there is a need for IPCMC

there is an interesting article in malaysiakini that talks on ‘the most dangerous place to be’. can you take a guess where? none other than inside the police lock-up!

why is that so? because there seemed to be lots of people dying while in police custody.

In the last five years, over 90 persons have perished in highly suspicious circumstances, soon after being taken into custody.

What caused their deaths? The official records usually attribute this to tuberculosis, pneumonia or something as banal as “chest pains”.

“So many have died under mysterious circumstances but not a single police personnel has been charged let alone investigated since 2000,” said lawyer P Uthayakumar, an adviser to Police Watch, a non-government organisation founded to fight for victims of police brutality.

well, not forgetting that in the police lock-up is also where one received the most humiliating experience e.g. the famous squatgate incident and just recently a 60 years old woman being forced to strip and had her money taken away. hmm… indeed the police lock-up… is a dangerous and frightening place to be.

due to these many incidents – the unexplained deaths, the humiliating experiences, that’s why many people feel there is a need for for an independent oversight commission to investigate and punish abuses in the force, thus the setting up of IPCMC was recommended.

if you feel that there is a need to monitor the police, with the IPCMC, don’t forget to sign the online petition.