Press
Statement by M Kula Segaran, DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Ipoh Barat
in Ipoh on Saturday, April 5, 2014
There must be no more delay in
setting up IPCMC
The Human Rights Watch ( HRW) in its
“ No Answers, No Apology: Police Abuses and Accountability “ report
released 3 days ago in Kuala Lumpur
revealed that just 7 per cent of complaints against the police force between
2005 and 2012 reached a courtroom while over half the cases are yet to be fully
investigated.
From
extra-judicial killings of teenagers to custodial deaths, threats to lawyers
and assaults on journalists covering demonstrations, the Report gives chilling
and bloody first-person accounts of police abuse and misconduct.
Pakatan
Rakyat and many NGOs have long criticized the setting up of the Enforcement
Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) as unacceptable.
The
HRW Report is a further proof that the EAIC set up by the government cannot
effectively handle issues of discipline and integrity in the Police Force.
In
fact, it can be said that the EAIC , a watered down version of the Independent
Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission ( IPCMC) is a complete failure to eradicate police
abuses.
The
government must stop giving excuses and must immediately set up the IPCMC
recommended by the Royal Commission headed by Tun Mohamad Dzainuddin.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said in
Parliament last July that the proposed IPCMC was rejected as it went against
the Federal Constitution, while denying natural justice.
However, Tun Mohamad Dzainuddin who chaired the Royal
Commission of Inquiry (RCI) which recommended the IPCMC had immediately come
out to assert that IPCMC was consistent with the Federal Constitution.
"Article 140 thereof provides that Parliament may by
law provide for the exercise of Police Force Commission's disciplinary control
over members of the police force in such manner and such authority as may be
provided in that law. “
"Therefore, there can be no doubt about its consistency
with the Federal Constitution," he said in a statement in response to
Zahid’s statement.
Last year, then High Court judge VT
Singham had in the Kugan verdict said the IPCMC should be set up as soon as
possible because members of the public and family members of victims involved
had little confidence in investigations carried out by the police.
It is clear that only the powerful
IPCMC can inspire public confidence and be an effective body in checking
against police abuses.
Why is the government so afraid and
reluctant to support the IPCMC when other countries like UK and Australia have
similar external oversight bodies?
The real cause for non
implementation is the government’s continuing lack of political will in
eradicating police abuses.
The setting up of IPCMC is long overdue. The government must
not delay even a day longer in setting it up.
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