KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — It came as a shock to many when Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein announced last year that the Internal Security Act (ISA) was going to be amended, in effect making room for more reforms for a law considered “draconian” by many parties.
The opposition, namely Pakatan Rakyat (PR), have used the issue of the repressive laws of the ISA against the federal government and have milked it for maximum political gain.
Today marks the 50th year of the ISA, but any concrete action towards reform has yet to be undertaken by the Najib Administration.
The proposals for reforms, which was scheduled to be tabled during the last Parliamentary sitting, has been postponed until the next sitting on October 11.
“It was supposed to be tabled in the last Parliament sitting, but we were not able to do so. Hopefully we will be able to do so in the next sitting, on October 11,” said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s department Datuk Liew Vui Keong.
Liew told The Malaysian Insider last night that the proposed list of reforms decided by the Home Ministry will have three points of focus.
“There are three aspects here — restricting the length of detention, limiting the power of the police when it comes to arrests as it will be subject to the scrutiny of the Home Minister, and limiting the powers of the Home Minister,” said Liew.
Liew said that the last time the Ministry had had any discussions on ISA reforms was earlier this year shortly before the last Parliament sitting.
But he was non-committal when asked whether the government would be successfully in implementing the suggested amendments at the next sitting.
“The final decision lies with the Home Minister. We can table it, but we will have to see what happens then,” added Liew.
Hishammuddin had said last year that the government was in the “final stages” of revising the Act.
It is understood that the ISA amendments will revolve around five areas — the length of detention, rights and treatment of detainees and their families, the power of the Home Minister, the use of ISA for political reasons and detention without trial.
In revising the ISA,it is also understood that the government met with key stakeholders — representatives from the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Bar Council, the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club, the National Council for Women’s Organisations and the National Civics Bureau in November last year to discuss amendments.
Hishammuddin had also said that during the discussions, all parties had “agreed” that there should be a law in place to protect the people against terrorism and militancy.
The Law Reform Committee set up to review detentions under the Internal Security Act (ISA) has since then submitted its amendment proposals to the Cabinet.
The ISA was originally passed in 1960, 24 hours after the Emergency Regulations Ordinance 1948 Act was repealed.
The ISA gives the police powers to arrest and detain anyone up to 60 days without trial.
Since it was enacted, the Home Minister had been given the power to extend the length of detention indefinitely, up to two years each time.
The ISA was used extensively during the 1987 Operation Lalang in which more than a 100 politicians, activists and others were arrested and detained.
In 1989, the powers of the Home Minister under the legislation was made immune to judicial review by virtue of amendments to the Act, only allowing the courts to examine and review technical matters pertaining to the ISA arrest.
Up to 2005, 10,662 people have been arrested under the ISA with 4,139 issued with formal detention orders and 2,066 were served with restriction orders governing their activities and where they live.
In addition, 12 people were executed for offences under the ISA between 1984 and 1993, according to figures provided in a written answer by then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was also Minister for Internal Security, to parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, whose statement was quoted by AFP in newsreports dated February 3, 2005.
