suhakam’s chief children’s commissioner Farah Nini Dusuki welcomed the release of the 16-year-old girl on Jan 23 but said her detention should never have taken place. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA:

 The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has called for the immediate repeal of any provisions under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) allowing the detention of minors without trial, following the case of a 16-year-old girl in Kedah.

Farah Nini Dusuki, the chief children’s commissioner, welcomed the teen’s release on Jan 23 but said her detention should not have occurred in the first place.

She said the detention violated the Child Act 2001, Section 84 of which requires that a child be brought before a Court for Children within 24 hours of arrest – a requirement that she said was not met.

“Further, Section 83(1) expressly provides that the Child Act prevails over all other laws relating to the arrest, detention and trial of children. This overriding safeguard was disregarded, resulting in a clear violation of the child’s rights,” she said in a statement today.

Farah said the child’s detention also breached Section 85(a) of the Child Act and Article 37(c) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child as she was placed in a lock-up with adult female detainees.

She added that the child was denied the safeguards provided under Section 13 of Sosma, which allows bail if the offender is a minor, female, sick or infirm.

“The Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s position is clear and unequivocal: children must not be detained under Sosma,” she said.

“As the Act permits detention without trial, it is fundamentally incompatible with child rights standards, and any provision allowing for the detention of children under Sosma should be repealed in its entirety.”

FMT previously reported that the teen was arrested at a roadblock near the Jitra toll plaza.

Her mother said police flagged down the vehicle in which the teenager was travelling, alleging that it was being used to smuggle migrants. The girl, along with her father and others in the car, was taken into custody.

During detention, the teen suffered vomiting and developed skin allergies after being held for a week. - FMT