End police abuses in Malaysia

The Malaysian government should urgently adopt reforms to ensure accountability for deaths in custody and unjustified police shootings, Human Rights Watch has said in a new report.

Photograph: Dr Dzuls blog

Independent, external oversight of the Royal Malaysia Police is needed to end police cover-ups, excessive secrecy, and obstruction of investigation into abuses.

The 102-page report No Answers, No Apology: Police Abuses and Accountability in Malaysia examines cases of alleged police abuse in Malaysia since 2009, drawing on first-hand interviews and complaints by victims and their families. Human Rights Watch found that investigations into police abuse are conducted primarily by the police themselves, lack transparency, and officers implicated in abuses are almost never prosecuted.

Malaysias police are not accountable to anyone but themselves, and ordinary people across the country too often pay the price with broken bodies and tragically shortened lives, said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. The Malaysian government needs to put in place effective oversight of the police to end the wrongful deaths, preventable abuse in custody, and excessive use of force on the streets.

Human Rights Watch interviewed 75 people in Malaysia for the report, including victims of police abuses and their family members, lawyers, police officials including the current Inspector General of Police, public prosecutors, and staff members of government commissions and non-governmental organisations.

The lack of police accountability facilitates abusive and sometimes deadly police practices, Human Rights Watch said. Vague policies, substandard training, lack of transparency, and failure of leadership to investigate and prevent illegal practices all create opportunities for police abuse.

The Malaysian government and the Inspector General of Police have appeared to abdicate their responsibility by not making the policy changes necessary to ensure effective oversight and accountability in cases of wrongful deaths, mistreatment in custody, and excessive use of force. Their unwillingness to ensure that the police cooperate with oversight bodies, such as the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) and the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC), or to establish a specialised independent police investigatory body as recommended by the Royal Commission has worsened the problem.

In an interview, then-Deputy Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar (now the Inspector General of Police) told Human Rights Watch that police could use lethal force for self-protection if police are threatened with death [and] there is no time to use a less lethal weapon.

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End police abuses in Malaysia