PETALING JAYA: Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) has accused police of violating human rights and abusing their power through their arrests with the excuse of curbing the spread of Covid-19.
Suaram, which alleged this in its latest “Human Rights Overview” report on Malaysia, said the Perikatan Nasional government had also resorted to using “repressive laws” since it came to power.
An example of this was enforcement agencies being granted “extraordinary powers” during pandemic times to ensure restrictions were complied with.
This was particularly evident during the first phase of the movement control order, during which police arrested and imprisoned a number of alleged offenders, making 4,189 arrests in the first two weeks and charging 1,149 in court.
By April 9, Suaram noted that new policies allowed for RM1,000 compound fines to be issued. The number of arrests had also doubled to 7,479.
Suaram said two known cases of arrests involving children were reported, both of whom were ordered to pay a fine of RM1,000 each.
Excessive punishment towards vulnerable communities, such as the elderly and single parents, was also documented during this time, while other “individuals were given preferential treatment for being office bearers or relatives of VIPs”.
The year also saw mass arrests of undocumented migrants, especially in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, justified by the police as an attempt to prevent further spread of Covid-19.
The report also highlighted deaths in custody, chain remand and police shootings continuing to occur with “no accountability and oversight”.
While Malaysians had the right to assemble peacefully under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, many were denied this right in the past months, also under the pretext of containing the pandemic.
“Although the state has a responsibility to ensure adequate measures are adopted to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the arrest and detention of the picketers was counterproductive as they had observed physical distancing from one another, conducted their protest on a small scale and wore the necessary protection required under existing regulations,” said the report.