Malaysian Bar unanimously stands against ISA

[motormafia]

Mas Selamat Won! Don't have to escape and hide any more.

http://malaysiakini.com/news/90120

A unified Bar rejects ISA
S Pathmavathy | Sep 20, 08 5:59pm


In the end, the decision was unanimous. Malaysian lawyers stood united against the Internal Security Act and want the draconian legislation out of the way.
MCPX

At its extraordinary general meeting today, held especially to condemn the abuse of the ISA, the Malaysian Bar unanimously voted for its abolishment..

The close-door meeting in Kuala Lumpur garnered a massive turnout of more than 700 participants when a quorum of only 500 is required.

The bar reiterated its stand on oppressive laws such as the ISA, Emergency Ordinance (EO) and Dangerous Drugs Act to be repealed immediately and called for the release all those detained under them.

Some of the guests at the EGM today were Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and ISA detainees’ wives S Pushpaneela and Norlaila Othman. They recounted chronicles of their sufferings and hardships faced by their families.

bar council egm isa 200908 ambiga“We are deeply concerned by the instances shared with us by our three guests as well as other members of the bar who have had contact with detainees under the ISA, as to the manner of their treatment,” Bar Council chairperson S Ambiga told a press conference after the EGM.

“We are appalled by the manner in which the ISA detainees are being treated - six to eight (feet) cells without windows, unacceptable food, and lack of contact to the outside world and sleep deterioration,” said Ambiga.

The bar also reiterated their stand by calling for the unconditional release of Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) leaders M Manoharan, P Uthayakumar, R Kengadharan, V Ganabatirau and K Vasantha Kumar.

Former Bar chairperson Sulaiman Abdullah, present at the press conference, stressed that the government should take into consideration the challenges and trauma faced by the families of detainees.

“It's about time the government repeals the ISA since it can be abused against those opposing the government,” he said.

Besides their firm declaration against the ISA, Ambiga added that the resolution also condemned the issuance of the three show-cause letters to Sin Chew Daily, theSun and PKR’s Suara Keadilan.

“The bar calls upon the government to uphold its pledges to the United Nations Human Rights Council to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to promote a free media, including in cyberspace,” said Ambiga.

ISA abuse amounts to state terrorism

Ambiga added that the participants gave standing ovations to the guest speakers and wholly rejected all the oppressive laws.

“It amounts to an abuse of the ISA and can be termed as state terrorism.

“The authorities must be held accountable for the way in which these persons are being treated in custody,” she said.

Specifically referring to the continued detention of Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Ambiga added that the Bar is concerned about the claims of mental torture that he is undergoing.

The latest ISA crackdown began with controversial blogger Raja Petra when he was taken into custody on Sept 12. Raja Petra’s detention was then followed by the arrest of Tan Hoon Cheng, a journalist for the Sin Chew Daily, who however, was released after 18 hours.

Matters gravitated when Teresa Kok, who is also the Selangor senior executive councillor, was picked up on the same day after attending a function.

Kok was released yesterday after seven days of detention, purportedly for interfering with matters of Islamic concerns.

isa bar council 120908 sulaimanSulaiman then commended the role of the media as source information for public education and credited the release of Tan and Kok as an effort by the press.

“We acknowledge the fact that the media has credibility to educate people in understanding their freedom and rights,” said Sulaiman.

“Never underestimate the power of the press,” he added.

Asked whether the resolution will be heeded by the authorities concerned or ignored like previous attempts and the Bar’s next course of action, Sulaiman said “when you bang, you bang against the wall you start making noise”.

“(And) as the noise keeps on somebody is bound to come and investigate why there is a noise and we need to keep up this noise,” he said.

“The Bar Council is the custodian of civil liberties and justice in Malaysia,” Sulaiman asserted.

 

[motormafia]

http://malaysiakini.com/news/90103

ISA - one for the dustbin of history
Sim Kwang Yang | Sep 20, 08 2:01pm

I remember distinctly my earliest impression of Malaysian politics when I was just a scrappy secondary school boy in Kuching.
MCPX
It was one of revulsion at the injustices inflicted by the Internal Security Act, and the massive arrests of social and political activists in Sarawak under this law in the 1960s.

I consoled myself that the country was in a real state of emergence then, with the security forces fighting an armed communist insurgency throughout the country. At times, there were almost daily reports of casualties suffered from both the belligerent parties on the radio (there was no television then).

Some of my former school mates and former teachers in my Chinese primary schools either disappeared into the jungle, or were arrested and detained under the ISA. Not being mature enough to take side, I reluctantly accepted that some kind extra-constitutional police powers were necessary.

