The Malaysian authorities must initiate an independent, impartial, prompt and effective investigation into the death of 22-year-old Kugan Ananthan, Amnesty International said today, amid reports that he may have been tortured in police custody.
The young man died on 20 January after being held for five days in the Taipan Police station in Subang Jaya in west
His family strongly contest the police claim of how he died. On the night of the incident, an estimated group of 50 people, including members of Kugan's family, stormed the
"Only through a prompt and impartial investigation will people really know what happened to Kugan," said Hazel Galang, Amnesty International's
Several people, including Kugan's family and political party representatives, have lodged reports with the police, urging a thorough investigation.
This death in custody follows the case of B Prabakar, a 27 year old car park attendant, who alleges that he was tortured by at least ten police officers at the Brickfields police district headquarters in Selangor State in December 2008. Seven police officers have pleaded not guilty, after being charged at
Mr Prabakar says the police beat him with a rubber hose, splashed boiling water on his body, and asked him to stand on a chair, with a cloth around his neck, and threatened to hang him. He was arrested on 23 December in connection with a robbery, and released five days later.
Following his release, police took him to a private clinic for medial treatment during which, he says, the doctor spoke only to officers and not to him. He stated further that he was offered the equivalent of US$140 in return for not lodging a complaint against the police. Prabakar's 18 year old cousin, C Soloman Raj, who was arrested at the same time as Prabakar, also claims that he was tortured.
Amnesty International has previously reported on cases of torture in Malaysia, including Sanjeev Kumar, who was detained under the Internal Security Act for a year and released in 2008; and M. Ulaganathan, who died in police custody in 2003. Sources close to Sanjeev gave an account of his torture and ill-treatment during his first eight weeks of detention at the Federal Police Headquarters in July 2007 in
"These cases are violations of international human rights standards governing law enforcement officers," said Hazel Galang. "Police are failing to respect the rights of detainees in custody. The government must act on this, and prosecute police officers who have violated the human rights of these detainees."
Background
In a 2005 report, the government-created Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal
None of these recommendations for police reform have been implemented. The non-implementation of such recommendations from the government-constituted body demonstrates a lack of commitment on the part of the Malaysian government to bring about reform and to establish compliance with human rights standards as a norm in policing work in
Amnesty International calls on the Malaysian government to implement these recommendations.
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