PP3739/12/2004 ISSN 0127 - 5127 / RM3.00 / 2004:Vol.24No.5 Wrong,Wrong,Wrong,Wrong, MrMrMrMr PM,PM,PM,PM, therethere ISISthere ISISthere torturetorturetorturetorture herehereherehere Hamid Omar told me to stay put, says George Seah Let UsUsLet Enjoy OurOurEnjoy Aliran Monthly : Vol.24(5) Page 1 RojakRojakRojak Songs COVER STORY Abu Ghraib And The ISA: What’s The Difference? The time has come to outlaw torture in all its various forms by Anil Netto he pictures of the torture and abuse of Iraqi pris- TTT oners at the hands of US colonial captors in Abu Ghraib prison left the world stunned and horrified. But then, why should we be shocked? When captors are given total power over prisoners – with no checks and balances - this is what can and does happen. The Abu Ghraib horror and other similar scandals in Iraq have shamed the United States and Brit- ain. They have undermined any shred of moral authority the Anglo-American colonial forces may have left in their illegal inva- sion and occupation of Iraq. Anti ISA protest in Kamunting Syed Husin and Hisham Rais: Former ISA detainees have exposed the torture and abuse Aliran Monthly : Vol.24(5) Page 2 EDITOR'S NOTE The scandal at Abu Ghraib prison shocked and stunned the world. Looking beyond the scandal, CONTENTS Anil Netto discusses the systemic pattern of US tor- ture techniques over the last 50 years and detects some similarities with the way ISA detainees are COVER STORY treated in Malaysia. Accompanying his piece are ••• Abu Ghraib And ISA 222 testimonies by former ISA detainees confirming that ••• Brutality In Our Own Backyard 666 they were tortured. Continuing our analysis of Election 2004, Dr FEATURES Jeyakumar Devaraj discusses the manner in which ••• By Fair Means Or Foul? 101010 the ruling coalition achieved its victory and probes ••• Propagandists For The BN (Part I) 141414 suspicious voter turnouts and voting trends. Dr ••• Let Us Enjoy Our RojakRojakRojak Songs 191919 Wong Kok Keong, meanwhile, analyses the televi- sion coverage during the election campaign and ••• Federal Court Turns Its Back points an accusing finger at a couple of prominent On Justice 232323 TV stations. ••• Women Workers In M'sia (Part II) 242424 ••• Beyond The Torture Of Nirmala 262626 Dr Tan Sooi Beng provides a compelling argument as to why we should preserve our unique heritage ••• Book Review: Watch What They Say! 313131 of loveable rojak songs, which are part of the colour- ••• Apostle Of Islamic Non-Violence 33 ful tapestry of Malaysian culture and the arts. ••• Singh On A Tightrope 353535 ••• Something's Brewing In KL 404040 Continuing his expose of the 1988 judicial crisis, former supreme court Datuk George Seah recounts the conflicting instructions he received at the time. REGULARS ••• LettersLettersLetters 292929 In a book review of ‘War of Words’, Dr Shakila ••• Current Concerns 373737 Manan discusses the post Sept 11 world and how the language has been “hijacked” to justify the “war on terror”. OTHERSOTHERSOTHERS Concluding her analysis of women workers in Ma- ••• Subscription Form 181818 laysia, Dr Cecilia Ng by highlights the miserable plight of migrant workers and sex workers. In the case of migrant workers, they are a most vulnerable group who lack protection. It is this lack of protec- tion that has led to a constant stream of cases of torture, abuse and exploitation, according to our back-cover story by the Penang Office for Human Published by Development. Aliran Kesedaran Negara (ALIRAN) 103, Medan Penaga, 11600 Jelutong, ALIRANALIRANALIRAN is a Reform Movement dedicated to Penang, Malaysia. Justice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on the Tel : (04) 658 5251 Fax : (04) 658 5197 roster of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomes Homepage : http://www.aliran.com all Malaysians above 21 to be members. Contact the Hon. Secretary or visit our webpage. Printed by Percetakan Tujuh Lapan Enam Sdn. Bhd. No. 16, Lengkangan Brunei, 55100 Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. Aliran Monthly : Vol.24(5) Page 3 But as we rightly condemn the US inhuman and degrading treatment sexual humiliation. (Alfred and UK, let us take a critical look of ISA detainees. And they are elo- McCoy, “Cruel Science, The Long at our own backyard. The meth- quent rebuttal to Nor’s remarks. Shadow of CIA Torture Re- ods of humiliating and abusing search”). detainees may vary, the degree of Systemic Abuse torture and abuse may be differ- Sleep deprivation, disorientation ent, but the overall objective is the Most analysts agree that the tor- and sexual humiliation? Now same: to strip detainees of their ture at Abu Ghraib was not an iso- doesn’t this sound familiar in both personal dignity, to humiliate lated breakdown of discipline. the Abu Ghraib and the them and ultimately to “break Rather the shocking photographs Malaysian contexts? Some