The government has been urged to look into the need for the Special Branch (SB) to be independent from the police force to prevent the intelligence agency from being abused for political purposes.

The matter was discussed at length by the royal commission of inquiry on the police force in 2005, said J Denison, a member of the then RCI.

According to him, the commission discussed whether the country could emulate the practice in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, where their intelligence agencies operate independently.

"The commission however decided it would not (proposed) for the Special Branch to be separated from the police.

"I think (we) might need to revisit this as (we should) separate normal policing work, which deal with crime, and those dealing with anti-terrorism and intelligence," he said at a public forum on the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) yesterday.

The RCI report says, "It was observed, however, that taking the Special Branch out of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP) was not the solution for any alleged misuse of the Special Branch, because the same could happen even if it was made an independent organisation."

The RCI however opined that the intelligence agency should be free from political influence so that it could exercise its duty impartially. It further proposed that any guidelines and instructions to the SB be tabled to Parliament.

The RCI also urged the authority to amend the Police Act to spell out the definition of the “collection of 'security intelligence'”.

"The SB appears to be governed by a Chapter under the prime minister after independence. However, the commission has no access to it.

"To be valid, the Chapter must be made under the authority of law. In the absence of such law, the Chapter is only administrative documents that cannot affect the right of individual," read the report.

It proposed that SB's work to be confined to espionage, sabotage, politically or religiously motivate violence, communal violence, attack on defence system as well as foreign interference.

RCI members ‘horrified’

The IPCMC forum was organised by Bar Council in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the RCI report.

Also present were Bar Council chairman Steven Thiru, National Human Rights Society (Hakam) president S Ambiga and PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan.

The RCI to improve police force was set up following a slew of controversies, including the 'nude squat' incident which severely embarrassed the police force in 2005.

After a lengthy probe, the RCI made 125 recommendations, including the establishment of an external oversight body, the IPCMC.

When asked to what extent the recommendations were implemented, Denison said all the RCI recommendations relating to human rights have yet to be complied with.

"Some of the senior members of the RCI were literally horrified with the lack of implementation (of the recommendations)," he said.

The government and the police should look into the matters brought up by the RCI report again to check the progress, he said.

Meanwhile, Arutchelvan called for those who back the establishment of the IPCMC to continue their struggle despite the government clampdown on dissidents.

Only a weak government resorts to crack down on its critics, he said.

"We should not take a step back. Amidst the RM2.6 billion (donation scandal), Prime Minister Najib Razak now wanted to regulate the political donation.

“This shows that this is the time to move forward and push things through," he said.

Ambiga slams leaders for having no guts to implement IPCMC