NEWS ARROUND PRISON AND LAW / ASIA

27. September 2005

MALAYSIA

ein neuer human rights watch bericht über gefangene die unter der isa- gesetzgebung inhaftiert sind.unter isa ,internal sercurity act, können menschen ohne anklage auf unbestimmte zeit inhaftiert werden.der bericht basiert auf u.a. auf aussagen von 25 menschen die im kamunting detention center inhaftiert sind und nach einer auseinandersetzung mit wärtern im dezember 2004 mißhandelt wurden.

MALAYSIA: ISA Detainees Beaten and Humiliated

Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA), which gives the government unchecked powers to detain individuals for long periods without charge, is a recipe for abuse, Human Rights Watch said today. In a new report released today, Human Rights Watch called for the repeal of the 45-year-old ISA, which allows for detention without trial and bars judicial review of detentions. The report, Detained Without Trial: Abuse of Internal Security Act Detainees in Malaysia, is based on interviews with family members of current ISA detainees, their lawyers and handwritten statements of ISA detainees. It documents the physical abuse, ill-treatment and humiliation of more than 25 detainees in Kamunting Detention Center in December 2004. None of these detainees have been charged or tried.

"Those held under the ISA are defined as a group that has virtually no rights, so it is hardly surprising that prison guards treat them as less than human," said Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division.According to eyewitness accounts, ISA detainees were beaten, abused and humiliated in a December 2004 incident when prison guards, armed with batons, shields and riot gear, mistreated handcuffed detainees. Mohamad Faiq bin Hafidh, who has been detained since January 2002, described the events of December 8 and 9, 2004, in Kamunting Detention Center. He wrote:

I was handcuffed . . . and my head was pushed down to waist level. My head was struck with a baton and my eye was hit, injuring it. When I reached room seven of [the cell block], I was continuously beaten and then forced to strip naked, ordered to crawl while entering the room and then my buttocks were kicked and that was how I stumbled inside, naked.

No prison officials have been disciplined and the government has not made public the findings of its investigation into the incident. Human Rights Watch's requests to visit Kamunting Detention Center and to interview the director of Kamunting or a government official knowledgeable about the events were denied. Most of the 112 people currently detained in Malaysia under the ISA are held under allegations of associating with militant Islamist groups, though the government has expanded its use of the ISA to include individuals accused of counterfeiting and forging documents and has threatened to use it against practitioners of religious beliefs deemed "deviant" by the government. Some detainees have been in custody for more than four years.

Human Rights Watch said that ISA detainees have no effective recourse to challenge their detention because the law prevents the courts from reviewing the merits of ISA detentions. Although the law allows judicial review of the procedural requirements for detention, Malaysian courts routinely dismiss habeas corpus petitions challenging ISA detentions.

The Malaysian government admits that it chooses not to prosecute ISA detainees. In July 2005, a cabinet minister, Datuk Mohamed Nazri, told Human Rights Watch, "They [ISA detainees] have not committed any crime because ISA is preventive. You cannot, therefore, go to court. The government has information that something will happen. We can't wait till it happens. Lives and property will be lost. So before it happens we detain them."

Human Rights Watch said that it recognizes the obligations of the Malaysian government to protect its population from terrorist attacks and to bring those responsible for engaging in such attacks to justice. But the Malaysian government has not yet demonstrated that any of the individuals it has detained have actually engaged in any illegal activity, or cannot be prosecuted under existing laws.

"Malaysia's policy amounts to the executive branch presuming the guilt of people without charge or trial," said Adams. "The presumption of innocence does not exist for ISA detainees."

Since 1960, the law has been misused by the ruling United Malay National Organization (UMNO) to silence critics, resulting in the detention of more than 10,000 people.

Human Rights Watch said that the ISA's provisions violate fundamental international human rights standards, including prohibitions on arbitrary detention, guarantees of the right to due process and the right to a prompt and impartial trial. Malaysia should end its use of ISA detention and rely on its robust criminal law and capable judiciary to tackle security and other alleged crimes.

"Malaysia aspires to be a leader in the region and a developed country by 2020," said Adams. "The ISA is not a sign of leadership or development??it is a sign of repression."

Human Rights Watch said that long-term critics of the ISA, notably the United States, have been silent since the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. A senior State Department official, when questioned about the ISA, told Human Rights Watch in December 2003, "With what we're doing in Guantánamo, we're on thin ice to push on this." A Malaysian cabinet minister, Datuk Mohamed Nazri, confirmed this, telling Human Rights Watch that the U.S. no longer criticizes Malaysia's use of the ISA because of U.S. detention practices at Guantánamo Bay.

Human Rights Watch called for the repeal of the ISA, to immediately charge or release individuals detained under the ISA and to set up an independent commission of inquiry into the allegations of abuse in December 2004.

In May 2004, Human Rights Watch issued a report, In the Name of Security: Counterterrorism and Human Rights Abuses Under Malaysia's Internal Security Act, detailing abuses against ISA detainees during the first 60 days of detention.

[  alertnet.org

[  Detained Without Trial
Abuse of Internal Security Act Detainees in Malaysia.pdf

19. märz 2005

weil durch die kampagne gegen illegale eine "langsamere steigerung des ökonomische wachstums" befürchtet wird, sollen jetzt 100.000 menschen aus pakistan eingestellt werden.

