Repeal, Not Review The ISA

Thursday October 1, 2009

SUHAKAM: Repeal, not review ISA as it is irrelevant

SUHAKAM - Suruhanjaya Hak Asasi Manusia Malaysia (The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia)

SUHAKAM vice-chairman Simon Sipaun is hoping that the proposed review of the Internal Security Act (ISA) would take into account the body’s recommendations that were submitted in 2003, Makkal Osai reported.

He said the body’s main recommendation is for the ISA to be repealed, not reviewed, because it has been irrelevant since the end of the communist terrorist threat in 1960.

The ISA, he said, had to be replaced with a law that addressed the question of national security with reference to global terrorism and its implications on the country’s economy.

Simon added that SUHAKAM was in danger of being downgraded by the United Nations for not complying with the Paris Declaration that sets minimum standards for national human rights bodies to uphold.

SUHAKAM’s greatest fear, he said, is that the proposed parliamentary review of the Act next month will merely see cosmetic changes on the duration of detention and leave the rest of the Act untouched.