Media Statement

Well Done SUHAKAM: ISA should go

The International Movement for a Just World (JUST) commends the National

Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) for proposing the repeal of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

SUHAKAM is right in pointing out that Sections 8 & 73 of the ISA which provide for detention without trial infringe human rights principles. Indeed, these provisions in the ISA not only violate a fundamental human

right but also transgress a basic axiom of Islamic jurisprudence: the right of a human being to a free and fair trial.

The anti-subversion law proposed by SUHAKAM to replace the ISA merits serious consideration by the government. The proposed law contains various safeguards aimed at protecting the rights of the individual while ensuring that the security of the community and the nation is upheld. For example, the proposal states that a "High Court Judge may order the detention of a person for maximum periods of seven days each time, provided that he is not detained for more than 29 days. Upon the expiration of the 29 days, the person in question must either be released or charged under regular criminal procedures."

What this means is that if the police cannot gather enough evidence within a 29 day period to prove in a court of law that the detained person has committed an act of subversion he should be released. If, on

the other hand, the police has incontrovertible evidence of the person's

involvement in subversion he can be charged under the regular laws of the land. In this way, neither national security nor human liberty is jeopardised.

JUST hopes that the Acting Prime Minister and other government leaders will not reject outright the SUHAKAM proposal. They should agree to study it in depth. The government should realise that it is in the interest of the nation and the Malaysian citizen to adopt SUHAKAM's recommendation to repeal the ISA and replace it with a new anti-subversion law.

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar
President
International Movement for a Just World (JUST)

10 April 2003

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Terbitan : 13 April 2003

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