The aftermath of the attempted robbery at the Atria mall, Petaling Jaya on May 18, 2018. — BBXpress
Extrajudicial killings need speedy independent investigations, says Malaysian NGO
A
Malaysian Non-Government Organisation is calling for speedy independent
investigations by the new Pakatan Harapan government as six individuals
have been reportedly shot to death by police After Pakatan Harapan
became Government.
In a statement
issued on Monday morning, MADPET(Malaysians Against Death Penalty and
Torture) expressed its disappointment with the lack of response of the
new Pakatan Harapan government, in particular the Home Minister
Muhyiddin Yassin, being the Minister in charge of the police, about at
least 3 recent possible ‘shoot to kill’ incidents, that were reported in
the media, that involved the death of 6 persons who were shot to death
by the police.
Below is MADPET's statement on the matter
The
duty of the police is to arrest persons suspected of committing a
crime, and the police can use ‘reasonable force’ in carrying out these
arrest.
The Malaysian Criminal Procedure
Code, in section 15 states most clearly how arrest is to be made.
Section 15(2) states, “(2) If such person forcibly resist the endeavour
to arrest him or attempt to evade the arrest such officer or other
person may use all means necessary to effect the arrest.” The word used is ‘to affect arrest” – not kill.
Section
15(3) states that, “Nothing in this section gives a right to cause the
death of a person who is not accused of an offence punishable with death
or with imprisonment for life.” Stress must be given to the word
‘accused’, not just suspected of committing an offence. Hence,
subsequent ‘post-killing’ statements that they were suspected of being
involved in past crimes in no way can justify such killings. Sadly, the
victims, now dead, cannot even deny these allegations or tell us what
really transpired.
The question that
arises now, is whether these shooting that resulted in death was
reasonable or really necessary. Were the police shooting to affect an
arrest, or were the police shooting to kill?
The
recent 3 reported incidents of concern, that happens after Pakatan
Harapan has become the new government following the General Elections on
9/5/2018, are as follows:-
2 shot dead by Police (D9) – Star, 16/5/2018
In
the Star report dated 16/5/2018, entitled ‘Cops kill two robbers in
shootout’, it was alleged that a police personnel from Bukit Aman
Serious Crimes Division (D9) stopped a car whose occupants inside were
‘acting suspiciously’, and when they identified themselves as police,
shooting ensued resulting in the death of the 2 occupants. It is
suspicious that the car had stopped at the request of the police before
the shooting allegedly happened.
3rd suspect shot dead by police (D9) – 19/5/2018
In
another Straits Times report dated 19/5/2018, entitled ‘Malaysia cops
shoot dead third suspect in Damansara Jaya goldsmith robbery’. It was
reported that “…SAC Fadzil said that in the latest incident, policemen
from the Selangor Police Serious Crimes Investigation Division (D9) had
chased the suspect as he sped off in a Honda Civic car, which eventually
skidded and crashed into a tree."The suspect came out of the vehicle
and opened fire at the policemen. The policemen returned fire and killed
the suspect," he said in a statement….”.
What
is odd of this, is the fact that the police, the day before had said,
‘…According to Selangor Criminal Investigation Department chief Fadzil
Ahmad, the incident took place at 5pm on Friday (May 18) after six
robbers wearing helmets and jackets stormed into the mall located at the
Damansara Jaya area… A shootout ensued and as a result, two suspects
were shot dead, while another suspect was injured. Four suspects,
including the one injured, were arrested by the police for further
investigations…’(THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK, Straits Times, 18/5/2018).
There is no mention here of any other suspect escaping, and noting that
they were all wearing helmets, one wonders how the police even
identified the person killed the following day.
Police shoot man with machete – 21/5/2018
In
a Star report dated 21/5/2018, entitled ‘Police shoot fake forex
syndicate member dead’. Here, the victim was not even shooting at the
police, and the report says, ‘…“He came at them with a machete and they
had to open fire to defend themselves, killing him,” he said….”
What will our new Pakatan Harapan government do about these extrajudicial killings?
MADPET
is disappointed that Muhyiddin Yassin, our new Home Minister, who is
responsible for the police, or the Pakatan Harapan government has failed
to respond promptly when these killings happened, and have yet to tell
Malaysians how they will deal with these cases of police shooting that
have resulted in death.
This kind of
killings had been an issue of concern, that has been raised up by many
human rights groups, including the Malaysian Bar for past few decades,
but sadly the then UMNO-BN government failed to satisfactorily address
this matter. It is hoped that our new Pakatan Harapan will finally deal
with such issues justly.
The late Senior
lawyer and former Bar Council president Raja Aziz Addruse did say
‘…that proper justification must be given for the taking of a life.
“Just to say, ‘Because they were shooting at me,’ is insufficient,” he
says. “In many of these cases, there’s always a gun found in the car.
It’s just too coincidental. Very often, all the people allegedly
involved are killed...”
He also had
cited ‘…the need for an independent tribunal to look into police
shootings. “In other countries, an independent inquiry would be held to
find out what happened,” he says. “For example, in the UK, an inquiry
was held in the case of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.” The
inquiry eventually found the Met police force guilty of endangering
public safety, and it was penalised for shooting de Menezes dead….’
How
the new Pakatan Harapan government deals with these recent cases of
these ‘extra-judicial killings’, more so since these incidents happened
after they became the new government of Malaysia, is crucial.
There
certainly must be quick independent inquiries into these recent
incidences, which have resulted in the death of 6 persons or possibly
more, noting that not all such incidences do get reported.
While
MADPET appreciates the fact that the new Pakatan Harapan federal
government is in the process of establishing an Independent Police
Complaints-Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) as mentioned by the Minister of
Home Affairs Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on 22/5/2018, steps need to be
taken now to immediately investigate these police ‘shoot to kill’
incidences. Delay is not an option.
MADPET
proposes that the Minister immediately appoint an interim Task Force,
to immediately investigate these cases. Further, the Minister and/or the
government should maybe order that inquests (or inquiries into the
deaths) be done for all such cases, where police shooting resulted in
deaths. - Online Citizen, 11/6/2018
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