Stop State Violence (SSV), a coalition of 30 civil society groups, opined that IPCMC is the only remedy for custodial deaths.
PETALING JAYA: A coalition of NGOs – Stop State Violence (SSV) – has not ruled out taking to the streets in its fight for the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
“If taking to the streets is the way for the voices to be heard, so be it,” said coalition member, Tenaganita’s executive director Irene Fernandez.
SSV, a coalition of 30 civil society groups, said the IPCMC is the only way forward to halt custodial deaths as the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) is nothing but a “toothless tiger without any power of enforcement”.
The coalition also pointed out that it was “ridiculous” for former Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) president Paul Low to continue pushing for the EAIC to be revamped instead of establishing the IPCMC.
Said Fernandez: “I cannot understand what Paul Low is trying to say. By him saying that it needs a lot of time, effort and money to establish the IPCMC, doesn’t he realise that a life is precious and cannot be compromised?
“As former TI-M president, he should know about good governance and thus he should be pushing for the establishment of the IPCMC.”
Suaram coordinator R Thevarajan meanwhile said EAIC chief Nor Afizah Hanum Mokhtar’s suggestion that they needed a bigger budget – from the current RM7 mil to RM25 mil annually – was not the issue.
“It is not a question of more money. The root issue is on the prosecution power. After doing investigation, the (EAIC) finding will be referred back to the police force.
“Thus, where is the transparency as in the end, it goes back to the same mechanism, of the police investigating a fellow policeman?” he asked.
Pusat Komas’ Lena Hendry further explained that the IPCMC, as opposed to the EAIC, has the power to initiate its own investigation into any police power abuse cases without the need for a complaint to be made.
“If the EAIC was indeed an oversight mechanism, it would have immediately launched an independent inquiry to get to the truth of the complaints of police power abuses that occurred,” said Hendry.
Intensive campaign
Besides demanding for the immediate establishment of the IPCMC, the coalition also asked for the setting up of an independent Coroner’s Court system to replace the current Magistrate’s Inquest and the ratifying of the “Convention against Torture and the Optional protocol”, followed by necessary laws to eliminate torture.
Hendry added that SSV will begin an intensive campaign to end state violence with a public forum organised at the Bar Council auditorium on June 13.
“We will also come up with a pledge for a commitment from MPs to support the implementation of IPCMC,” said Hendry, adding that an online petition is available at https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/minister-of-home-affairs-igp-and-chief-commissioner-stop-state-violence.
“We reiterate, that the need for the IPCMC is very high,” said Thevarajan.
PETALING JAYA: A coalition of NGOs – Stop State Violence (SSV) – has not ruled out taking to the streets in its fight for the establishment of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).“If taking to the streets is the way for the voices to be heard, so be it,” said coalition member, Tenaganita’s executive director Irene Fernandez.
SSV, a coalition of 30 civil society groups, said the IPCMC is the only way forward to halt custodial deaths as the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) is nothing but a “toothless tiger without any power of enforcement”.
The coalition also pointed out that it was “ridiculous” for former Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) president Paul Low to continue pushing for the EAIC to be revamped instead of establishing the IPCMC.
Said Fernandez: “I cannot understand what Paul Low is trying to say. By him saying that it needs a lot of time, effort and money to establish the IPCMC, doesn’t he realise that a life is precious and cannot be compromised?
“As former TI-M president, he should know about good governance and thus he should be pushing for the establishment of the IPCMC.”
Suaram coordinator R Thevarajan meanwhile said EAIC chief Nor Afizah Hanum Mokhtar’s suggestion that they needed a bigger budget – from the current RM7 mil to RM25 mil annually – was not the issue.
“It is not a question of more money. The root issue is on the prosecution power. After doing investigation, the (EAIC) finding will be referred back to the police force.
“Thus, where is the transparency as in the end, it goes back to the same mechanism, of the police investigating a fellow policeman?” he asked.
Pusat Komas’ Lena Hendry further explained that the IPCMC, as opposed to the EAIC, has the power to initiate its own investigation into any police power abuse cases without the need for a complaint to be made.
“If the EAIC was indeed an oversight mechanism, it would have immediately launched an independent inquiry to get to the truth of the complaints of police power abuses that occurred,” said Hendry.
Intensive campaign
Besides demanding for the immediate establishment of the IPCMC, the coalition also asked for the setting up of an independent Coroner’s Court system to replace the current Magistrate’s Inquest and the ratifying of the “Convention against Torture and the Optional protocol”, followed by necessary laws to eliminate torture.
Hendry added that SSV will begin an intensive campaign to end state violence with a public forum organised at the Bar Council auditorium on June 13.
“We will also come up with a pledge for a commitment from MPs to support the implementation of IPCMC,” said Hendry, adding that an online petition is available at https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/minister-of-home-affairs-igp-and-chief-commissioner-stop-state-violence.
“We reiterate, that the need for the IPCMC is very high,” said Thevarajan.
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