Hold Suhakam inquiry into migrant's wrongful whipping - groups

 

Labour rights groups have urged a public inquiry to be held on “human rights violations” suffered by Indonesian migrant worker Sabri Umar.

In a memorandum to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), they said Sabri suffered wrongful arrest and whipping before his appeal was heard.

He was also wrongfully imprisoned for about 94 days, the groups said.

“We want Suhakam to hold a public inquiry into this matter because we believe this is not an isolated incident,” said Labour Law Reform Coalition (LLRC) co-chair Irene Xavier.

She was speaking outside the Suhakam headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Also present were fellow LLRC co-chair Gopal Kishnam, Sabah Timber Industry Employees Union (Stieu) general secretary Engrit Liaw, Syarikat Buruh Kerakyatan Indonesia (Serbuk) representative Khamid Istakhori, and Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) regional representative Apolinar Tolentino.

Suhakam commissioner Mary @ Mariati Robert accepted the memorandum from the groups on behalf of the commission.

In the 92-page memorandum, the groups allege that Sabri possessed an employment pass that was valid from Jan 24, 2022, to Jan 24, 2023, at the time of his arrest.

They said Sabri, who is based in Tawau, Sabah, was wrongfully terminated by his employers on April 4 due to an alleged sexual offence which the worker has denied.

The groups pointed out that a person is presumed innocent until tried and convicted after a fair trial in court and that an employer’s conclusion that a worker is guilty of a crime cannot be grounds for termination.

Alleged sex offence

The day after his termination, the police arrested Sabri at his workplace, under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, after the employer and a mother lodged a police report. The mother purportedly withdrew the report later.

Sabri also alleged that he was assaulted by the police during questioning in an attempt to get him to admit to the sex offence, though he was never charged over it.

The groups said as Sabri was not arrested for violating immigration laws, he must be released or brought before the magistrate within 24 hours of his arrest - something which did not happen.

The groups also said the police communicated with the Immigration Department about the legality of Sabri’s presence in Malaysia as evidenced by an Immigration Department report dated April 12.

They doubted if the police handed over all relevant immigration documents to Immigration Department as well as whether they contacted the Indonesian consulate in Tawau to verify Sabri’s documents.

Indonesian migrant worker Sabri Umar after his release.

As such, they claimed Sabri was wrongfully charged and convicted for being an undocumented migrant on April 19 and was wrongfully sentenced to 11 months in prison and five strokes of the whip. Sabri was unrepresented at the time.

They also claimed that Sabri was wrongfully whipped on June 23, even though there was a pending appeal to a higher court for his case.

“We want Suhakam to look specifically at the wrongful arrest, wrongful detention in police custody, wrongful charging, wrongful conviction, wrongful imprisonment, and wrongful whipping, all of which were caused by the action or omission, intentionally or otherwise, by the police, prosecutors, Immigration Department, Prison Department, and the Session Court, possibly with the involvement of the employer,” they said. - Mkini