Everyone is innocent until proven guilty but in the past decade, more than 280 people died in the custody before even facing trial.

Lawyers For Liberty (LFL) today launched a report “5 Faces: A Story of Police Custodial Deaths in Malaysia” which highlight five such cases, with the aim to expose the illness of our state system.

LFL adviser N Surendran pointed out that the true stories featured clearly show how the police and the pathologists attempted to cover up the deaths in custody.

He added that, in some of the cases, the police were found guilty but only sentenced to three years in jail and to date, justice has not been served in the various cases.

“We do not want even a single case of death in custody in this country, we must stop them, we must deter that,” he said.

“With each case that happens, there is a wall of silence that has enveloped the incident, which is supported by the state, I have no hesitation in saying that,” Surendran said.

He stressed that the new government should put a stop to this by setting up the Independent Police Complaint and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) while Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad should be responsible in ensuring that pathologists are compliant and conduct their work ethically.

International Commission of Jurists commissioner Ambiga Sreenevasan echoed this by saying that the Pakatan Harapan government should fulfill its promise of setting up the IPCMC.

“I think it is not difficult to start the process, they can start it by getting Suhakam or a task force. Set it up immediately,” said Ambiga, who launched the LFL report today.

“Of course, the IPCMC cannot be formed without a bit more study, but there is already some legislation there and there are already also some comprehensive reports by the Royal Commission,” she added.

Ambiga (photo) also pointed out that Dzulkefly should ensure that the coroners conduct the post-mortem in accordance with ethics, instead of misusing their profession to cover-up the wrongdoings of the police.

“In fact, this is a very important part of reform in relation to death in custody and so on. This is about the integrity of the post-mortem reports.”

LFL executive director Latheefa Koya said that things have not changed yet even though Pakatan Harapan has taken the government for months and she urged her “friends” to show their commitment without giving any excuses.

“We’d like to call upon our friends who are now holding high offices, the ministers and those who are now assisting senior minister, including the home minister and the health minister, and other once-upon-a-time political activists who stood with us at press conferences, protests and police stations to fight against these abuses.

“We call upon them to show their commitment now because they really have any more excuses, this should have been the top priority of the government,” Latheefa said.

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In Pakatan Harapan’s election manifesto, the coalition had pledged to form the IPCMC within its first term in office, saying that “all allegations of misconduct will be investigated in a fair and comprehensive way, including allegations of death in custody.”

The oversight body was first proposed by the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police in 2005 to investigate cases of malfeasance.

In July, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, in a written parliamentary reply, that Putrajaya is still studying the need for such a commission.

This is because two existing agencies – the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) and the police Integrity and Standard Compliance Department (JIPS) – are already handling complaints against the police.

Last month, Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the police were not against the establishment of the IPCMC but insisted that they would be firm in protecting their own constitutionally guaranteed rights.

The Malaysian Bar had also reminded the Harapan government to fulfill its manifesto pledge and set up the commission without further delay.