former them,” to “turn them over”, to point to a systemic pattern of ISA detainees have complained of “neutralise” them. abuse and torture, not just physi- being forced to strip or to simu- cal torture but also increasingly late sex acts.They have also spo- Where Are psychological. It is aimed at de- ken of humiliating interrogation The Apples? stroying personal identity and of their private/sexual lives. humiliating the individual’s Deputy Internal Security Minister sense of self-worth. McCoy points out that once the Noh Omar, who led officials and subject is disoriented, interroga- journalists into the Kamunting This systemic torture and abuse tors move on to a second stage. Detention Camp recently, listened was practised not only after Sept Detainees are subjected to self-in- carefully to the complaints made 11, when the US administration flicted discomfort or to use current by the detainees, some of whom rode roughshod over the Geneva parlance, detainees are “stressed have been detained for more than Conventions and trampled on in- out” by making them stand for two years. ternational human rights law, but hours in uncomfortable, humili- also well before that. ating positions. The idea here, he “There have been allegations - says, is to make victims feel re- people compare Kamunting Over the last 50 years, the US Cen- sponsible for their own pain. prison with Abu Ghraib prison,” tral Intelligence Agency has They are made to feel that the only he said. “There is no torture here. turned torture into something of a way they can ease that pain is by You have to compare apples with fine art. From the 1950s to the early succumbing to the power of the apples.” 1960s, the CIA spearheaded inten- interrogator. sive research into interrogation So where are the apples then? The techniques, which included ex- Such discomfort in the Malaysian ‘apples’ – the cruel, inhuman and perimenting with electric shocks, context can take the form of being degrading treatment of detainees hallucinogenic drugs, and sen- subjected to blasts of cold air from - can be found in the police re- sory deprivation. This allowed the a powerful airconditioner or mand centres and other undis- CIA to produce new methods of bright lights aimed at the detainee closed holding centres where de- torture that were more psychologi- or constant shouting and scream- tainees are interrogated during the cal (but still under accepted defi- ing into the ears of detainees. first 60 days. The experience is so nitions of torture) than physical. traumatic in many cases that On the surface, mental torture like when detainees are eventually Psychological Torture this might appear to be less bar- sent to Kamunting, it may seem baric than physical torture. But like “paradise” to them – though There are two stages to this ap- mental torture leaves deeper and even here the “mind games” and proach of psychological torture, longer-lasting scars than the mental agony continue. (The de- honed by the CIA. In the first stage, physical approach and it may take tainees’ uncertainty over when non-violent techniques are used a long while for victims to recover they will be released is a cruel form to disorient the detainee. The de- from the trauma. of mental agony.) tainee may be hooded or deprived of sleep to make him confused. To That is why human rights groups There is a whole body of testimony heighten the sense of disorienta- do not differentiate between psy- from former detainees (see follow- tion, interrogators often launch chological and physical torture: ing pages) that point to the cruel, attacks on personal identity via torture is torture no matter what Aliran Monthly : Vol.24(5) Page 4 the techniques used. ments. In 1996 the Pentagon was balances. In the US, the Iraqis who pressured to release the school’s were tortured and abused were It is not only the victims who are training manuals that advocated among thousands who were de- traumatised. The perpetrators too torture, extortion and execution. tained without charge as “secu- are affected – they may end up rity detainees”. In Malaysia, ISA with grossly inflated egos and Following public criticism, a cos- detainees are arrested under “pre- suffer emotional damage and re- metic change was made and the ventive detention” laws. sort to even greater cruelty to- school was renamed the “Western wards detainees. Hemisphere Institute for Security Whether they are Iraqi prison- Cooperation (WHINSEC)” in ers who are “security detainees” The Export Of Torture 2001. But critics say the new mili- or ISA detainees held under tary training school is the continu- “preventive detention” laws or The new methods of psychologi- ation of the SOA under a new foreign nationals in the US held cal torture were incorporated into name. “New name, same shame,” under the Patriot Act or “unlaw- the CIA’s “Kubark Counter-intel- they say.