KUALA LUMPUR – With 19 documented cases, the number of deaths in custody this year alone is the highest the nation has seen in recent years, according to Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram).
This was revealed by Suaram’s Right to Justice coordinator Mohammad Alshatri during the launch of the organisation’s Human Rights Report Malaysia 2021, held today at the Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, here.
Calling the documented cases of deaths in custody “perplexing and unacceptable”, Alshatri also noted that Suaram has repeatedly demanded for the Home Ministry to produce reports detailing the statistics regarding deaths in all custodial centres.
“Such information must be disclosed publicly. There is no need to be secretive over this matter,” he said, adding that the reports are also necessary to clarify inconsistencies in parliamentary answers from Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin himself.
In its report’s overview, Suaram claimed that the discrepancy in the number of custodial deaths in prisons between 2020 and 2021 is too large to be ignored as the difference between the two figures given amounted to nearly 300 lives.
“According to a reply by Hamzah in Parliament, the number of custodial deaths in prisons was only 13 for the year of 2020.
“However, in an oral answer dated November 24, 2020, Hamzah had stated that custodial deaths in prison for that year stood at 296,” the overview stated, adding that Suaram believes that cases of deaths in police custody are being underreported.
“According to the Home Ministry, there was only one Indian who had died in police custody.
“This is despite the cases of A. Ganapathy and Sivabalan Subramaniam, both of whom were ethnic Indians, which were brought to national attention.
The stated numbers clearly failed to take into account these two victims who were evidently cases of deaths in custody,” the report claimed.
Sivabalan’s death on May 21 came less than a month after the same police station in Gombak was embroiled in controversy over the death of cow milk trader A. Ganapathy while in custody.
Ganapathy had died in hospital on April 18, more than a month after being taken there from the police station on March 8.
His case saw netizens expressing their outrage on social media with hashtags such as #JusticeForGanapathy and #BrutalityinMalaysia.
Suaram executive director Sevan Doraisamy explained to The Vibes that the omission of cases by the Home Ministry can possibly be attributed to a definitional issue regarding when exactly an individual is no longer considered to be in custody.
“For victims such as A. Ganapathy who died in Selayang Hospital, they are deemed to be no longer under custody once they are in the hospital, so their deaths are not recorded as a custodial death,” Sevan said, noting his frustration over the government’s refusal to engage with Suaram and other human rights organisations despite repeated attempts to make progress.
Sevan also questioned the government over its refusal to allow visits from independent bodies to prisons and detention centres.
“We are constantly receiving word of overcrowding in prisons, which is especially worrying in light of Covid-19.
“If they allow us to visit, we will be able to offer suggestions or recommendations to improve the living conditions of inmates,” he added. – The Vibes, December 1, 2021
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