Inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar has mocked Suara Rakyat Malaysia's (Suaram) demand to abolish the Dangerous Drugs Act 1985 (DDA) today.

The sarcastic post by Khalid under his Twitter handle @KBAB51 said, “Suaram said the DDA must be abolished. Wow! The drug dealers must be delighted. (Police’s) effort to combat drugs will be hampered!”

Earlier today, a group of NGOs led by Suaram ( left ) urged the government to allow the DDA to expire.

It said that the law contained a ‘sunset clause’; it would cease to be valid unless the Parliament renews it every five years from the day it is gazetted.

“The government needs to abolish the DDA by not tabling a motion to extend the act in Parliament. In this manner, the DDA will expire by itself.

“If the government insists on tabling a motion to extend the DDA, then we urge all MPs to reject the motion,” the group said.

The group urged that all DDA detainees be released to be investigated under other laws that are more in line with justice and human rights.

It said that a better procedure already exists under Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC), which allows magistrates to authorise the police to remand a person for up to 14 days for investigation.

“This would allow for the rights of detainees to be upheld, such as not being held beyond the 14-day remand period.

“More importantly, those arrested under other laws will have a chance to defend themselves in court,” it said.

Among the 12 groups endorsing the proposal include the Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Youth Section, Lawyers for Liberty, and Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia.

Law failed to reduce drug cases

The groups which endorsed the statement said they are against the DDA because the detention period - allowed for up to 60 days without a warrant and without reason - is against fundamental human rights.

“These sort of things should not happen in a country which upholds the constitution and democracy,” it said.

It added that DDA has failed as an effective mechanism to deal with dangerous drugs offences in Malaysia, citing the rising number of arrests.

In addition, the group said there is no transparency in how investigations on detainees are conducted, which raises concern due to allegations of torture from Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees – a now-abolished law that also provides for detention without trial.

“It creates an air of unease when the police's standard operating procedure (SOP) is still unclear, much more since there exist facts on the harrowing experience ISA detainees faced while in Kamunting.”

“We fear the same thing is happening to the DDA detainees since the SOP have never been revealed to the public,” the group said.

Suaram argues that a more comprehensive law actually exists and indicated that drug offenders can be tried under Section 117 of the CPC.

“If a person is detained under a different act than the DDA, they will at least have the chance to defend themselves in court.”

The National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) statistics from 2008 until 2013 showed the number of arrests for drug offences only increased where in 2013, 813 people were arrested under the DDA.