Too many allegations of torture and many deaths in custody - but Malaysian government is still not doing what is needed. CCTV (with recording capacity) is something that can really improve situation - it will assure us that the police are carrying out their duties in accordance with the law - that they are not 'torturing' people in police custody. In many countries, for example Hong Kong, the accused and/or their lawyer can get a copy of the CD showing the movement of the accused frfom point of arrest, which will show that all rights have been respected...all laws and Standard Operating Procedures(SOP) have been followed by the police and other enforcement authorities...
In a detah in custody case that I was involved in about 10 years ago, there was a CCTV but it was not working...anyway, that CCTV did not have any recording capacity...which makes it useless - because there is no recordings that investigators or even the courts can view to determine what exactly happened...We have been calling for CCTVs with recording capacity for a long time....
Now again, police says that CCTVs were 'dummies' with no recording capacity - and, worse still, there was no police officer monitoring these CCTVs??
The CCTV cameras installed at the Bandar Baru Klang police station were dummies intended to deter thieving officers serving in the station, said Asst Supt Harun Abu Bakar......He was responding to questions from hearing chairman Datuk Yaacob Md Sam, who had asked what was the purpose of having CCTV cameras in the station when they could only display but not record footage....Asked on whether the room which displayed the footage was monitored, Harun said he did not have sufficient manpower in his station and felt that they had more pressing matters to attend to.
Below a statement by MP Kasthuri Patto - more MPs should be issuing public statements on important issues in Malaysia...
Media
statement by Democratic Action Party Member of Parliament for Batu
Kawan and Publicity Secretary of Wanita DAP Kasthuri Patto on
Wednesday 7 June 2017 in Batu Kawan, Penang.
 |
| MP Kasthuri Patto |
Putrajaya
should be more resolute and determined in ensuring that all police
and immigration lockups and interrogation rooms are fitted with
working CCTVs to prevent rouge police officers from taking laws into
their own hands and protecting honest, dedicated and accountable
officers in carrying out their duties.
In
2013, a pledge was made by the former Bukit Aman Management Director
Datuk Mortadza Nazarene that a committee would be set up to ensure
the safety of all lock-up inmates in lieu of abuses and deaths in
custody. Also 5 police lock-ups in the Jinjang Police Station, Shah
Alam Police Station, Indera Mahkota Kuantan Police Station, Bayan
Baru Police Station and also the Kota Kinabalu Police Station will be
equipped with CCTV cameras, intercom systems, Black Marias, lawyers
room, a court room, a control room, an identification parade room, a
transit room and a room for meals. He also said that the police will
cooperate with the Ministry of Health to conduct medical checks of
detainees before being sent to the lockup and a commitment that
medical doctor be brought in to inspect the detainees at least once a
week.
Have
all these pledges made in 2013 been fulfilled and adhered to? Are
doctors ferried in into lockups, even in rural areas and interior
areas like Sabah and Sarawak to render medical treatment to unwell
detainees? Are detainees given a full medical checkup in the initial
stages of the detention in lock-ups? If the detainee is unwell, is he
given immediate medical treatment or will he be taken to a clinic or
hospital after being taken to court first?
Most
importantly, who monitors these pledges to ensure that they are
followed through? Who is responsible when sick inmates are not given
speedy and necessary treatment? Who is responsible when rogue
officers take matters into their own hands and bash up inmates in
lock-ups, detention centres and prisons in the name of extracting
information from them? Is it the duty of the Investigation Officer or
any police officer to conduct interrogations or is it the duty of the
prosecutor to do that? What is the SOP followed in exerting force to
derive information?
In
2016, PDRM Management Director Datuk Zulkifli Abdullah said that out
of 704 lockups in the country, 58 will be fitted with
(Self-Monitoring
Analytics Reporting Technology) SMART CCTVs and
will be then known as Smart Lockups. 58 CCTVs costing RM 3.5 million
saw the first installation in the Jinjang Centralised Lockup Centre
as a pilot project, and subsequent installations in all lock-ups
thereafter. This May, Bernama reported that all 58 lockups have been
installed with the SMART CCTVs.
With
only 8% of police lockups fitted with the SMART CCTVs, what then is
the status of the installation of the balance 646 CCTVs in lockups
nationwide? How much longer is Putrajaya going to drag its feet to
ensure that lockups in the country are equipped with these CCTVs?
It
is evident that there has been a violation of these pledges and
promises, and Putrajaya has committed a colossal violation of human
rights by their severe lack of conscience, accountability and
commitment in ensuring that miscreant officers don’t get away when
they take laws into their own hands. Prime Minister Najib must ensure
that ministries and agencies under his administration prove to
Malaysians alike that officers who abuse their positions by harming
and abusing inmates be suspended, and tried in court like any other
person who is subject to the laws of the land.
