MADPET is for the Abolition of Death Penalty, an end of torture and abuse of rights by the police, an end to death in custody, an end to police shoot to kill incidents, for greater safeguards to ensure a fair trial, for a right to one phone call and immediate access to a lawyer upon arrest, for the repeal of all laws that allow for detention without trial and an immediate release of all those who are under such draconian laws.
Monday, August 12, 2019
NGO: EAIC should stay despite planned IPCMC introduction(Malaysiakini)
NGO: EAIC should stay despite planned IPCMC introduction
Published:
| Modified:
The Enforcement Agency Integrity
Commission (EAIC) should not be dissolved when the Independent Police
Complaints of Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) comes into force, said human
rights group Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (Madpet).
Its
coordinator Charles Hector Fernandez said there is still a need for an
oversight body for enforcement agencies other than the police force.
"Whilst
the future new IPCMC would be dealing with complaints about police
officers, the EAIC is currently dealing with complaints about almost all
other enforcement agencies officers including the Immigration
Department, Housing and Local Government Ministry, Labour Department,
Industrial Relations Department, Occupational Safety and Health
Department, Road Transport Department and Environment Department .
"A
perusal of the statistics of complaints received indicate that
complaints were received concerning many other agencies other than the
police," he said in a statement today.
Fernandez was referring to the IPCMC Bill 2019, which was tabled in the Dewan Rakyat last month and will be debated in the next sitting in October.
The
bill stipulates that the EAIC would be dissolved with the introduction
of the IPCMC, which is a specific oversight body for the police force,
and all EAIC assets will be transferred to the IPCMC.
Fernandez
noted that there have been many complaints regarding the other agencies
under the EAIC and therefore it should be retained and its functions
enhanced.
"Madpet is of the position that the EAIC is very much still needed, and its powers should also be extended to prosecution.
"The
scope of agencies covered by the EAIC should also be extended,
including to maybe cover also the MACC, the Prison Department and even
the Election Commission," he said.
The
IPCMC was first mooted in 2005 by the Royal Commission to Enhance the
Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police, headed by former
Chief Justice Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah.
A watered-down
version in the form of the EAIC, which can investigate and provide
recommendations but has no powers to take action against errant
enforcement agency officials, was introduced after fierce objections by
the police leadership at the time.
However, the police under the leadership of Abdul Hamid Bador (photo) has been more receptive to the oversight body on condition that police welfare is improved.
The
IPCMC Bill, if passed, will not only allow the commission to
investigate the police force but also take disciplinary action,
including dismissal.
Fernandez said while the disciplinary power is new, the IPCMC should also be given prosecution powers.
De facto Law
Minister Liew Vui Keong had said that the government is engaging
stakeholders on the IPCMC ahead of the debate in Parliament in October
and is prepared to consider changes. - Malaysiakini, 11/8/2019
No comments:
Post a Comment