A meeting to discuss the aborted Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) bill has agreed to form a coalition to campaign for a truly powerful and independent body to clean up the force.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, who organised the parliamentary roundtable meeting this morning, called for the establishment of a coalition of civil society groups to spearhead efforts to amend the Special Complaints Commission (SCC) bill or restore the proposed IPCMC bill.

The government's SCC bill has been widely criticised as a watered-down version of the IPCMC bill, which was drafted by the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal Malaysia Police two years ago.

Given the widespread opposition to SCC - which some ex-commissioners and opposition politicians described as a completely ‘different animal’ - the bill has been put off to the next parliamentary sitting in March 2008.

Bar Council Human Rights Committee chairperson Edmund Bon, who was present at today’s meeting, revealed his organisation’s plans to revive its earlier coalition with non-governmental organisations formed to campaign for the IPCMC.

Last November, then Bar Council president Yeo Yang Poh led a 10-member delegation of NGOs and political parties to submit a memorandum in support of the IPCMC.

The memorandum, endorsed by more than 300 civil society groups and political parties, was received by the prime minister's senior private secretary Ahmad Yaakob.

According to Bon, the Bar Council will be holding a meeting early next year with civil society groups to discuss ways to restore the proposed IPCMC or amend the current SCC bill.

Bon reiterated the Bar Council's dissatisfaction with the proposed SCC bill's scope, its appointees and its investigative powers although they welcome the extension of the commission to probe all enforcement officers instead of exclusively police personnel.

Dispel police apprehension

Speaking at the roundtable, former United Nations special rapporteur on independence of judges and lawyers Param Cumaraswamy emphasised the need to address the police force's concern of the IPCMC, particularly to dispel their apprehension of the watchdog.

"(The police may) feel very insecure if an oversight body is put above them to supervise and overlook their conduct and performance. We need to address those concerns of the police as well," said Param who was Bar Council president in 1988.

Param suggested that independent police oversight mechanisms overseas be invited to Malaysia to provide an insight as to how they carried out their work.

He also urged the police not to be afraid of the powers of the proposed IPCMC.

"Don't fear an oversight mechanism because in the long run, they will benefit from this - there will be greater public confidence in their enforcement agencies."

The police force had been in fierce opposition of the IPCMC but it appeared that it had since agreed to the establishment of a watered-down version of the proposed police watchdog.

PM broke promise

Meanwhile, Lim recalled Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's pledge four years ago to clean up and enhance police service.

Lim said that the SCC is an unacceptable substitute for the IPCMC, describing the new incarnation as "one of the big breaches of pledges” by Abdullah.

The tabling of the SCC bill came almost two years after Abdullah had consented to the formation of the IPCMC.

Lim, who is also DAP leader, has been a vocal critic of the proposed SCC for, among other things, its lack of independence and powers.

He compared the time taken for the proposed IPCMC bill to be tabled in Parliament and the extraordinary speed in which the constitutional amendment was made to enable the extension to the tenure of Election Commissions chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman.

"It shows that if (the government) want to get things done, they can get things done. If not, they can take four years and drag it out," he said.

Former commissioners absent

None of the previous members of the Police Royal Commission attended today's parliamentary roundtable talks on the IPCMC.

Lim said that former commissioner Tunku Abdul Aziz Ibrahim had agreed to attend the discussion but had a doctor's appointment to keep.

Aziz who was Transparency International Malaysia's ex-chief had last week launched a scathing attack on the SCC, calling it an insult to the rakyat and to commissioners.

During the session, Lim also read out an SMS from another former commissioner, Michael Yeoh, who is currently overseas. In his message, Yeoh expressed his disappointment at the current SCC.

Yeoh said that while he welcomed the SCC’s powers to probe enforcement agencies other than the police, the bill must be amended to increase its independence as well as its investigative and prosecution powers.

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