Don’t make custodial deaths a racial issue, Hamzah tells MPs

 

Hamzah Zainudin said there was no discrimination against any race when a detainee is put under police detention while the percentage of custodial deaths was also very low. (Bernama pic)

KUALA LUMPUR: Home minister Hamzah Zainudin has told MPs not to tie the issue of deaths in custody to ethnicity, saying there was no evidence of the issue involving one particular race, according to statistics.

He told the Dewan Rakyat that, as of September this year, 10 custodial deaths had been reported, involving four Malay men, one Malay woman, two Chinese men, two Indian men and one foreigner.

The courts have ordered an inquest into one of these cases, while the others are still being investigated, he added.

He added that 2020 saw 13 custodial deaths, six involving Malay men, four Chinese men, two Indian men and one foreigner. The year before, nine deaths in custody were reported, comprising six Malay men, one Indian and two foreigners.

In 2018, 10 deaths were reported involving six Malays, two Indians and two foreigners, while 2017 saw 14 custodial deaths comprising five Malays, three Chinese, four Indians and two foreigners.

Custodial deaths that year only made up 0.015% of individuals locked up by the cops, he added.

“Based on these statistics, there is no discrimination against any race when a detainee is put under police detention. And the percentage of custodial deaths among detainees is very low.

“I want to ask my fellow MPs not to make this a racial issue. Sometimes, we let our emotions carry us away, causing a big issue in the country.

“We should accept the fact that we are all here together to work out a solution. This should not be made into a racial issue,” he said in his winding-up speech on the 12th Malaysia Plan today.

Hamzah added that Putrajaya had undertaken several measures to address the issue, including the setting up of a panel of private general practitioners to conduct health check-ups on detainees prior to being locked up.

The government was also in the midst of completing the installation of CCTVs in all police stations and lock-ups.

“The contract for the installation of these CCTVs has been broken down to five zones and we expect the project to be completed by the end of the year.

“This shows that we have been making improvements,” he said. - FMT