When falling victim to violence or discrimination, LGBTQ+ people prefer to suffer in silence because turning to the authorities is unnerving.
Justice For Sisters (JFS) co-founder Thilaga Sulathireh revealed this today at a joint press conference organised by 57 civil society organisations (CSOs), which among others called for the Independent Police Conduct Commission (IPCC) to be given more powers.
She cited a 2021 survey of 220 LGBTQ+ Malaysians, in which 59.1 percent of respondents said they were not comfortable reporting cases of discrimination and violence to government agencies.
According to the respondents, this was because of their lack of trust in public institutions.
“When it comes to having an independent oversight body, we cannot emphasise how much that means to marginalised communities.
“Because a lot of the cases that we see of police misconduct and abuse of power, actually a lot of the time target marginalised communities because they’re already powerless or criminalised under various laws within the country,” she said.
Therefore, Thilaga said it was critical to have an independent oversight body with investigative powers to safeguard the constitutional rights of equality and non-discrimination.
Meanwhile, activist Mukmin Nantang shared his ordeal of being assaulted in a police van after he was arrested in Tawau, Sabah, for protesting against the extension of the enhanced movement control order (MCO) to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.
Since then, the Borneo Komrad coordinator has not received a response to his queries on why he was assaulted and the identities of the police personnel involved.
“These things happen a lot on the ground. And what more if I include how those who don’t have documents are treated, arrested, and accused,” he added.
Mukmin and six others were hauled up for obstructing civil servants from discharging their duties, holding an assembly without a permit, and violating the Covid-19 standard operating procedure.
Suaram coordinator Wong Yan Ke noted there was a lack of data transparency since the human rights organisation obtains its information through the submission of parliamentary questions via an MP.
“And sometimes we can see the (numbers of) deaths of custody cases is inconsistent throughout the year.
“Instead of us asking or begging for the data, the government needs to publish this. Or the IPCC can take up this role,” he added.
Recent cases cast doubt
Last week, All Women’s Action Society (Awam) programme manager Lilian Kok urged the government to enhance the IPCC’s powers and independence.
She said recent cases had cast doubt over the efficacy of the commission.
Last month, a suspect died after spending four days in police custody in Langkawi, Kedah.
Also last month, a senior police officer was arrested for his alleged involvement in a car accident which killed a 17-year-old student in Ipoh, Perak.
Before that, in November, the family of Mohd Nahar Kamsah, who died in custody at the Sungai Besar police station in Selangor, urged for the case to be investigated as a murder. - Mkini
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