COMMENT I take as my starting point May 2005, and the release of the Report of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysian Police (Report).

This Report noted that between January 2000 and December 2004 there had been 80 deaths in custody. Inquests were held into only six of these deaths. The most recent statistic, as disclosed to Parliament on June 26, 2013, is that from 2000 to mid-2013 there had been 231 cases of deaths in custody.

The Report contained a recommendation to establish an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). A complete draft bill was included as an appendix to the Report. All that the government needed to do was to table this in Parliament. It did not...