Malaysia
17.06.02
Urgent Interventions
Malaysia: arrest of 14 persons under the ISA
Case MYS 170602
Arbitrary Arrest and Detention / Release
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Malaysia.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by SUARAM, a member of the OMCT network, that 14 people were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) on 17th and 18th April, 2002.
According to the information received, the Malaysian authorities arrested: Sejahtul Dursina Chomel Mohamad, the wife of an alleged al-Qaeda operative Yazid Sufaat; 42-year old Syed Ali Syed Abdullah, a company director and science graduate from the Northern Illinois University in the United States; 32-year old Shamsuddin Sulaiman, an assistant accountant with the Health Ministry and former Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM) student; 54-year old Mior Mohd Yuhana Hamidon, a technician with the Road Works Department (JKR); 39-year old Mat Shah Sapray, a technician with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka; 47-year old Shakom Shaaid, a metre reader with the Waterworks Department (JBA); 31-year old Yusrin Haiti technician, 41-year old Mazlan Ishak teacher; 46-year old F. Muchlis Abdul Halim Ferry, an Indonesian welder with Malaysian PR; 46-year old Agungdiyadi Ahmad Bunyamin, an Indonesian ice cream vendor with Malaysian PR; 45-year old Nasaruddin Nashir, businessman; 62-year old Mohd Yusof Rerwan Yunus ayam, chicken seller; 36-year old Azmi Khan Mhamud Azmi Teksi, taxi driver; 40-year old Jaffar Saldin Jaafar, taxi driver. The police are reportedly looking for 100 more people, among them several key figures.
According to the information received, the detainees were arrested under the Internal Security Act with charges of being connected with the Malaysian Mujahidin Group (KMM), allegedly part of a regional network aiming to overthrow South East Asian governments through violence and convert their respective countries into Islamic States. The Malaysian authorities have now arrested a total of 62 since last year. The police claim to have found maps and notes on survival training in the homes of the 14 detainees and that certain members of the KMM have undergone training in Afghanistan. The Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has described the arrests under the ISA as a “preventive measure to avoid any form of violence.
According to reports, the ISA has been frequently used since its enactment in 1960 by the Malaysian authorities, in order to arrest and effectively indefinitely detain human rights and oppostition campaigners. The ISA reportedly allows the authorities to arbitrarily arrest, detain incommunicado and interrogate activists, without granting them access to legal counsel or family visits for up 60 days, and without conducting a trial for a period of up to two years. This period is however renewable by the Prime Minister, meaning that the person can effectively be detained indefinitely without a trial.
The ISA violates the detainee's rights to access to legal counsel, family visits and a fair trial and is often used to supress the person's rights of expression and to demonstration. Detainees under the ISA are reportedly often subjected to various forms of torture, including physical assault, sleep deprivation, round-the-clock interrogation, threats of bodily harm to family members, including detainees' children, and are allegedly often used to extract false signed confessions from the detainees.
According to the information received, Mr. Nasharuddin Nasir was arrested on April 17th, 2002, in Hulu Langat, Selangor when leaving work. He was escorted to his house by 15 policemen who then ransacked his family’s home. No reason was given and the police officer said they were only doing their job based on an order from the Home Ministry. His wife Norlida filed a habeas corpus application at the Shah Alam high Court on May 15th 2002 Habeas Corpus is a writ to determine whether a persons’s detention is lawful, as Mr. Nasir was allegedly detained unlawfully and was denied legal access throughout his detention: he was not able to meet with his lawyers, nor was he brought before a magistrate’s court within 24 hours after arrest. When Norlida visited her husband they were unable to talk about the arrest due to constant interruption be the two police officers who were present.
According to the information received, 37-year old Sejahratul Dursina Chomel Muhamad, a mother of four and an IT company director was arrested at her home in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur at 10.55pm on April 17th, 2002 under the pretext to “obtain some information”. The police also took the IT company director’s computer, files, books, as well as a list containing the names of her customers. Mrs. Sejahratuls’s sister, Suri Hanim was concerned about the conditions Mrs. Sejahratul was going to be detained in, as she was reportedly unwell before the arrest and also the well-being of the four children.
According to the report, the arrest of Sejahratul under the ISA was with the view to put pressure on her huband Yazid Sufaat, who is allegedly involved in Jemaah Islamiah, supposedly a secret cell of KMM. The organisation has also been linked to the Osama bin Laden al-Qaeda terror network which was blamed for the September 11th 2001 attacks on the United States. Her husband, allegedly housed two of the suspected hijackers involved in the September 11th, 2001, attacks on the United States, Is being held for two years at the Kamunting detention centre in Perak.
According to the information received, Mrs. Sejahratul, the first woman detained for alleged militant activities under the ISA since 1987, was released on June 13th 2002. The hearing started on June 4th, 2002 as a consequence of the habeas corpus application that her mother, Tuminah Kasmuri, filed on May 9th, 2002 requesting immediate release.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the above mentioned detainees physical and psychological integrity. OMCT also urges the Malaysian authorites to reconsider the ISA as a whole, as suggested by Shah Alam, High Court Judge and Justice Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus, during recent rulings, which lead to several ISA detainees being released (see Urgent Appeal Case MYS 110401.2 on June 1st, 2001).
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Malaysia urging them to:
1. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned persons;
2. order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
3. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister's Office, Federal Government Administration Center, 62502 Putrajaya, MALAYSIA, Fax: +603 8888 3444, E-mail: ppm@smpke.jpm.my
· Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Home Minister, Aras 13, Block D1, Parcel D, Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, 652020 Putrajaya, Selangor, Malaysia, Fax: +603 8886 8014
Please also write to the embassies of Malaysia in your respective country.
