'Tortured, framed, silenced': DAP MP urges action over 'damning' prison abuses

 

A DAP lawmaker has called for firm action against the top management and prison personnel at Taiping Prison implicated in the abuses and misconduct uncovered during Suhakam’s public inquiry.

Lim Lip Eng described the findings as “damning, shameful and deeply worrying”.

“The top management of Taiping Prison cannot escape responsibility for what appears to be a cover-up of the violence, false reporting and abuse of weapons that occurred under their watch.

“I call for firm punishment against the top management and prison staff involved in the incident, including suspension, disciplinary action and criminal prosecution where offences are disclosed,” said the Kepong MP in a statement.

Lim stressed that Malaysia cannot allow its prisons to descend into places where detainees are “tortured, framed and silenced”.

Prison management, staff instigated riot

Yesterday, Suhakam revealed the findings of its inquiry into a riot involving more than 100 inmates at Taiping Prison in January last year. The incident culminated in the death of a detainee.

The commission found that the riot had been instigated by the prison management and staff themselves.

Suhakam chairperson Hishamudin Yunus said the inquiry panel uncovered multiple acts of physical abuse committed by prison personnel against inmates during the incident, including punching, kicking and pepper-spraying prisoners who were seated in a line with both hands handcuffed.

Suhakam launched the inquiry following the death of inmate Gan Chin Eng, who was alleged to have died after being assaulted by a prison warden during the Jan 17 riot.

Hishamudin, who led the panel alongside Suhakam commissioner Farah Nini Dusuki, said prison officers involved in the riot had repeatedly, irresponsibly and indiscriminately assaulted inmates using weapons such as batons, causing severe injuries, including head lacerations and broken limbs.

He further revealed that the inquiry uncovered several instances of negligence in the aftermath of the incident, including delays in medical treatment, misdiagnosis and the misuse of medical examination equipment.

The panel also identified fraudulent documentation in inmates’ medical records. - Mkini