The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today recommended that disciplinary action be taken against the police officers who allegedly mistreated a group of villagers, including four women, in Kundasang, Sabah.

The commission, which held a public inquiry into the matter, unveiled its 80-page report during a press conference at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The report said the18 villagers, aged between 22 and 72 , were subjected to various inhumane treatment, including having the request for sanitary pads turned down. Their ordeal lasted for 14 days at the Ranau police station last May.

The Kampung Desa Monteki villages were arrested with 56 others for protesting their eviction from a plot of land which they had occupied since 1985.

Suhakam said the detainees were not allowed to meet their families, denied medication, prayer and exercise. They were also held in an over-crowed lock-up and made to sleep on the cement floor without blankets.

Villager 'intimidated'

The commission also accused the police of abusing the remand procedure and highlighted the case of an ASP who allegedly intimidated a villager who wanted to lodge a report on the injuries he sustained at the hands of police personnel during the eviction process.

Suhakam claimed that the policeman, who was named in the report, had tried to impose himself as a 'filter' and tried to persuade and prevent the villager from filing his report. The villager however managed to lodge the report later.

"Any police officer who refuses to allow an informant to make a report should be disciplined," said the report, adding that such actions violated section 107(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Elaborating on the poor detention condition of the 18 villagers, Suhakam said their rights had been violated and the necessary steps must be taken to rectify the situation.

According to the commission, the women detainees were housed in a separate cell.

"The panel notes that particularly for the men's cell, there was intolerable overcrowding and this was exacerbated by prolonged remand in the cell for14 days. The panel cannot understand why the villagers in both cells could not have been released earlier," read the report.

Lock-up rules breached

Investigations also revealed that the detainees were provided with insufficient food and water while one of them was not allowed to rest as he was interrogated at night and this was in breach of the lock-up rules.

On the abuse of remand procedure, the report said there was no need to detain the villagers for the full remand period and bail should have been allowed since they lived nearby.

The Feb 11-14 public inquiry was headed by commissioner KC Vohrah. He was assisted by commissioners Ramon Navaratnam and Dr Abdul Monir Yaacob.

Vohrah said copies of the report have been sent to Inspector General-of-Police Mohd Bakri Omar, the Prime Minister's Department, the deputy prime minister's office (which oversees Suhakam), the Internal Security Ministry, the Attorney-General's Chambers and the special commission on the police force.

Although the decision to take further action rested with the relevant authorities, the commissioner said Suhakam's recommendations were important as it enables changes to be made.

"The public and press is there to judge," he told reporters.