Inside Kamunting Detention Camp

comments     Eileen Ng     Published     Updated

A sign hanging outside the wooden barracks reads simply, "Unforgettable Memories".

But the memories are mostly bitter for inmates of Malaysia's infamous Kamunting detention camp in Taiping, which for more than 30 years has held a succession of politicians, dissidents, religious "deviants" and terrorist suspects.

The latest high-profile detainee among them is Sri Lankan businessman BSA Tahir ( photo ), who was locked up on May 28 for his alleged role in the international nuclear blackmarket scandal involving Pakistan's disgraced scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan.

Reporters recently caught a rare glimpse of life inside Kamunting during a visit by Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar as he met detainees to look into claims they were tortured like Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad's US-run Abu Ghraib prison.

Formerly a fruit orchard, Kamunting is sprawled across 230 hectares acres in a quiet hamlet in Perak state three hours north of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

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