Suhakam to probe claim Dyson ex-supplier's worker beaten by police
This allegedly occurred after the worker reported his former Malaysian employer for labour rights violations.
Commissioner Jerald Joseph said today that testimony will be taken from the worker as well.
“Definitely, we will have to take this (case) up at different parts. One is, of course, the...
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has vowed to look into allegations that a migrant worker was brutalised by the police.
This allegedly occurred after the worker reported his former Malaysian employer for labour rights violations.
Commissioner Jerald Joseph said today that testimony will be taken from the worker as well.
“Definitely, we will have to take this (case) up at different parts. One is, of course, the conduct of the police about an investigation into torture allegations. That is something we take seriously and we will investigate.
“We definitely need to interview Dhan Kumar Limbu via Zoom. And we will find out about that police report and what happened,” he said after meeting the Labour Law Reform Coalition (LLRC) at Suhakam’s Kuala Lumpur headquarters this morning (above).
Limbu is a Nepali national formerly employed by ATA Industrial (M) Sdn Bhd in Johor Bahru, a subsidiary of ATA IMS Bhd.
ATA IMS made global headlines last year when UK home appliance manufacturer Dyson terminated its contract with the parts supplier following a labour practices audit.
Recently, Limbu appeared in an exposé on the UK’s Channel 4 News and claimed he was repeatedly beaten when interrogated at the Larkin police station in Johor in 2021.
He claimed the beatings were to coerce a confession that he had been paid by a labour rights activist to leak information about working conditions at ATA IMS.
According to Channel 4, Limbu had been identified as a whistleblower after UK newspaper Sunday Mirror accused ATA IMS of making migrant workers work up to 186 hours of overtime a month and housing them in squalid conditions.
When global newswire Reuters reported on the police assault allegations late last year, Johor police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said he had not received any reports about it.
Limbu, along with nine other former ATA IMS workers, have issued Dyson a legal letter demanding compensation.
Should a settlement fail, they are threatening to drag the company before the UK High Court.
Malaysia must take action
During its meeting with Suhakam this morning, LLRC stressed that Malaysian authorities had a role to play as well in resolving this scandal.
LLRC co-chairperson N Gopal Kishnam wanted Suhakam to hold a public hearing into the police brutality allegations.
He also urged the commission to probe ATA IMS for labour rights violation claims.
LLRC’s fellow chairperson Irene Xavier hoped Suhakam would act despite Limbu being outside the country.
“The case has been filed in the UK courts… but we in Malaysia also need to take action.
“Because the workers are no longer here, the mechanism for complaints is very limited in this country, so it is hard to take up a case like that using the normal labour processes.
“And that’s why we have come to Suhakam. Maybe this will pressure the Labour Department (and) the (Human Resources) Ministry to come up with better access to justice for migrant workers,” she said.
Aside from Irene and Gopal, the LLRC was also represented by North South Initiative executive director Adrian Pereira and National Union of Seafarers of Peninsular Malaysia executive secretary Ikmal Azam Thanaraj Abdullah.
Suhakam was represented by Jerald as well as their Complaint and Monitoring Division head Abdul Rahman Abdullah.
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