Focus on deaths and abuse in custody, NGO urges AG

PETALING JAYA: NGO Eliminating Deaths and Abuse in Custody Together (EDICT) today urged newly appointed Attorney-General (AG) Idrus Harun to address what it said were several shortcomings related to the handling of deaths and abuse in custody cases.

Noting that the government does not publish regular data about deaths and abuse in custody, EDICT said monitoring by civil society organisations indicated that deaths and abuse in custody – whether in police lock-ups, prisons or immigration detention centres – continues unabated.

Adding that there is a lack of urgency in conducting inquests, it said the AG’s Chambers (AGC) should establish a system to track and ensure timely inquests into cases of custodial deaths.

It also suggested the establishment of a rule barring representation by the AGC for perpetrators of deaths in police custody, and urged deputy public prosecutors (DPPs) to rethink the way they approach inquests.

“DPPs who serve as conducting officers during inquests often act as if they are defending the authorities instead of assisting the coroner to arrive at findings of fact,” it said.

“EDICT recommends that the AG establishes training and monitoring of DPPs to ensure they assist the coroner rather than the authorities.”

It also urged the AGC to accept the award of damages by civil courts and treat appeals as exceptions rather than the rule, saying this makes it seem as though there is “a refusal to even appear to condone belligerent abuse of power”.

It said the lengthy appeal process had led to “appalling delays” in awards for damages, noting one case in which the wife and six children of the victim had yet to receive a single sen eight years after his death. - FMT