Unfortunately, I was cursed with a superior education, in preparation for the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate. In Form Three history lessons, we had to study about the Glorious English Revolution, the Bill of Rights, the doctrine of separation of powers, and the general principle of fundamental civil and political liberties.

The arrest and indefinite detention of mere suspects without trial in an open court under the ISA were the most offensive insult to my budding political consciousness. It exemplified all that was unpalatable about the new nation state of Malaysia. That sentiment has persisted through till this day.

Of all the reasons why I went to the opposition party, the ISA was probably the most powerful motivation. A democracy that requires the ISA to maintain order remains as a Third World guided democracy. It needs room to grow and mature.

Exhilarating time

I was elected a member of parliament in 1982. In 1986, the DAP won an unprecedented 24 seats.

It was an exhilarating time for political activism. The press was quite open and critical. It was jokingly said by an Umno MP in the House that the Star was owned by the MCA, run by the MIC, for the DAP. Educational, social, and environmental NGOs were making themselves heard. There was a whiff of spring in the air.

mahathir and operasi lalangIn contrast, the BN was in tatters. Umno was caught in one of their many extremely acrimonious party elections. Then premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad must have felt control slipping out of his hand.

Then, there was this issue of the Education Ministry sending Malay teachers who did not know Mandarin to Chinese primary schools on teaching assignment. There was an emotional gathering of Chinese educationists, Chinese-based political parties and their supporters in a famous temple in KL.

Umno apparently took this as a challenge to their nationalist dominance over Malaysian political life. A mass rally was called to be held in KL to display Malay unity against perceived threat from the Chinese community. Seditious racist slogans were flying all over the place.

Then, a soldier with psychological disorder let off a few rounds of his firearms on Chow Kit Road. Rumours went wild about the possibility of racial riots, and people were stocking up food in the city.

A few days later, on October 24, 1987, the infamous Operation Lalang began.

I was in Parliament at about 2 pm, waiting for the question time to begin half an hour later. I got a call for help from an NGO friend, who informed me that Tan Kah Kheng had been arrested under the ISA. I rushed into the chamber to inform Lim Kit Siang, who told me that Lim Guan Eng had also been similarly detained at the Jalan Bandar Police Station.

That evening, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh went to the police station in an attempt to see Lim Guan Eng. They too were roped in right there and then under the ISA. In the following days, 106 of the top opposition leaders, NGO activists, and the leading lights of social and educational movements were arrested and detained under the ISA. During that time, the constitutional amendment to strip the judiciary of their independence was tabled and passed.

The fear of the ISA

You could see how fear gripped the whole nation in those days. It was not only fear for racial riots, but fear for the ISA. Newspapers were muted overnight. Civil society evaporated into thin air. The nation was cowed. The ISA had succeeded in repressing dissent within the BN ruling coalition and the Malaysian society at large. It had preserved a much beleaguered status quo.

isa 3 teresa raja petra tan hoon chengWhen the police arrested Raja Petra Kamarudin, Teresa Kok, and a Sin Chew reporter last Friday, the natural question that popped up in my mind, as it would in the mind of many old hands in Malaysia, was whether this was another ISA dragnet to subdue a rising tide of opposition to the BN government.

There are many parallels between 1987 and 2008. The PM’s hold on power seems shaky. Umno is consumed in a self-destructive orgy of internal discord. The opposition and their supporters have grown increasingly defiant, with constant public demonstrations to display their displeasure at many issues plaguing the nation. Anwar Ibrahim is talking of a change of government through massive defections from the BN.

All that Umno need to do to restore their iron grip on the power centre is to instigate a few racially tinged incidents, and wait for their detractors to respond in vigorous and predictable manner. Surely, the Ahmad Ismail affair looked like that kind of bait. Then, the police can use these agent provocateurs to arrest as many opposition figures as they wish under the ISA in the name of preserving public security.

If that happens, I would not be surprised. The question is: will the nation be cowed this time, as in 1987?

More than 20 years later, we have new generations of politicians, journalists, and NGOs. The day after the arrest, there was a public outcry from all quarters that condemns the use of the ISA this time, in sharp contrast to the oppressive disappointing silence in 1987.

Six Cabinet ministers voiced their disagreement over the use of the ISA. Prominent leaders from BN component parties called for a review of the ISA. Even the usually servile leaders of the Chinese guilds and associations joined in the chorus of condemnation. Even the Mufti of Perlis argued against the ISA arrest on religious grounds!

zaid ibrahim resignation from ministerial post 160908 06Finally, the de facto Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim resigned from his cabinet position, in protest against the ISA arrests, and in admission of his failure to institute judicial reform in the government.