Regrettably,
we are faced with 6 deaths in police custody under 6 months this year
alone and none have been accountable for these deaths.
Announcements
have been made by the former and current PDRM Director of Management,
the Inspector General of Police, Deputy Prime Minister and Home
Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and not forgetting a launch
and a pompous announcement by the Prime Minister Najib Razak on the
installation of 58 CCTVs in lock-ups nationwide and yet the numbers
of deaths in custody are increasing by the month.
The
Home Ministry, the IGP and police personnel must understand that the
installation of the SMART CCTVs in police lockups will ensure
competency, accountability and transparency to protect police
officers and also to ensure that law is not taken into anyone's
hands.
Putrajaya
should be more resolute
and determined
in ensuring that all police and immigration lockups and interrogation
rooms are fitted with working CCTVs to prevent rouge police officers
from taking laws into their own hands and protecting honest,
dedicated and accountable officers in carrying out their duties.
Kasthuri
Patto
Member
of Parliament for Batu Kawan
Democratic
Action Party, Malaysia.
uesday, 6 June 2017 | MYT 4:43 PM
CCTV cameras were dummies, police station chief tells EAIC hearing
PETALING JAYA: The CCTV cameras installed
at the Bandar Baru Klang police station were dummies intended to deter
thieving officers serving in the station, said Asst Supt Harun Abu
Bakar.
The officer in charge of the police station (OCS) said this during the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) hearing to investigate the death of 44-year-old S. Balamurugan who died in custody in the station lock-up.
He was responding to questions from hearing chairman Datuk Yaacob Md Sam, who had asked what was the purpose of having CCTV cameras in the station when they could only display but not record footage.
Harun explained that the four cameras installed around the station were intended to "warn officers that they were being watched".
"The previous OCS installed a CCTV system as a measure to scare the officers as there were a few who were stealing things. He installed it with his own initiative and even took a few CCTV cameras from the gambling dens they raided here," said Harun, who took over as station chief in January.
He added that the system was effective as only a few officers knew that the cameras in the station could not record footage.
Asked on whether the room which displayed the footage was monitored, Harun said he did not have sufficient manpower in his station and felt that they had more pressing matters to attend to.
"I feel the CCTV system is important and needs to be monitored but we don't have enough people," he said.
Balamurugan died in custody on Feb 8 after he was arrested with two other men and brought to the Bandar Baru Klang station for questioning.
Fellow detainees Ang Kian Kok and K. Tamilarasan had both said they along with Balamurugan were beaten up by an officer named Moganes at the station and their description of the beatings tallied with post-mortem findings on Balamurugan's body.
The lack of a functioning CCTV camera system in the station has made it difficult for the investigations to take place. - Star, 6/6/2017
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/06/06/cctv-cameras-were-dummies-police-station-chief-tells-eaic-hearing/#YekmrYyrFeRdgQsH.99
The officer in charge of the police station (OCS) said this during the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) hearing to investigate the death of 44-year-old S. Balamurugan who died in custody in the station lock-up.
He was responding to questions from hearing chairman Datuk Yaacob Md Sam, who had asked what was the purpose of having CCTV cameras in the station when they could only display but not record footage.
Harun explained that the four cameras installed around the station were intended to "warn officers that they were being watched".
"The previous OCS installed a CCTV system as a measure to scare the officers as there were a few who were stealing things. He installed it with his own initiative and even took a few CCTV cameras from the gambling dens they raided here," said Harun, who took over as station chief in January.
He added that the system was effective as only a few officers knew that the cameras in the station could not record footage.
Asked on whether the room which displayed the footage was monitored, Harun said he did not have sufficient manpower in his station and felt that they had more pressing matters to attend to.
"I feel the CCTV system is important and needs to be monitored but we don't have enough people," he said.
Balamurugan died in custody on Feb 8 after he was arrested with two other men and brought to the Bandar Baru Klang station for questioning.
Fellow detainees Ang Kian Kok and K. Tamilarasan had both said they along with Balamurugan were beaten up by an officer named Moganes at the station and their description of the beatings tallied with post-mortem findings on Balamurugan's body.
The lack of a functioning CCTV camera system in the station has made it difficult for the investigations to take place. - Star, 6/6/2017
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/06/06/cctv-cameras-were-dummies-police-station-chief-tells-eaic-hearing/#YekmrYyrFeRdgQsH.99
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