We refer to the Malaysiakini report Siap - the IPCMC 'replacement' bill .

Amnesty International Malaysia and Suaram express grave disappointment over the tabling of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission Bill (EAIC) in Parliament yesterday, instead of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill which was proposed by the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police.

The new bill, in its obvious terms, defeats the true intention of the royal commission to specifically improve the professionalism of the Malaysian police services and to restore diminishing public confidence in our police service.

The tabled bill, in our opinion, fails to address the fundamental characteristic of a complaint as it lacks independent enforcement powers to provide effective checks and balances in a fair and transparent manner.

We also express serious concerns over the proposed structure of the referral function of all investigations to the attorney-general for enforcement hence giving rise to concerns of selective prosecution and political decisions as in cover-ups of high-profile and politically-linked cases.

We are also alarmed at the fact that the attorney-general - who is the political appointee of the prime minister - is given the full and final decision-making mandate which, in our view, defeats the notion of a case being handled and disposed off in a truly independent, just and credible manner.

We are also concerned with the scope of the newly-proposed commission that covers 21 public enforcement agencies, which in our view, will make the body redundant and ineffective in its function.

We fear that the scope is too wide, and is, therefore, impossible for one single body of such limited capacity and resources to be able to handle all cases of concern regarding all the 21 agencies of vastly differing procedures and operational order.

This development, in our view, will again incapacitate the function of the newly-proposed body as it will be faced with issues of delayed responses, inefficient investigative work and runs the risk of being selective due to insufficient resources and capacity.

The new body will also be over-stretched in terms of effective and efficient monitoring and scrutiny of the entire enforcement units in Malaysia due to the abovesaid facts.

We firmly believe that the need for a specific and specialised independent oversight mechanism is crucial for the improvement and human rights compliance of the police service, as the force is the largest enforcement unit with very wide powers and comes into contact with the public on a daily basis.

The proposed commission is redundant as it would not enjoy the confidence of the public. There will also be doubts as to whether complaints made by the public against the police force will attain proper justice in an impartial manner free from any element of collusion.

We will continue to lobby and campaign for the implementation of the IPCMC over and above the newly tabled bill to address the critical gaps in the currently proposed body that we believe will not enjoy public confidence upon its full implementation.

We will also continue to monitor the function and effectiveness of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission and provide critical interventions to address the inherent weakness of the body while continuing with the reform agenda of our police service.

K Shan is campaigns coordinator, Amnesty International Malaysia. Moon Hui is coordinator, Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram).