No room for violent conduct
Posted on 18 June 2013 - 08:25pm
THIS writer was one of the many who was in
one way or another connected with the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI)
on the Royal Malaysian Police Force.
Having written extensively on the forgery of the minutes of the
Selangor Executive Council on matters related to the housing project in
Taman Mentrai, inaction by the police compelled the residents to take
the matter to the commission where, among others, I met three members
who were personally known to me – Tun Hanif Omar, Datuk Kadir Jasin and
Tunku Aziz Tunku Ibrahim.
I never participated or gave evidence because I was personally
unhappy that the police were being singled out despite abuse and misuse
of power by various other law enforcement agencies.
The police, I had then reasoned, were being sought out because they
enforced the Penal Code which meant that crime was their forte while
those who enforce other enactments were not being included.
Instead of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission
(IPCMC), I had proposed the setting up of an ombudsman to hear
complaints against not only members of the police force, but also
officers of the Customs Department, immigration officers, health
officers and every other civil servant who was tasked with enforcement.
As usual, my proposal found its way into the wastepaper basket and so
did the recommendations of the RCI that the IPCMC be set up. Then, I
was also of the opinion that the IPCMC cannot prevent or reduce deaths
in custody. And this stance has not changed since.
That was seven years ago and a lot of water has flown under the
bridge. And so has the number of people dying in custody. The outcry for
justice for the victims has reached consequential proportions and
judging from what has been said and done, the voice of anger is getting
louder and louder.
The government can no longer quell these voices which want the
perpetrators of such heinous crimes to be brought to book. This is
because deaths in custody are no longer isolated.
Human Rights lawyer Charles Hector says that merely on data provided
by the government, there has been an increase in custodial deaths over
the years. He says: "There have been 150 deaths from 1990 until 2004
(10.7 deaths a year), 108 deaths between 2000 and 2006 (18), and, 85
deaths between 2003 and 2007 (21.25), 153 deaths between 1999 and 2008
(17), and 147 deaths between 2000 and 2009 (16.3).
He says: "There has been an increase in the number of deaths in
custody until 2007, and the numbers seem to be dropping but it certainly
is still higher than the 1990-2007 period."
These are startling figures which ought to jolt the powers-that-be to
move into gear to reverse this shocking state of affairs. Perhaps,
policies of the past have allowed those involved to get away, at the
most, with a slap on the wrist.
There must be zero-tolerance against violent conduct, not only by the
police, but also all gazetted officers who are entrusted with enforcing
the law.
Having said that, whoever is entrusted with this task should not just
confine himself or herself to just death or physical harm but other
shortcomings.
It should encompass a host of other areas to include dereliction of
duties, being biased, mistreating the public and even causing
unnecessary delay in providing documents or information as provided in
the law.
Let us not confine ourselves to looking at mere violence and ignore
the other forms of inadequacies within the system which cause
unnecessary problems for the rakyat.
People have not even got acknowledgements for their letters and
requests, let alone decent replies. Would this not amount to
indiscipline? In the private sector, they would have been censured for
their inaction.
The list is endless but if we want our administrative system to be
first class, then don't single out just one arm – the police – but
include everyone who has dealings with the public.
R. Nadeswaran resumes his campaign for an ombudsman to look into the shortcomings of the administrative system. Comments: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com - the SunDaily, 18/6/2013, No room for violent conduct
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