Police abuses and the lack of will
Human Rights Watch has issued a report that the Malaysian police will not like.
The report "No Answers, No Apology: Police Abuses and Accountability in Malaysia" tells it as it is, no holds barred. The 102-page report documents alleged abuses by the police since 2009, after talking to those who were detained by police and the families of people shot or allegedly abused by police.
It also has input from police officers and members of Suhakam, the Malaysian Human Rights Commission.
The United States-based HRW says in the report that there is no proper accountability in the police force and this has led to abuse of suspects.
It takes the government to task for not setting up an external oversight body, as recommended by the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police in 2005.
The Royal Commission had recommended the establishment of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission to investigate police malfeasance and take disciplinary measures.
This is not something new, Malaysians have been urging the government to establish such an oversight body for years, intensifying such a call following the recommendation of the Royal Commission.
However, the government decided, instead, to set up the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), which oversees 19 government agencies including the police.
As the HRW report says, the EAIC has been operating since April 2011, and received a total of 469 complaints through May 31, 2013, of which 353 were against the police.
The report adds: “The commission is thinly staffed – the number of staff investigators dipped to only one in mid-2013 – and it has insufficient resources to investigate and respond to complaints.
“In the words of an EAIC investigator, the commission is “being set up to fail.” Speaking to a national conference in May 2013 organised by the EAIC, former Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad took the EAIC to task, saying, “The bottom line is, since its establishment until the end of 2012, only one disciplinary action and two warnings have been handed down. For a budget of RM14 million for the two years, they were very costly indeed.”
The report observes that despite increasing public backlash, “neither police leaders nor the civilian authorities who oversee their actions have made a genuine commitment to bringing about needed reform in police policy and practice”.
The report says: “Unjustified shootings, mistreatment and deaths in custody, and excessive use of force in dispersing public assemblies persist because of an absence of meaningful accountability for Malaysia’s police force.
“Investigations into police abuse are conducted primarily by the police themselves and lack transparency. Police officers responsible for abuses are almost never prosecuted. And despite recent reforms, there is still no effective independent oversight mechanism to turn to when police investigations falter.
“The result is heightened public mistrust of a police force that has engaged in numerous abuses and blocked demands for accountability.”
The report quotes a Suhakam investigator as saying: “There is stiff resistance from police when anyone questions them. When we inquire about a case, the police tell us that it’s under investigation and everything is done according to procedures, but we are not given their SOPs [standard operating procedures] or ever told what their investigation found. “Trust us,” they say, “We are taking care of it.” But people want tangible proof of what action they take which is nowhere to be seen. There are no checks and balances.”
And checks and balances are what are needed in any organisation or agency that has power over people.
I believe people should appreciate the good work done by the police force. I do. I believe that sometimes police have to act tough to bring criminals to book. Few, if any, criminals will own up to a crime voluntarily.
However, that does not give the police the right to abuse anyone.
Can’t the police use their intelligence, skills and the latest technology to prevent and solve crime, and resort to violence only as a last resort?
The HRW report makes several recommendations, chief of which is the establishment of an external oversight body. The police should view the HRW report positively. Not even the police leadership will deny that there is immense room for reform and improvement.
People should learn to see policemen as friends but that will not happen until the image of the police improves, and that will not happen until alleged police abuses stop and police are perceived as acting fairly and justly.
