TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION__________________________________________________________________ 1 CHAPTER 1 - POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC BACKGROUND_______________________________3 CHAPTER 2 - INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS____________________________6 CHAPTER 3 - MALAYSIA’S CONSTITUTION AND INSTITUTIONS__________________________8 1. Parliamentary Democracy_____________________________________8 2. The Executive_______________________________________________9 3. Parliament__________________________________________________9 4.The Judiciary_______________________________________________10 5. The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia_____________________11 6. Fundamental Ri ghts and Liberties_____________________________11 CHAPTER 4 - THE INTERNAL SECURITY ACT: ‘Preventative’ Detention Without Trial________13 1. Introduction_______________________________________________________ 13 2. The Powers_______________________________________________________15 (A) Detention Orders___________________________________________15 (B) Warrantless Arrests: The 60-day Interrogation Period____________ 15 (C) Restriction Orders: The Denial of Rights of Association, Expression and Movement_____________________________________________16 (D) Controls on Printing and Publications_________________________ 16 (E) Mandatory Death Penalty: Firearms, Ammunition and Explosives________________________________________________ 17 3. The Safeguards___________________________________________________ 17 (A) The Advisory Board_________________________________________17 (B) Judicial Review: Rendering Habeas Corpus Ineffective__________ 18 4. The Detentions____________________________________________________19 (A) 1960 - 1980________________________________________________19 (B) The 1980s and Operation Lallang_____________________________ 21 (C) The 1990s________________________________________________ 22 Al Arqam_________________________________________________ 22 Shi’as____________________________________________________ 23 Other ISA Arrests and Threats________________________________23 (D) 1998: Arrests of Anwar Ibrahim, his Political Associates and other Reformasi Supporters____________________________ 24 Case Study: S. Nallakaruppan ________________________________26 CHAPTER 5 - ILL-TREATMENT AND TORTURE DURING DETENTION_____________________ 27 1. Case Studies___________________________________________________________28 Dr Munawar Anees_________________________________________ 28 Sukma Darmawan__________________________________________ 29 Anwar Ibrahim _____________________________________________ 30 CHAPTER 6 - OTHER RESTRICTIVE LAWS___________________________________________ 32 1. Laws allowing for Detention Without Trial______________________________32 (A) The Emergency Public Order and Prevention of Crime (EPOPCO) Ordinance 1969____________________________________________32 (B) The Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventative Measures) Act 1985___ 32 2. Laws restricting Rights of Fair Trial and Freedom of Movement___________ 33 (A) The Essential (Security Cases) Regulations (ESCAR)_____________33 (B) Restricted Residence Act (1933)______________________________ 34 3. Laws restricting Freedom of Expression_______________________________35 (A) The Sedition Act (1948)______________________________________35 Case Study : Lim Guan Eng_________________________________________ 37 (B) The Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA)__________39 Case Study: Irene Fernandez________________________________________ 41 (C) The Official Secrets Act (OSA) 1972___________________________ 42 4. Laws restricting Freedom of Association______________________________45 (A) The Societies Act 1966______________________________________ 45 (B) The Universities and University Colleges Act 1971______________48 Case Study: Students and Reformasi ________________________ 51 (C) The Trade Unions Act 1956__________________________________ 52 5. Laws restricting Freedom of Assembly and Peaceful Protest______________53 (A) The Police Act 1967_________________________________________53 (B) The Penal Code____________________________________________ 56 Case Study: The Reformasi Demonstrations 1998- 99___________ 58 (i) The Demonstrations_______________________________________ _58 (ii) Excessive Use of Force During Crowd Dispersals, and Ill- Treatment in Detention_______________________________________________ 60 (iii) Prosecution of Alleged Reformasi Demonstrators______________ 63 6. Laws restricting the Right of Non-Discrimination and the Right to Privacy__ 65 (A) Section 377 of the Penal Code_______________________________ 65 Case Study: Sukma Darmawan, Munawar Anees & Mior Abdul Razak______ 67 RECOMMENDATIONS_________________________________________________ ___________ 71 1. Ratification of International Human Rights Treaties_____________________ 71 2. Reform of the Constitution__________________________________________71 3. Reform of Legislation______________________________________________ 71 i) Emergency Laws________________________________________________ 72 ii) Other Restrictive Laws___________________________________________72 4. Treatment of Detainees_____________________________________________73 5. Freedom of Assembly and the Treatment of Demonstrators______________ 73 6. Human Rights Commission of Malaysia ______________________________ 74 APPENDIX ONE - THE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF ANWAR IBRAHIM___________________76 I. The Charges____________________________________________________ __77 2. Public Imputation of Guilt by the Prime Minister________________________ 77 3. The Trial_______________________________________________________ __ 78 4. Action Against Defence Lawyers____________________________________ 79 5. Amendment of Charges____________________________________________80 APPENDIX TWO- Part II of the Malaysian Constitution: ‘Fundamental Liberties’ (excerpts)___ 81 APPENDIX THREE - Reports of Ill-Treatment and Torture of ISA Detainees________________ 82 ENDNOTES____________________________________________________________ _________ 85 MALAYSIA Human Rights Undermined: Restrictive Laws in a Parliamentary Democracy INTRODUCTION The detention of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and sixteen of his political associates under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in September 1998 marked a watershed in public perceptions of human rights and the administration of justice in Malaysia. For many years voices within Malaysia had warned that a legislative and administrative structure was emerging which posed a grave threat to the rights and liberties safeguarded in the Malaysian Constitution and under international human rights law. The Malaysian authorities rejected such criticisms as being unpatriotic, or reflective of foreign values that were inappropriate to Malaysia’s stage of economic, political and social development. Many Malaysians, contemplating the country’s sustained political stability, ethnic harmony and economic growth, appeared prepared to accept a gradual erosion of their fundamental rights, and a parallel increase in the powers accumulated by the Executive branch of government. Cases of individuals detained without trial under national security legislation, or charged with criminal offences for the peaceful expression of dissenting opinion, were frequently regarded by fellow citizens as acceptable and necessary for the maintenance of prosperity and stability in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious society. Many accepted the government’s claims that the rights of the individual were incompatible with, and secondary to, community interests. However the events that followed Anwar Ibrahim’s dismissal from office including his detention and that of his supporters under national security legislation, his ill-treatment while held incommunicado, his vilification and shaming in government-controlled mainstream media, and the manner in which criminal charges were brought against him, have challenged this public complacency. The treatment of Anwar Ibrahim, a respected Malay leader widely expected to be the next Prime Minister, has provoked increasing numbers of Malaysians to question the extent to which the Executive branch of government has, step by step, undermined constitutional principles safeguarding basic human rights, and accumulated legislative powers and influence over key national institutions that have enabled it to act in a way that appears arbitrary and unjust. They have asked how, if the authorities could act in such a way against a person with the status and influence of the former Deputy Prime Minister, the rights of any other individual citizen could be guaranteed and protected. This report aims to set the case of Anwar Ibrahim into a longer term context. It illustrates the incremental development of an array of restrictive laws - many of which were inherited from the British former colonial government, which have allowed the authorities to deny, or place unjustified restrictions AI Index: ASA 28/06/99 Amnesty International September 1999 Human Rights Undermined 3 upon, the enjoyment of fundamental human rights. It presents the cases of individual men and women affected by these laws, and examines their wider, intimidating effects on political life and the development of civil society in Malaysia. The report shows how institutions of the state, including the Royal Malaysia Police, the Attorney General’s Chambers (Public Prosecutor’s Office) and the Judiciary appear at times to have come under the improper influence of the Executive, and to have failed to robustly