Five detainees held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) have allegedly been moved out of the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak to locations in Kuala Lumpur, with a likelihood that they may face further interrogation, said lobby group Anti-ISA Movement (AIM).

This morning, AIM was at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) to express its concern over the treatment being meted out to the five, who were among those who had mounted a hunger strike at the camp in March.

AIM representative Yap Swee Seng (extreme left in photo) read out a statement before handing over a report on the ISA to commission secretary Kamaruddin Mohd Baria. The report was compiled by the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The statement claimed that at least five detainees have been transferred out of Kamunting, with four currently being held at several police remand centres (PRCs) in Kuala Lumpur. One, however, has since been returned to Kamunting.

PRCs are locations where detainees are held for an initial period of 60 days under the ISA, during which time they are interrogated. Those to be detained without trial are later transferred to Kamunting to serve out their two-year detention orders, which could be extended indefinitely.

The five were named as Asfawani Abdul Wahab, Muhammad Zukeppli Md Isa, Murad Halimuddin, Mat Salleh Said and Azian Abd Rahman whom the government alleges are members of the so-called Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia.

Location unknown

"AIM condemns the actions of the authorities in arbitrarily transferring detainees from the Kamunting Detention Centre to PRCs in Kuala Lumpur where it is possible that detainees would face interrogation again," it said..

Kamaruddin (photo) later told the representatives that he would inform commissioner Hamdan Adnan about the situation for further action.

In the statement, AIM said Asfawani had been held for three weeks at an unknown location in Kuala Lumpur before being moved back to Kamunting. The other four have allegedly been held at the PRCs since last week..

"AIM views these transfers as a form of punishment for their involvement in a hunger strike which they initiated in March," the statement said.

"AIM is concerned that they will again be abused both mentally and physically at the PRCs... families are not told of their whereabouts or when they were transferred. Lawyers are also denied access."

It has been widely documented that detainees are often held in solitary confinement in PRCs and that they face the possibility of torture and abuse.

Former ISA detainee Saari Sungib, who was at Suhakam today, described the arbitrary transfer of detainees as being tantamount to kidnap.

"The (home) minister has to make a clear, transparent directive on where and why the detainees are being taken and held. If not he is culpable to the crime of kidnapping," he said

Inquiry on torture

In a related matter, AIM also told Suhakam to hold a public inquiry into allegations of torture by ISA detainees.

"If there is indeed no torture or mistreatment of the ISA detainees and if there is nothing to hide, as claimed by many government ministers, including the prime minister, we urge the government to allow for an independent public inquiry to be held," Yap said.

Attention was focused on the complaints of abuse by ISA detainees, following the recent expos of the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Malaysian ministers had rushed to the defence of enforcement authorities, saying that ISA detainees are not tortured but only rehabilitated.