Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy says the organisation has received more letters of detainees alleging abuse under Sosma detention. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Fiqah Mokhtar, February 19, 2016.Human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) says it has received another batch of letters from detainees under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), alleging abuse and torture under detention.
The six new cases involve male detainees, and are in addition to an earlier seven inmates who made similar claims that Suaram announced last month.
Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy said the fresh claims of torture included being threatened at gun point during questioning, being kept in an air-conditioned room after being drenched in cold water, and sexual harassment and threats against detainees' family members.
Sevan said the authorities must end the use of torture on detainees and the rights group today submitted a memorandum to the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) in Putrajaya.
“We are not sure if the writings are true, but either way we must ensure that there is a stop to (torture to obtain information),” he told reporters.
Under Sosma, police can hold a person for up to 28 days for investigations before producing the individual in court.
Families of the detainees have lodged police reports over the alleged abuse.
Suaram added that it was in talks with EAIC and the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) on reviewing police's standard operating procedures on the treatment of detainees. – February 19, 2016.
Comments
Please refrain from nicknames or comments of a racist, sexist, personal, vulgar or derogatory nature, or you may risk being blocked from commenting in our website. We encourage commenters to use their real names as their username. As comments are moderated, they may not appear immediately or even on the same day you posted them. We also reserve the right to delete off-topic comments