Malaysia to hire 100,000 Pakistanis to plug labour vacuum

KUALA LUMPUR, Friday (AFP) - Malaysia plans to recruit 100,000 male Pakistanis to relieve an acute labour shortage caused by a crackdown that sent hundreds of thousands of illegal workers fleeing, reports said Friday.The government's decision came amid fears that the labour crunch, which led to industry losses running into hundreds of millions of dollars, could further aggravate a slowdown in economic growth this year.Home Affairs Minister Azmi Khalid was quoted by The Star as saying the government had picked Pakistan as a source for foreign labour because it has extensive experience in providing workers to foreign countries and managing them abroad via its Overseas Employment Corp. (OEC).

"We have asked Pakistan to compile a list of suitable workers for all sectors in Malaysia. The OEC has a complete database on new workers entering the job market as well as workers returning from overseas," he said.The Pakistanis will be allowed to work in all sectors including construction, manufacturing and services, he said.The New Straits Times said the cabinet has been informed that about 200,000 workers were needed in the manufacturing sector, 150,000 in construction, 50,000 in plantations and 20,000 in the services sector.

The labour shortage follows an exodus during a three-month amnesty programme which ended on March 1 of nearly 400,000 illegal immigrants, mostly from Indonesia but also from the Philippines, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.A similar number are believed to remain in the country, but many are in hiding as the authorities are hunting them down, and dozens have been sentenced to prison terms and whipping.

[  dailynews.lk

2.märz 2005

illegale aus aceh sollen aus „humanitären gründen“ bei der „ops tegas“ genannten kampagne nicht inhaftiert werden.

1. märz 2005

kurz nach mitternacht fingen die angedrohten razzien gegen migrantinnen an.. sollten illegale dabei verhaftet werden , können sie mit hohen geldstrafen , knast und schlägen bestraft werden. schon gleich bei dem ersten durchsuchten objekt wurden 40 menschen verhaftet. das ganze wird „operation tegas“ genannt. nach schätzungen haben 400. 000 bis 600.000 menschen das land bereits verlassen.der indonesischen arbeitsminister sagte in einem interview daß 100.000 bürgerinnen seines landes sich weigern malaysia zu verlassen bis sie ihre ausstehenden arbeitslöhne bekommen. die freiwilligen ,von denen in den berichten geschrieben wird, gehören zu den rela forces, einer bürgerwehr.

28. februar 2005

18. februar 2005

noch ein bericht über die bevorstehenden razzien gegen illegale. laut dem innenminister datuk azmi khalid werden 160.000 polizisten, beamte der migrationsbehörde sowie einer rela und rukun tetangga genannten einheit ab dem 1. märz überall nach illegalen beschäftigten suchen. dazu kommen noch etwa 300.000 „freiwillige“.

12. februar 2005

der innenminister azmi khalid erklärte das mehrere regierungsangestellte verhaftet wurden unter dem verdacht das sie aufenthaltsgenehmigungen an „kriminelle die beteiligt sind am menschenhandel“ verkauft hätten. die menschen sind unter den terrorismus-gesetzen inhaftiert, die eine unbegrenzte haft ohne prozeß zulassen. er erklärte gleichzeitig, daß die presseberichte nach denen auch die nationalen pässe betroffen seien, unwahr seien. die mikrochip - pässe enthalten auch die medizinischen akten, führerscheine und können als bankkarten benutzt werden.

14.februar 2005

justizminister tan sri abdul gani patail :
die prügelstrafe für immigrantinnen die verurteilt wurden weil sie illegal im land sind, sei keine vorgeschriebene strafe sondern eine anordnung die durch die gerichte verhängt wird.

nicht alle illegale würden diese strafe erhalten,sondern nur die illegalen die schon öfters „das delikt wiederholt begehen oder die beteiligt waren an delikten die die öffentliche ordnung bedrohen“. lt abdul gani werden die, die das land illegal betreten nach § 6(3) des immigrationsgesetz bestraft welches strafen bis zu rm 10.000 oder gefängnisstrafen bis zu 5 jahre vorsieht. über die anschuldigung der indonesischen regierung daß es arbeitgeber gibt die sich weigern immigrantinnen ihre löhne zu bezahlen sagte er die polizei würde ermitteln, obwohl solche fälle „eigentlich zivilklagefälle und keine kriminalfälle sind“, da es sich um migrantinnen handele „die weder durch die arbeitsgesetzes des landes noch durch eine internationale gesetzgebung abgedeckt sind“.

bisher seien 111 fälle beim ministerium gemeldet von denen 25 verhandelt wurde und der rest noch bearbeitet wird.

11.februar 2005

zum ersten mal werden 24 arbeitgeber ,denen vorgeworfen wird illegale beschäftigt zuhaben, nach §55B des immgrationgesetzes (zusatz) von 2002 angeklagt. in diesem § ist als strafe schläge vorgeschrieben sowie eine mindesthaftstrafe von 6 monaten.

1.februar 2005

seit der einführung der prügelstrafe für menschen die illegal ins land kommen, auch gegen „ersttäterinnen“ im august 2002 wurden laut der gruppe migrante international ( eine gruppe aus den philippinen) 18.607 menschen damit bestraft.

„illegale arbeiter können bis zu 6 schläge mit einen ½ inch dicken stock erhalten während kinder bis zu 10 schlägen mit einem ‘leichteren stock’ bekommen“

hier noch ein älterer artikel dazu:
12.august 2002