100 day KPI: Suhakam tells Hamzah to professionalise the police force

 

Suhakam has given Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin 100 days to respond to its call to "professionalise" the police force and not give any more excuses.

This is in line with the 100-day performance target for ministers set by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph said the new government cannot keep quiet on the matter.

“We need a professional police force (and Suhakam remains steady in its call for Independent Police Complaints of Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

"The new government of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob cannot keep quiet on this matter. No more excuses that 'we are busy,'" Jerald said at a virtual press conference today.

"Home minister, you have 100 days to respond to professionalising the police force (and no more excuses in such excesses in the functions of the police)," Jerald said.

The conference was attended by Undi18 founder Qyira Yusri and Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy.

At the conference, Sekretariat Solidariti Rakyat (SSR) submitted a memorandum to Suhakam on alleged police brutality and wrongful detention when police hauled up activists during a candlelight vigil organised by SSR.

In the same conference, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) member Chong Yee Shan claimed that she had suffered minor injuries, such as bruises in her armpits, as a result of being manhandled by police officers at the vigil.

The Aug 19 vigil, which was held in memory of those who had lost their lives to Covid-19, was attended by 31 individuals, mostly youths, and included individuals from SSR.

In the memorandum, the group outlined what it claimed were key mistakes committed by the police force in response to the vigil. These include:

• The five-hour-long detention of all vigil participants without being informed of the reason for detention;
• The Black Maria police trucks - which the police had directed participants to enter - lacked proper ventilation for proper social distancing practices;
• Lawyers were prevented from entering the Dang Wangi police station on the basis that standard operating procedures (SOPs) had to be kept; and
  
• The subsequent police report made by the vigil’s participants was lodged at Sentul police station to avoid conflict of interest. However, the participants were still instructed to go to Dang Wangi police station to give a statement to the investigating officer.

“During the vigil, the police did not give the participants a chance to disperse and did not allow anyone to leave the area," said Mohamad Al Shatri, a participant and an SSR member.

"The police even surrounded the participants and asked us to hand over our identity cards.

“Section 20 (2) of the Peaceful Assembly Act clearly states that the police should provide space for the organisers to disperse the participants peacefully, and not proceed with detention,” Mohamad said.

Mohamad claimed that although the act of asking participants to enter a Black Maria truck suggested that it was an arrest, participants were told that they would only be taken to Dang Wangi police for documentation purposes.

On allegations that police officers did not follow SOPs on the night of the vigil, Jerald said that the new government should be answerable to incidents of SOP non-compliance by security personnel such as the police.

“Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin must answer how to ensure that police comply with SOPs.

“There’s no point (in) the government doing all (the) hard work to stop the (Covid-19) spread and then the police going around arresting people so easily and throwing them into the Black Maria.

"We try to follow all the strict SOPs but the police themselves don’t follow them. Why is that so?” asked Jerald.

He added that Suhakam will be following up with the Health Ministry on the matter. - Mkini