[asia-apec 1433] Fw: MALAYSIA UPDATE: AI UA 41/00 Arbitrary and incommunicado

[APEC Monitoring Group]

>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>AI Index: ASA 28/06/00
>17 April 2000
>EXTRA 41/00 Arbitrary and incommunicado detention/fear of ill=A0=A0=20
>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 treatment/prisoners of conscience  =20
>MALAYSIA Tian Chua, Parti Keadilan Nasional (PKN) Vice-President=20
>Roslan Kassim, PKN Information Chief=20
>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, PKN Youth Chief  =20
>N. Gopalankrishnan, PKN Supreme Council member=20
>Abdul Malek Hussain=20
>Mohd Hafiz Hashim, aged 17=20
>At least 46 others=20
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>At least 50 people, among them four leading members of the opposition Parti
>Keadilan Nasional (National Justice Party), have been arrested in
connection
>with a 15 April demonstration, and a magistrate has remanded them in
custody
>for further questioning. Amnesty International fears they are at risk of
>serious ill-treatment in detention, and is concerned at this seemingly
>arbitrary decision to hold them for further questioning.
>
>At least six are reported to have been assaulted and denied access to=
> medical
>treatment.=A0 According to a news report, one detainee who appeared in
court
>today told the magistrate that he had been beaten round the head with a
>truncheon and punched all over his body.=A0 The detainees have had only=
> limited
>access to their lawyers and have not been allowed to see their families=
> since
>their arrest. Many of those arrested at similar demonstrations in the past
>have
>been assaulted by the police.
>
>Tian Chua, a PKN leader and well-known social activist, who has been
>arrested a
>number of times and assaulted by police following his participation in
other
>illegal demonstrations, suffers from asthma and is currently on daily
>medication for food poisoning.
>
>Roslan Kassim, arrested the day before the demonstration, was ordered=
> detained
>for seven days, reportedly on suspicion of inciting others to attend an
>illegal
>assembly. All the others, arrested over the weekend, were remanded in=
> custody
>for up to six days, except 17-year-old Mohd Hafiz Hashim, who was remanded=
> in
>custody for three days.
>
>BACKGROUND INFORMATION
>
>Demonstrators had planned to march through the capital, Kuala Lumpur, on 15
>April, to mark the first anniversary of the jailing of former Deputy Prime
>Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Prisoner of conscience Anwar Ibrahim was sentenced=
> to
>six years=92 imprisonment after an unfair trial on politically motivated=
> charges
>of =93abuse of power=94.=20
>
>The Malaysian authorities announced a ban on the rally and positioned=
> hundreds
>of police around the capital, some armed with M16 rifles.=A0 Several
hundred
>peaceful protesters gathered during the day, chanting slogans and calling=
> for
>=93reformasi=94 (reform). They were dispersed with tear gas and water
cannon
>spraying water laced with chemicals.=A0=A0=20
>
>The Malaysian Police Act outlaws attendance at any unauthorized gathering
of
>more than three people.=A0 Offenders may be punished with fines and=
> imprisonment
>of up to one year.=A0 Since 1998 unprecedented public demonstrations in=
> support
>of Anwar Ibrahim have been suppressed with force and more than 1,200 people
>have been arrested.=A0 Many of those arrested were assaulted in custody
and=
> face
>trials during 2000 for illegal assembly.=A0=20
>
>RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send faxes in English or your own language:
>- expressing concern that those named above have been detained solely for
>exercising their right to peaceful assembly, and urging that they be
>immediately and unconditionally released;
>- expressing concern at reports that some have been assaulted in custody
and
>urging that they not be ill-treated in any way;
>- urging that all those detained in connection with the 15 April=
> demonstration
>be allowed immediate and continuing access to relatives, independent
lawyers
>and medical attention;
>- calling for all reports of ill-treatment in police custody to be fully
and
>independently investigated and for those responsible to be brought to=
> justice.
>
>APPEALS TO:
>
>Minister of Home Affairs
>Dato=92 Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi
>Ministry of Home Affairs (Menteri Dalam Negeri)=20
>Jalan Dato Onn,
>50546 Kuala Lumpur
>Fax: + 60 3 2301 217 / + 603 230 1051
>
>Minister in Prime Minister=92s Department with responsibility for legal=
> affairs
>Datuk Dr. Rais Yatim
>Law Division
>Prime Minister=92s Department, Block 1=20
>Federal Government Administration Centre
>62502 Putrajaya, Selangor=20
>Malaysia=20
>Fax: + 60 3 8888 3424
>
>COPIES TO:
>
>Chairman, Human Rights Commission
>Ybhg. Tan Sri Musa Hitam
>Pengerusi Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia
>Kementerian Luar Negeri
>Wisma Putra  =20
>50602 Kuala Lumpur =20
>Fax: + 603 2425043
>
>Inspector General of Police
>Tan Sri Norian Mai=A0=A0=20
>Ketua Polis Negara
>Ibupejabat Polis Diraja Malaysia
>Bukit Aman=20
>50502 Kuala Lumpur
>Malaysia=20
>Fax: + 60 3 22731326
>
>
>and to diplomatic representatives of Malaysia accredited to your country.
>
>PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat,=
> or
>your section office, if sending appeals after 15 May 2000.
>
>
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>AHRC Ugent Appeals Programme=20
>Asian Human Rights Commission=20
>Unit D, 7th Floor, Mongkok Commercial Centre,=20
>16 - 16B Argyle Street, Kowloon, HONGKONG=20
>Tel: +(852) - 2698-6339=20
>Fax: +(852) - 2698-6367=20
>E-mail: ua at ahrchk.org=20
>
>If you need to contact the AHRC Urgent Appeal Coordinator.=20
>Send message to: Mr.sinapan samydorai <samysd at pacific.net.hk>
>___________________________________________________________________=20
>AHRC has an Urgent Appeal Programme which operates around the clock.=20
>AHRC issues urgent appeals on behalf of persons or groups of persons=20
>whose human rights have been violated. All urgent appeals released=20
>by the AHRC since late 1997 can be accessed at our website:=20
><http://www.ahrchk.net/hrappeal.htm>http://www.ahrchk.net/hrappeal.htm
>_____________________________________________________________________=20
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