Last night I attended a forum on ISA, ‘Diantara Mansuh & Pinda’(Between Abolish or Amend). The panelists were Ambiga, the Bar Council Chairlady, Tian Chua, MP for Batu, Syed Ibrahim, the chairperson of GMI (Gerakan Mansuh ISA – Abolish ISA Movement) and Norlaila Othman, wife of an ISA detainee for 6 years whose detention was extended for another 2 years a few days ago.
The program started off with the simple launching of a book written by Norlaila with 2 other ladies, ‘Dunia Tanpa Suami’ (World Without Husband).
Basically, the question posed last night was should the ISA be repealed or should it just be amended to make it more humane as advocated by some parties within the Government.
Ambiga started off with the legal background of the ISA and concluded that the ISA should be abolished as it goes against the rule of law. The very basis of ISA i.e. detention without trial is incompatible with the rule of law which requires that a person should only be deprived of his freedom after being convicted for a crime following the due process of the law. The due process of the law will require the prosecution to furnish evidence for convicting the accused and for accused to defend himself in open court. She gave the example of the Hindraf 5 where they were accused of terrorism even though not a single shred of evidence was produced. There were sufficient provisions in the Penal Code to convict a person up to 30 years for terrorist activities. Why then were they not charged?
Tian Chua gave an interesting argument for the ISA to be abolished, one that I’ve not heard before. He said the ISA and other preventive detention legislations will only perpetuate the inefficiency of our police force and hence increase the crime rate. This is because they don’t have to do any investigations before they arrest people under these preventive detention laws and from the experiences of many former ISA detainees, the purpose of their interrogation is not to elicit evidence but to break them down or turn them over. So our police will continue to have poor investigation skills. That is why sometime ago, some judges ticked the police off for their shoddy investigative work and they have no choice by to acquit some of the accuseds.
Tian Chua added that everyone knows that even though the Government has used the ISA against its political opponents, it was futile as people would continue to oppose. He being an ex-ISA detainee is a good example. So are many of the Opposition leaders today. So the ISA is also ineffective when used mala fide.
Syed Ibrahim said that basically there are 3 responses to the ISA. Abolish it. Retain it or Amend it. He showed us some of the statements made by some politicians. It was most interesting to note that Rais Yatim criticised the ISA in his doctoral thesis during his time in the Opposition but defended it when he joined back UMNO and became a Cabinet Minister. So much for academic integrity. We were also told that people were arrested under the ISA for various reasons e.g. cloning of handphones to counterfeiting moneys. Whatever the reasons, there are always sufficient provisions in our criminal legislation to convict these people if there were evidence. Evidently, the police or the Government has none.
Norlaila shared her heart rending experience as a wife of a ISA detainee. She was one tough lady and was able to control her emotions until the end despite the fact that her husband was told that his detention was extended for another two years a few days ago. There was no reason given for the extension. All her hopes of reuniting with her husband just a week ago was completed dashed. She shared how the Special Branch threatened her to stop her from her anti-ISA campaign telling her that if she persist, her husband will never be free. She said that she will continue her struggle after receiving blessings from her husband and reasoned that those wives who choose to remain silent, their husbands also were not free. So the decision to extend her husband detention cannot be due to her anti-ISA activities. The hardest part for a wife of an ISA detainee is when the children asked, ‘Where is daddy?’ or ‘When is daddy coming back?’.
All the panelist and I think everyone in the conference room agreed that the ISA has to be abolished. It can never be amended to make it more humane. As Lim Guan Eng pointed out, that is like trying to make Satan good.
Someone asked during the short Q & A time whether if Pakatan Rakyat were to come into power, they will be committed in abolishing the ISA. Tian Chua, as a representative of the PR gave the assurance that, there is no doubt that the ISA will be abolished together with other laws which are incompatible with a civil society.
Not long ago a colleague spotted me wearing the anti-ISA badge and scornfully said that he believe Anwar will never abolish the ISA if he comes into power. Well, maybe given a choice he may not want to. But after 8 March 2008, he has no choice. He wouldn’t last very long if he refuses to listen to the voice of the rakyat.
Come let us make our voice heard on 28th March 2008. Come to the anti-ISA Rally at Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam. For more info, click here
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