Aussie trade unions accuse Msian govt of using ISA to contain labour movement
A coalition of Australian trade unions slammed the Malaysian government for allegedly using the Internal Security Act (ISA) to detain labour activist Tian Chua and to suppress labour movements in the country.
Four Australian unions expressed concern over Chua's mental and physical well-being under ISA detention.
"For the first 53 days of his detention, he was put in solitary confinement and had suffered immense mental torture and pressure from the police," said the group.
Chua, who is also a Keadilan vice-president, was arrested on April 10 last year with five other reformasi activists, for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government by militant means.
The six individuals are currently held at the Kamunting detention camp in Perak under a two-year detention order.
The four unions are the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union of Australia, the Asia Pacific Office of International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Union and the Labour Council of New South Wales.
Other victims
According to the unions, Chua is only the latest labour activist to have fallen victim to the ISA under the government's move to suppress the growth of union movements.
"In the 1960s to 1970s, thousands of workers' leaders and workers who were or were not aligned to the opposition Socialist Front were detained under ISA. Many languished in jail for more than 10 years without trial," said the unions.
The Socialist Front, which started as a coalition between the Labour Party and Malaysian People's Party, was de-registered in the late 1970s after the government claimed that it acted as a front for the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM).
The coalition also said that in 1987, the ISA was used once again during Operation Lallang to detain more than 100 persons, including trade unionists and labour activists, such as Irene Xavier, Arokia Das and Dr Mohd Nasir Hashim.
Meanwhile, the group urged the government to substantiate their allegations against Chua by producing evidence of the charges or release him immediately and unconditionally.
The group also called upon the Malaysian government to grant the request of the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders to conduct a fact-finding visit to Malaysia.
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