HUMAN Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and several other non-governmental organisations (NGO) urged Putrajaya to ratify the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT).
“We, the #ACT4CAT coalition partners, call upon Putrajaya to accede to the UNCAT, which a key instrument that provides global measures to protect people from getting tortured.
“We have advocated for this since 2015, which is a crucial step towards eliminating all acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment either in custody, interrogation or as means of punishment or disciplinary measure,” the coalition said in a statement, in conjunction with United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
Apart from Suhakam, the coalition was also joined by Amnesty International Malaysia, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) and Lawyers for Liberty (LFL).
Despite the Government’s insistence that it prohibits all forms of ill-treatment or torture as stated in its National Report to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), for the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November 2018, the coalition noted there was no proper and transparent mechanisms in place to ensure accountability of enforcement authorities to prevent ill-treatment of detainees.
It became more apparent with the recent spike of deaths in custody, such as the case of A Ganapathy and S Sivabalan.
“We believe that Malaysia’s accession to the UNCAT will assist the nation to develop effective legislative, administrative, judicial and policy measures to prohibit and prevent acts of torture.
“This must be done without delay to improve public trust in state institutions and authorities, particularly measures in place for handling detainees and prevent deaths in custody,” it stressed.
Establish IPCMC now
The Government’s crackdown on undocumented migrants since May last year was also worrisome, adding detainees may risk getting infected with COVID-19 if placed in overpopulated detention centres.
“The mass incarceration jeopardises the safety of detainees and we urge the Government to consider alternatives to detention as a viable solution to mitigate the impact of the pandemic in immigration detention centres,” it stated.
On that note, the coalition urged the Government to accede to the UNCAT if was serious about its candidacy for the HRC membership, for the term 2022-2024.
“The Government should also establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to address cases of police misconduct and end detention of migrants and refugees.
“The right to life and liberty is not a foreign concept on Malaysian soil; it is one of the fundamental liberties enshrined in Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.
We believe that by being party to the UNCAT, it would only serve to bring the interpretation and implementation of Article 5 of the Federal Constitution in line with prevailing international standards,” it remarked. – June 26, 2021.
