MP SPEAKS I am very concerned about the continued remand of two teenage boys in Klang, who had been detained along with death in custody victim S Balamurugan. Especially whether they are being physically abused while in police custody and detention.

Their lawyer Mishant Thiruchelvam said the two 16-year-olds had allegedly been "beaten up and detained in an adult lock-up" instead of being kept in a separate facility.

In view of Balamuguran’s latest case of death in police custody, with a second post-mortem report from the Kuala Lumpur Hospital confirming that Balamuguran had died from “multiple blunt force injuries” which are clearly visible from his corpse, I call on Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and inspector-general of police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar to ensure that the two 16-year-old teenagers are not abused and physically tortured while in police custody.

There has been a spate of complaints against police brutality and violence.

I call on the cabinet to support and give priority to my Private Member’s Bill to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to restore public confidence in the police by ending police corruption, misconduct and abuses of power - as the IPCMC should have been established 10 years ago if it had not been sabotaged by police officers.

The IPCMC was the most important recommendation of the police royal commission set up by the fifth Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the first flush of his premiership to transform a Malaysia with its 'First World infrastructure, Third World mentality' into an advanced nation in all dimensions, especially good governance and government accountability and transparency.

Regressed from Pak Lah years

We seemed to have regressed to the period more than a decade ago before the establishment of the police royal commission headed by the former chief justice Mohd Dzaiddin Abdullah with former IGP Haniff Omar as deputy chairperson when public confidence in the police was at an all-time low, with widespread complaints about police corruption, brutality and indiscipline resulting in many deaths in police lock-ups.

On Tuesday, I was at the Klang office of the DAP MP for Klang, Charles Santiago, together with the DAP MP for Petaling Jaya Utara Tony Pua in connection with half a dozen of cases of police brutality and abuse of power, including:

The case of the police custodial death of S Balamurugan (why have the police personnel responsible for Balamurugan’s death not been suspended and charged in court?);
Sixteen-year-old Mikail Quay, who was allegedly beaten by police at a roadblock in Shah Alam in the early hours of Sunday, resulting in a cracked skull with injuries to his face, nose and cheek bones and is in hospital in a critical condition;
Ang Kian Kok, 16, who was allegedly hung upside down during police custody and whacked; and
Fourteen-year-old Elaamaran Paramasivan and another 14-year-old allegedly kicked, punched and shoes thrown at them while under police custody.

Back to square one

These are horror stories of police abuse of power, brutality and even custodial deaths in Klang.

These would not have happened if the IPCMC had been established as proposed by the police royal commission ten years ago, as the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) which was formed instead, is a toothless agency with neither powers, staffing nor funds to be an effective check on police misconduct and abuses of power.

The police royal commission had warned that its recommendations would fail to secure desired results “if the leadership in PDRM does not rise to the challenge and champions change in the service for its own benefit”.

It said: “Effective change management starts from the top. The role of leadership at all levels is absolutely vital in a command organization like PDRM. Leaders are role models. They should be incorruptible and take ownership of programmes to eradicate corruption in PDRM.”

It is tragic that the police high command ten years ago failed this important leadership test and succeeded in sabotaging and ensuring that the IPCMC was not established.

As a result, we are now back to square one, where public confidence in police is again at an all-time low with impunity for gross police misconduct and indiscipline - like police custodial deaths, police brutalities and the police openly defying the orders of magistrates to release detainees.

I have given notice to Parliament to move a Private Member’s Bill to establish the IPCMC when Parliament reconvenes for a month from March 6 to April 6.

The prime minister and cabinet should support and give priority to my Private Member’s Bill, to restore public confidence in the police by ending police misconduct and abuses of power.

In fact, the IPCMC itself can be established after the March/April meeting of Dewan Rakyat and the April meeting of Dewan Negara as I have also sent to Parliament the IPCMC Bill which was drafted by the police royal commission, and which was included in the report of the royal police commission, a 49-page, 104-section Bill with two schedules.

This means that if the cabinet supports the IPCMC Private Member’s Bill and gives it priority to be voted - as Malaysians would be thoroughly shocked if there are MPs who are opposed to the IPCMC Bill drafted ten years ago - Parliament can proceed to debate and vote on the second reading of the IPCMC Bill without any delay, as the IPCMC Bill had been ready ten years ago.

This means that the IPCMC can be established as early as May 2017 - 11 years after it was recommended by the police royal commission, but better late than never.

LIM KIT SIANG is DAP parliamentary leader and Gelang Patah MP.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.