There is apparently an undercurrent of seething outrage against the latest round of ISA abuses. The statement by Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar made him and the police look ludicrous in the eyes of the public. Once again, Raja Petra Kamarudin and Teresa Kok appeared as the martyred heroes.

This is something totally new in Malaysian politics. The ISA has now become a great liability for the ruling coalition, rather than the most effective instrument of intimidating the Malaysian society into acquiescent silence. We must have made great strides in the past 20 years in the evolution of democracy.

Again, the alternative media on the Internet made the crucial difference. Unlike in 1987, people have a forum now to disseminate information and rally public opinions on the net. The days of government monopoly on all political narratives have gone forever.

Police biggest loser

The March 8 general election has also pried open the gridlock of feudalistic political consciousness. People are now exposed to the prospect of new political sceneries in which the ISA is a hindrance to political progress, rather than a necessary evil in a multiracial society.

Finally, the quality of our multiracial citizenry has improved beyond measure. The racial narratives that has dominated our political discourse for half a century may still reside in the consciousness of many, but increasingly, more ordinary citizens are no linger gullible to the lies and the abuses when cracking the ISA whip in the name of maintaining public security and political stability.

The biggest loser in this current ISA fiasco is the police. The home minister has said that he had no part in the decision to detain the three people under the ISA. He has made the police look as if it is a power unto itself, acting without the approval of the minister in charge of home security, as if the police officers and men have acted on their own to repress political dissidents. With this kind of government, the police can never be professional and impartial in the discharge of their duties!

It appears that by 2008, the ISA has outlived its shelf life as a weapon of state terrorism. I now await anxiously the day when it will be repealed altogether. Then Malaysian democracy will have a bright future.

 

[motormafia]

Smelly Vellu asked his ex-boss Abdullah to release his very own political enemies - the Hindraf 5.

BN's internal conflicts and cracks all showed up.


http://malaysiakini.com/news/90136

MIC says it again: Release the Hindraf 5
Sep 21, 08 4:54pm

MIC president S Samy Velly today urged the government to release the five Hindraf leaders who were detained under the ISA last December as they no longer pose a threat to the national security.
MCPX

mic youth division launch pc 040908 samy vellu 01"It's about time that they are released as they pose no danger to the security of the country.

"The government should not hold them any longer as it will prolong the Indian community's ill-feelings towards the government," said the former works minister in a statement today.

He further added that the detention without trial punishment meted out to the five Hindraf leaders did not correspond with their actions.

The five - R Kengadharan, 41, M Manoharan, 47, V Ganabatirau, 35, P Uthayakumar, 47, and K Vasantha Kumar, 35 - were arrested on Dec 13 for their role in organising a campaign to highlight the plights of the Indian community in this country.

This is not the first time MIC has called for the release of the Hindraf 5. It first made the call after the March 8 general election.

hindraf isa detainees 290808The party performed badly in the polls with many of its candidates losing their seats, including Samy Vellu who lost in his traditional stronghold Sungai Siput. Many attributed the party's woeful performance on its ineffectiveness in handling the community matters.

Chance to win back the voters

Today, Samy Vellu said that the five should be released unconditionally.

"They only voiced out the problems and the frustrations of the Indian community.

"Similarly, the MIC has also been doing the same for the past few decades ... so why detain them any longer?" he asked.

Samy Vellu said many Barisan Nasional "die-hards" among the Indian community had voted for the opposition in the last general election as they felt that the five Hindraf leaders had been detained unjustly.

"It is not because they loved the opposition or they wanted a change but rather they vented their anger on the (BN) government," he said.

He said the BN could regain their support if the five Hindraf leaders were released.

"I had asked the prime minister to release them on several occasions and also raised the matter at two BN Supreme Council meetings," he said.

He said that he would raise the matter again when he meets Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi soon.

 

[motormafia]

http://malaysiakini.com/news/90135

Parliamentary select committee on ISA mooted
Sep 21, 08 4:37pm

The government has been urged to establish a parliamentary select committee to review all aspects regarding the Internal Security Act (ISA).
MCPX

This call however did not come from any of the opposition parties, but from senior Barisan Nasional coalition member Gerakan.

It must be noted that Gerakan has for long been a vocal critic of the detention without trial legislation, which is a left-over from the colonial era.

koh tsu koon wawasan university 220906 ponderAccording to a Bernama report today, Gerakan acting president Dr Koh Tsu Koon said that the study was crucial in view of the differences of opinions as to whether the Act should be amended, repealed or retained.

"It is better to set up a parliamentary select committee like other committees established to study particular issues.

