I refer to a number of opinions that have appeared here of late. For example, God-fearing Malaysian in Jawi officers, keep up the good work states the following: 'There are laws promulgated by our Parliament which state that Muslims should not consume liquor, and that they must be properly dressed and that they should not frequent nightspots'.

In Liberals need to be more tolerant of others , Abdul Rahman Abdul Talib states the following: '... the fact remains that the youths had committed a misdemeanor and as such, had to deal with the law'.

The essence of their arguments along that of Dewan Pemuda PAS Wilayah Persekutuan , is (1) that the youths had broken the law; (2) that the Jawi enforcement team had followed procedures in the course of their work.

Section 19(1) of the Syariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act 1997 bars Muslims from consuming any intoxicating drink. However, there are no sections in this Act that prevent Muslims from being present in a club, cafe, restaurant or venue where alcohol is served, nor is there a law that makes references to a particular legal mode of attire for Muslims.

Hence those who were present in Z@uk on Jan 13 had every legitimate right to be there without fear of arrest.

The Jawi office had also issued 'summonses' for counselling sessions to those freed without charges, under the guise of conducting an investigation under Section 58(1) of the Syariah Criminal Procedure (Federal Territories) Act 1997. The youths were further threatened with arrest should they not appear at the sessions.

Once pressed with the possibility of a legal challenge, Jawi replied in a written clarification that the counselling session was not only voluntary, but that there was no legal basis for the order in the first place. The order for compulsory counselling issued by Jawi to those found innocent is defective.

Lastly, it is a criminal offence to target and subject the women detained to degrading and inhumane treatment. We are of the opinion that the elements involved such as:

- the unusually long period taken to process their cases,

- the 'photography' session,

- the 'cat-walk' procedure,

- degrading verbal commentary,

- the act of leering,

- the refusal to allow women to use the toilet, and as we have recently discovered,

- the persistence of Jawi officers in asking for the telephone numbers of the women in custody.

All the above constitute a flagrant abuse of human rights.

There should be zero tolerance for torture of detainees by any enforcement officers. The Attorney-General's Chambers should not hesitate to take action against those involved.