Geneva, June 17th, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arbitrary Arrest and Detention / Release
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Malaysia.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by SUARAM, a member of the OMCT network, that 14 people were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) on 17th and 18th April, 2002.
According to the information received, the Malaysian authorities arrested: Sejahtul Dursina Chomel Mohamad, the wife of an alleged al-Qaeda operative Yazid Sufaat; 42-year old Syed Ali Syed Abdullah, a company director and science graduate from the Northern Illinois University in the United States; 32-year old Shamsuddin Sulaiman, an assistant accountant with the Health Ministry and former Institut Teknologi Mara (ITM) student; 54-year old Mior Mohd Yuhana Hamidon, a technician with the Road Works Department (JKR); 39-year old Mat Shah Sapray, a technician with Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka; 47-year old Shakom Shaaid, a metre reader with the Waterworks Department (JBA); 31-year old Yusrin Haiti technician, 41-year old Mazlan Ishak teacher; 46-year old F. Muchlis Abdul Halim Ferry, an Indonesian welder with Malaysian PR; 46-year old Agungdiyadi Ahmad Bunyamin, an Indonesian ice cream vendor with Malaysian PR; 45-year old Nasaruddin Nashir, businessman; 62-year old Mohd Yusof Rerwan Yunus ayam, chicken seller; 36-year old Azmi Khan Mhamud Azmi Teksi, taxi driver; 40-year old Jaffar Saldin Jaafar, taxi driver. The police are reportedly looking for 100 more people, among them several key figures.
According to the information received, the detainees were arrested under the Internal Security Act with charges of being connected with the Malaysian Mujahidin Group (KMM), allegedly part of a regional network aiming to overthrow South East Asian governments through violence and convert their respective countries into Islamic States. The Malaysian authorities have now arrested a total of 62 since last year. The police claim to have found maps and notes on survival training in the homes of the 14 detainees and that certain members of the KMM have undergone training in Afghanistan. The Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has described the arrests under the ISA as a “preventive measure to avoid any form of violence.
According to reports, the ISA has been frequently used since its enactment in 1960 by the Malaysian authorities, in order to arrest and effectively indefinitely detain human rights and oppostition campaigners. The ISA reportedly allows the authorities to arbitrarily arrest, detain incommunicado and interrogate activists, without granting them access to legal counsel or family visits for up 60 days, and without conducting a trial for a period of up to two years. This period is however renewable by the Prime Minister, meaning that the person can effectively be detained indefinitely without a trial.
The ISA violates the detainee's rights to access to legal counsel, family visits and a fair trial and is often used to supress the person's rights of expression and to demonstration. Detainees under the ISA are reportedly often subjected to various forms of torture, including physical assault, sleep deprivation, round-the-clock interrogation, threats of bodily harm to family members, including detainees' children, and are allegedly often used to extract false signed confessions from the detainees.
According to the information received, Mr. Nasharuddin Nasir was arrested on April 17th, 2002, in Hulu Langat, Selangor when leaving work. He was escorted to his house by 15 policemen who then ransacked his family’s home. No reason was given and the police officer said they were only doing their job based on an order from the Home Ministry. His wife Norlida filed a habeas corpus application at the Shah Alam high Court on May 15th 2002 Habeas Corpus is a writ to determine whether a persons’s detention is lawful, as Mr. Nasir was allegedly detained unlawfully and was denied legal access throughout his detention: he was not able to meet with his lawyers, nor was he brought before a magistrate’s court within 24 hours after arrest. When Norlida visited her husband they were unable to talk about the arrest due to constant interruption be the two police officers who were present.
According to the information received, 37-year old Sejahratul Dursina Chomel Muhamad, a mother of four and an IT company director was arrested at her home in Ampang, Kuala Lumpur at 10.55pm on April 17th, 2002 under the pretext to “obtain some information”. The police also took the IT company director’s computer, files, books, as well as a list containing the names of her customers. Mrs. Sejahratuls’s sister, Suri Hanim was concerned about the conditions Mrs. Sejahratul was going to be detained in, as she was reportedly unwell before the arrest and also the well-being of the four children.
According to the report, the arrest of Sejahratul under the ISA was with the view to put pressure on her huband Yazid Sufaat, who is allegedly involved in Jemaah Islamiah, supposedly a secret cell of KMM. The organisation has also been linked to the Osama bin Laden al-Qaeda terror network which was blamed for the September 11th 2001 attacks on the United States. Her husband, allegedly housed two of the suspected hijackers involved in the September 11th, 2001, attacks on the United States, Is being held for two years at the Kamunting detention centre in Perak.
According to the information received, Mrs. Sejahratul, the first woman detained for alleged militant activities under the ISA since 1987, was released on June 13th 2002. The hearing started on June 4th, 2002 as a consequence of the habeas corpus application that her mother, Tuminah Kasmuri, filed on May 9th, 2002 requesting immediate release.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the above mentioned detainees physical and psychological integrity. OMCT also urges the Malaysian authorites to reconsider the ISA as a whole, as suggested by Shah Alam, High Court Judge and Justice Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus, during recent rulings, which lead to several ISA detainees being released (see Urgent Appeal Case MYS 110401.2 on June 1st, 2001).
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Malaysia urging them to:
1. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the above-mentioned persons;
2. order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
3. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· Dato' Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister's Office, Federal Government Administration Center, 62502 Putrajaya, MALAYSIA, Fax: +603 8888 3444, E-mail: ppm@smpke.jpm.my
· Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Home Minister, Aras 13, Block D1, Parcel D, Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, 652020 Putrajaya, Selangor, Malaysia, Fax: +603 8886 8014
Please also write to the embassies of Malaysia in your respective country.
Geneva, June 17th, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.