Four women detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) during 1987's Operasi Lalang today spoke out on the mental and physical torture they were forced to undergo during their initial 60-day investigative period.

Calling for the immediate release of the 10 ISA detainees arrested over the past two weeks and also three others who were arrested for allegedly professing Shi'ite beliefs, the four women said their own experiences had taught them not to believe statements issued by the authorities on the ISA.

The four women, who spoke at a press conference organised by the Women's Agenda for Change (WAC), said the fact that families were denied from visiting the recent detainees leads to the belief that those arrested are being tortured.

The four are Universiti Putra Malaysia retired assistant professor Dr Cecilia Ng, women's issues activist Lim Chin Chin, founder member of the Women's Development Centre (WDC) and All Women's Action Society (Awam) Dr Chee Heng Leng and Sahabat Wanita's Irene Xavier.

No mercy

Xavier said that during her first 60 days, she was subjected to physical torture including holding up her foot so that she could be beaten.

"Detention under ISA is secret and detainees need not appear before magistrates, thus eliminating safeguards for the safety of detainees," she said.

Xavier, who was arrested by the Singapore police and then sent across the causeway to Malaysian police, said that she was quite taken aback by the "solidarity"of the two countries in her arrest.

"I was at the mercy of the police, but that would be wrong for me to say, for the police has no mercy whatsoever.

"I was then on medication for a condition called endometriosis but I was not given my medication until after a month I was arrested. There is only one word to describe the interrogation - violent," said Xavier.

She said that she was humiliated and it was her first time experiencing violence as "not even my father had laid his hand on me".

"To get new underwear, I had to show my soiled sanitary pad. I was beaten and during those particular sessions, no policewomen would be present. They would ask me to choose whether I wanted to be beaten by a metal piece or a wooden piece.

"Without me stating my preference, they would beat me hard on the legs and on my soles. During these beatings, I was required to hold my foot up to be beaten," said Xavier.

She said that she does not believe that the 10 arrested under the ISA over the past two weeks are safe.

"Prove me wrong - even if they have to be produced before judges who have endeared themselves to the police," she added.

Poisonous substances

Dr Chee said that she was one of the first to be arrested under the Operasi Lalang in 1987, an operation launched by the government on religious leaders, NGO leaders and opposition party members in the wake of the economic and political turmoil then.

"The way a person is arrested under ISA is designed to intimidate and instil fear and terror," said Chee.

"I was made to feel totally defenceless and the ISA allows for this. They ransacked my house for three hours before they took me away and put me through a non-stop 72-hour interrogation.

"I was handcuffed, made to wear blacked-out spectacles, and put in a windowless cell, through which food was sent in through a small opening in the door. I was deprived of footwear, underwear and change of clothes. For the first two nights, I had to sleep on a plywood, without a blanket," said Chee.

She said that they would interrogate her by banging on tables and chairs and using abusive language. At times they pretended to inject her with poisonous substances, she added.

"During detention, the possibility of us seeing any family member is totally dependent on the captors. Later, I would have to 'earn' these visits by 'cooperating' and telling them what they wanted to hear," said Chee, who was moved to the Kamunting Detention Camp after the initial 60-day period.

Handcuffed, blindfolded

Lim, who was arrested on Oct 27, 1987, said she was told by the team of six police officers who arrested her that she was "likely to act in a manner prejudicial to the country".

"I was taken in an unmarked car, transferred into a Black Maria, then taken to an unknown destination where I was stripped of everything and made to wear loose clothing. I was deprived of footwear and underwear and even my spectacles, which I had been wearing since I was nine," said Lim.

She said she was handcuffed and blindfolded and put in a small, filthy, windowless cell with a cement bunk and a toilet.

"I was interrogated for more than 15 hours a day and during the interrogation there would be a powerful air conditioner blowing down my back.

"On my 15th day, I was able to meet my family but only for about 10 minutes. When I requested legal assistance, my interrogators ridiculed me saying there was no such provision under the ISA.

"I suffered from headaches - due to my spectacles being taken away - besides muscle cramps and pains from sitting on chairs with three legs," said Lim.

She said that all this was done to humiliate her and the 60-day confinement in isolation was to demoralise the detainee by cutting off all access to information.

"I depended solely on my interrogators for all information. I wanted to know what was going on outside and they told me that so and so has been arrested and has confessed, which was all untrue.

"They played on my guilt and the pain I had brought upon my family. They fed me with misinformation and it was impossible to discern the truth from lies.

"In view of the powers vested to the police under the ISA, it must be abolished," said Lim.

'Bulldoze their way'

Dr Ng said that she was the last person to be arrested during Operasi Lalang .

"I was away for a project in Indonesia and when I returned, I was arrested under the ISA for allegedly 'promoting communism and middle-class struggle'. All the charges were fabricated.

"Such lies will continue to be the order of the day under this dictatorial state, which continues to hide behind the insidious mask of ISA," said Ng, who did not relate what happened during her ISA detention.

The 10 reformasi activists, seven of them Keadilan leaders, who were arrested under the ISA over the past two weeks are Tian Chua, Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor, N Gobalakrishnan, Saari Sungib, Lokman Adam, Dr Badrul Amin Baharom, Abdul Ghani Haroon, Hishamuddin Rais, Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin and Badaruddin Ismail.

A WAC press statement said the three arrested for Shi'ite activities were Norman Batcha, Zainal Talib and Ahmadi Asab.

Tenaganita president Irene Frernandez, who was also present at the press conference, called on the National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to use their powers to "bulldoze their way through" and to see to the conditions of those detained.