ISA must be repealed, say former detainees

(The Star) - The Internal Secu­rity Act (ISA) should be repealed once and for all, former detainees said.

Irene Xavier, a 57-year-old women’s rights activist said she was more hopeful now that the Act could be repealed within her lifetime.

"ISA has no place at all in Malaysia" - Irene Xavier

She was one of 106 people de­tained during Operasi Lalang in 1987.

“Before 1987, I was convinced that changes were very difficult.

“But the March 2008 general election results were a big surprise and, even though the ISA has not gone, there are now more and more people who are convinced that it is a bad law and has to go,” she said in an interview at the Amnesty Inter­national Malaysia office here.

Xavier said that upon her release she had to choose whether to continue her struggle to fight for workers’ rights and the detention convinced her that she should continue.

Amnesty International Malaysia had a letter-writing marathon to mark International Human Rights Day yesterday.

She said she used to think that young people were only interested in enjoying themselves but this year changed that perception.

“I am more hopeful now that the ISA will be repealed. ISA has no place at all in Malaysia,” she added.

On whether the ISA was relevant in light of terrorists attacks, she said nobody should be detained without due process.

“Until the country can trust an individual leader to be really fair and just, we cannot have such a law,’’ she said.

Another detainee, Parti Sosialis Malaysia president Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim, said the Government was still in denial over the March 2008 general election.

Dr Nasir, now the Kota Damansara state assemblyman, was also detained during Operasi Lalang. He said people could be detained under the ISA at a person’s whim and fancy.

“Usually dictators favour the ISA because they can bypass all the laws and don’t need the constitution,” he said.