The latest incident of alleged police brutality aired on television recently revealed the urgency and importance of establishing an independent and transparent oversight mechanism, said Amnesty International (AI) Malaysia.

In a statement today, AI Malaysia executive director Josef Roy Benedict said it is time Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi looked into the issues of police accountability rather than issuing ad-hoc directives to probe police abuses and human rights violations.

"Therefore we urge the prime minister to immediately implement the long awaited IPCMC (Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission) mechanism without further delay," he added.

Benedict was responding to the clip aired on TV3's Bulletin Utama last Friday which showed two youths being assaulted by "uniformed policemen".

Investigation underway

Following this, Inspector-General of Police Mohd Bakri Omar said he would direct his officers to investigate the incident, which appeared to have occurred in a police station.

The four-minute clip, which also showed a youth being forced to lick his saliva off the floor, is believed to have been recorded using a handphone.

"If it is true, we will take action," the police chief was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times .

This is the second video recording to have emerged regarding cases of abuse at a police station. The first showed a female suspect being forced to perform squats in the nude.

The incident sparked off a major controversy and reignited calls for the establishment of the IPCMC.

The IPCMC was first proposed by the Royal Police Commission - set up on the instructions of the prime minister - to provide recommendations on how to improve the police force.

Despite Abdullah giving it the green light, the proposal initially met stiff resistance from the police and certain Umno politicians.

According to the government, the Attorney-General's Chambers is currently in the final stages of studying the proposal.