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Saturday 19 June 2010

End laws that allow arbitrary detention, says UN body

The Star

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia needs to repeal or amend laws that allow imprisonment without tri­al, said a UN working group.

The group was invited by the Government and has been in Malaysia for two weeks to look into arbitrary detentions.

It gave a critical assessment on four preventive laws, including the Internal Security Act (ISA), said group chairman Malick Sow at a press conference yesterday.

He said the group privately interviewed detainees held under preventive laws and found no complaints about treatment by guards in prisons and detention centres.

However, the group found that these detainees were likely to be tortured or mistreated in order to obtain confessions or evidence while under police detention.

“It is not necessarily physical violence but also the external conditions and the withholding of food.

“There were a few who said any particular tool was used to beat them but it was more to do with punching and kicking,” Sow said.

“They prefer prisons than police stations. They feel safer in prisons.”

The group will present a full report to the UN Human Rights Council in March next year and will follow up again two years after the report is presented.

Malaysia was re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council last month.

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