"It will be a reasonable democratic process and with it, we can come out with a more comprehensive finding with regard to the ISA," he said.

He added that the preventive law would become better if a parliamentary select committee were to discuss the important aspects contained in it.

He also said that such a parliamentary study could also help assuage the anger and anxiety felt by the people over the use of the Act.

Feedback on role in BN

The former Penang chief minister also said that the party was in the midst of gathering feedback from its members on its continued role in the BN.

"We are gathering feedbacks from the grassroots and if necessary, we will call an extraordinary general meeting," he said.

Gerakan leaders and members have been urging the party to cut all ties with the BN over the dominant and increasingly racial role played by Umno, the main player of the coalition.

In another matter, Koh was replaced as the Penang Gerakan chairperson by party vice president Dr Teng Hock Nan, 63.

He was elected to the post today at the delegates' conference of Penang Gerakan today. Koh did defend the position.

Teng secured 166 votes to beat Gerakan secretary-general Chia Kwang Chye who polled 156 votes and Bukit Gelugor division head Cheang Chee Gooi who obtained 21 votes.

Koh did not contest because he wanted to focus on party work at the national level.

Meanwhile, the six people who were elected Penang Gerakan committee members were Ong Thean Lye (290 votes), Teh Leong Meng (275 votes), Lim Boon Ben (250 votes), Teoh Hang Chong (239 votes), A Mohan (220 votes) dan Lim Kean Guan (218 votes).

 

[captainxerox]

isa is anachronistic abuse of executive power that has no checks and balances in their current forms in malaysia and singapore. period.

 

[one2unite]

isa is anachronistic abuse of executive power that has no checks and balances in their current forms in malaysia and singapore. period.

The ISA was a leftover from the British colonialist. In Singapore, the ISA is further tightened to give absolute power to the fascist Lee regime that was first put in place by the British themselves in 1959.

 

[Avantas]

What is The Online CONS (TOC) doing about this ???

Are they going to organize a protest at Hong Lim to speak out against the ISA ?

The ISA was a leftover from the British colonialist. In Singapore, the ISA is further tightened to give absolute power to the fascist Lee regime that was first put in place by the British themselves in 1959.

 

[motormafia]

Guan Eng: Don't review ISA, bin it!
Athi Veeranggan | Sep 22, 08 4:30pm

Why bother reviewing the need for the Internal Security Act (ISA) when it should be abolished and dumped out with the trash?
MCPX

Offering this view, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng also said this would be the ideal way to end to the country's ugly chapter on the use of the dreaded law.

lin guan eng koh tsu koon debateLim (left in photo), who is also DAP secretary-general, blasted the recent call by Gerakan acting president Koh Tsu Koon (right in photo) to set up a parliamentary select committee to review the ISA, which allows for detention without trial.

This would be meaningless, a waste of time and against the public interest, he said, noting that the ISA is historical baggage that has become an obstacle to nation building.

“It’s a draconian law that has caused (many problems for) the country’s growth into a liberal, progressive and dynamic nation,” he said, pointing out that use of the ISA has also been a hindrance to foreign investments and business expansion.

He told journalists in George Town that Gerakan’s proposal for a review - on whether the law should be repealed, amended or retained - only amounted to passing the buck.

"It’s a waste of time (to review it) when virtually all Malaysians want to do away with it,” said Lim, who was himself detained under the ISA for 18 months during the infamous Operasi Lallang police sweep in 1987.

zaid ibrahim and isa internal security act 150908Questioning their sincerity in tackling the issue, Lim challenged leaders of Gerakan and MCA to emulate Umno stalwart Zaid Ibrahim (left) who had resigned as a cabinet minister because of recent use of the law.

The detention of DAP parliamentarian Teresa Kok, 43, journalist Tan Hoon Cheng, 33, and prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, 58, as reignited calls for abolition of the law. The two women have since been released.

Stronger legal clout

On another matter, the chief minister said the Penang government will tighten current laws to strengthen the public accounts committee (PAC) a la the Westminster model. This is to curb financial mismanagement and malpractices.

“Under the British Westminster model, the PAC is very powerful. We plan to copy the concept to vest more power and authority in the PAC to conduct independent investigations into alleged mismanagement of state funds by public officials,” said Lim.

barisan rakyat pas pkr dapHe was asked to comment on a similar move by the Selangor government which, like Penang, is helmed by the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

Lim said the state legal adviser is studying the plan and will come up with recommendations soon on the amendments required.

When these take effect, the PAC will have powers to compel witnesses to testify on allegations of abuse and misuse of power, as well as financial irregularities.

The changes are being introduced in line with state policy that emphasises competency, accountability and transparency.