Civil society groups today welcomed the proposed reform of the remand process but pointed out that the police should eliminate situations that have caused long-standing problems in the first place.

The Star reported today that the police would institute changes to the remand system following public criticism of current practices.

Among the new measures will be to investigate all deaths in detention within a month and to hold inquests to find out the causes of death.

Federal CID chief Musa Hasan was quoted as saying that every death - whether in a lock-up or while being transported to and from court, or in the compound of a police station - will be investigated within a month. Checks into deaths due to illness and suicides will be completed within two months.

Human rights group Suaram agreed that inquests into custodial deaths should be an automatic and mandatory process. (Inquests are independent investigations carried out by magistrates.)

"What we (human rights groups) and the Human Rights Commission ( Suhakam ) have been trying to push for is automatic inquests into the cause of deaths," said spokesperson S Arutchelvam (photo right).

"Since the police are involved in such cases, it would be better if magistrates were to conduct the investigations."

According to Suhakam's 2003 Annual Report released last week, 23 people had died in police lock-ups between 2002 and July 2003.

Aside from police lock-ups, a high number of inmates have also died in the country's 35 prisons.

Last October, Parliament was told that 425 prisoners had died during their incarceration between 2002 and July 2003. The monthly average for the first seven months of 2003 rose to 26.86 deaths per month, with 188 fatalities reported nationwide.

According to authorities, most of the deaths in prisons were due to HIV-related diseases .

'Efficiency crucial'

Arutchelvam also said that, since many custodial deaths have occurred during the remand period, the police should try to complete their investigations within the first 24 hours of detention.

Under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code suspects are usually held for 24 hours. However, police may apply to a magistrate to extend the remand period for up to 14 days.

A large number of human rights violations tend to occur during the remand period, he said.

"The police should try to be more efficient and finish their investigations within 24 hours. This could also help prevent overcrowding in prisons," Arutchelvam said.

National Human Rights Society of Malaysia (Hakam) secretary-general Elizabeth Wong agreed with Arutchelvam, but said that custodial deaths should not even happen in the first instance.

"The police must be accountable and responsible for the welfare of the detainees and they have to work on the premise that these detainees are only suspects who are innocent until proven guilty," she said.

Political will

"They cannot be deprived of the right to counsel and basis amenities like food and water. They should also not be beaten, and their families should be told of their whereabouts. This is the first step but the (police) mentality must be changed."

Bar Council vice-chairperson Yeo Yang Poh (photo left) said that in order for the reforms to be carried through and for change to occur, there must be political will.

"There must be political will from the top to transparently investigate matters and it must permeate to all levels. If the investigations reveal any wrongdoing, the person must be called to answer according to the law," he said.

In addition to the inquests, the police are also proposing to provide detainees with copies of documents stating the reason for their detention, and enhancing the welfare and security of detainees by installing closed-circuit TV monitors at lock-ups and improving the conditions of the lock-ups.