The Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA) is a preventive detention law in Malaysia, where a person may be detained by the police for up to 60 days without trial for an act which allegedly prejudices the security of the country or any part thereof. After 60 days, the person may be further detained for a period of two years each, to be approved by the Minister of Home Affairs.
Since 1960 when the Act was enacted, thousands of people including trade unionists, student leaders, labour activists, political activists, religious groups, academicians, NGO activists have been arrested under the ISA. Many political activists in the past have been detained for more than a decade.
The ISA has been consistently used against people who criticise the government and defend human rights. It is the most feared and despised, yet convenient tool for the state to suppress opposition and open debate.
During the first 60 days, the detainee is held incommunicado, with no access to the outside world. Furthermore, lawyers and family members are not allowed access to the detainee during this initial period. Only after a two-year detention order is signed, the detainee is sent to Kamunting Detention Centre to serve the two-year term, during which family visit are allowed.
Torture often goes concurrently with ISA detention. Former detainees have testified to being subjected to severe physical and psychological torture. Further, detainees are usually confined in individual and acutely small cells with no light and air. Prolonged torture and deprivation have led to detainees signing state-manufactured ‘confessions’ under severe duress.
How you can help?
- Send or fax letters to the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar to urge him to stop threatening and arresting people under the ISA, free all the detainees in Kamunting or charge them in court, and abolish the draconian ISA.
- Send or fax copies of the letter to the National Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), the Secretariat of GMI, and the Inspector General of Police.
SAMPLE LETTER:-
Y.B. Dato’ Seri Syed Hamid bin
Syed Jaafar Albar
Home Minister,
Blok D 2, Parcel D,
Pusat Pentadbiran
Kerajaan Persekutuan,
62546 Putrajaya.
Tel: 03-8886 3299
Fax 03-8889 3854
Dear Sir,
Re: No to ISA - Release Immediately (names of detainees)!
We are writing to you to register our strongest condemnation and protest against the use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) on (names of detainees and their designations).
Under the ISA, a person can be detained without trial indefinitely. It violates important and fundamental rights such as the right to be presumed innocent before proven guilty, the right to an open and fair trial and the right to legal counsel.
We are sure that you, Sir, are fully aware of the abusive nature of the draconian ISA. The history of the ISA reveals that many detainees were subjected to torture, inhumane and degrading treatments, especially during the first few weeks of detention. We are extremely concerned about the wellbeing of the detainee.
We strongly urge the government to release (names of detainees) immediately and unconditionally. The government must respect the right to trial and abolish the ISA and all forms of detention without trial; charge all detainees in an open court. Failing to do so, the detainees must be released immediately and unconditionally. “Emergency” laws in Malaysia disregard human rights and violate the safeguards enshrined in the Federal Constitution and international human rights law.
The continued use of the ISA only goes to show that despite being a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Malaysian government pays scant respect to human rights and in breach of its own pledges to the Human Rights Council and international community to promote and protect human rights when Malaysia contested for a seat in the Human Rights Council.
We once again urge you to release or charge all ISA detainees and abolish the draconian law that should have no place in any civilised country.
Sincerely
yours,
[Name]
cc:
1. Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman,
President,
National Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM)
Tingkat 29, Menara Tun Razak,
Jalan Raja Laut, 50350 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2612 5600 / Fax: 03 2612 5620
2. Tan Sri Musa Hassan
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
50560 Bukit Aman,
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-22626015 / Fax: 03-22725613
