Probe Rohingya deaths to see if authorities are liable, says activist

 

More than 500 Rohingya detainees broke out of an immigration depot last week. Most of them have been recaptured.

PETALING JAYA: A coroner’s report into the death of eight Rohingya refugees must be released and an inquest held to determine if the authorities are criminally liable, a human rights organisation said today.

Charles Hector of Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture said one of the deaths was allegedly due to Covid-19.

An inquest must be conducted to determine if there was any negligence by the authorities in monitoring and preventing the spread of the virus among detainees at immigration depots.

“When a detainee in a government detention facility dies of Covid-19, the government, home affairs minister, immigration director-general and the authorities at immigration detention facilities may be criminally liable for the death,” he said.

“Were there regular temperature checks, testing and medical check-ups done at the immigration depots? The fact that the detainee died in detention, not in some hospital while receiving necessary medical attention raises questions,” he said in a statement.

Last week, more than 500 Rohingya detainees escaped and fled an immigration detention depot in Bandar Baharu, Kedah. Six of them died after they were hit by a car while crossing the North-South Expressway.

Another detainee was reported to have died on Wednesday from injuries caused in the same crash.

Yesterday, Kedah police chief Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad confirmed that one more detainee died at the immigration depot last week. He said it was classified as sudden death after the detainee contracted Covid-19.

Hector said if the authorities had failed to ensure detainees are not infected by the virus, detect the spread of the infection or provide speedy healthcare to the infected, it could suggest they were criminally liable in the death.

“The coroner must not simply or blindly accept police classification of sudden deaths and must have an inquest into this death in custody allegedly due to Covid-19 as well as the other seven deaths as a result of the car accident,” he said. - FMT