An act of intolerance

Malaysia's internal security law, a scourge since 1960, has been used by a jittery government to imprison bloggers and politicians

Last week, when I was browsing news about Malaysia from home, the words "arrests" and "ISA" sprang out at me and made me put all my work to one side. I was distressed to read that three arrests were made by Malaysian police under the Internal Security Act (ISA): the prominent blogger and online media editor Raja Petra Kamarudin, journalist Tan Hoon Cheng and opposition politician Teresa Kok MP.

The arrests bring our attention to two major issues: the ISA and the true reasons behind its enforcement.

Firstly, the act and its enforcement are against human rights. In force since 1960, the act is a preventive detention law. Under the act, a person may be detained by the police for up to 60 days without trial for an act which allegedly prejudices the security of the country or any part thereof. After that, the person may be further detained, to be reviewed and approved by the minister of home affairs every two years. During the 60 days, the detainee is deprived of contact with the outside world – including family members and lawyer – and former detainees have testified to being subjected to severe physical and psychological torture.

Secondly, the act is nothing but a tool for the ruling party, the Barisan National (BN), to suppress dissident voices. Since its enactment, the act has been used against people who criticise the government and defend human rights. For decades, for supposedly "threatening the security and the economy of the country", political opponents of the BN government and human rights activists have been put behind bars. During Operation Lalang in 1987, for example, opposition leaders and social activists were held under this act after mass arrests.

Close studies of the recent detainments indicate that these measures only expose the incompetence of the United Malaysia National Organisation-led government.

To begin with, prior to Sin Chew Daily senior reporter Tan's arrest, she reported the claims made by a Malay BN politician that the Chinese – who have been settled in the country for more than a century – were merely "squatters" in Malaysia. Tan's dramatic arrest and release within 18 hours was a ridiculous overreaction. Home affairs minister Syed Hamid Albar made an ambiguous statement, saying that the police "were only protecting [her]" and "[getting] all the necessary information from her". It is saddening that a government leader would have to put a civilian in detention to "protect" her. It is also absurd that it was she who became the target and not the person who made racist remarks that denied the rights of Chinese people in the country.

Confusion of a similar sort surrounded the arrest of Teresa Kok, who was released on September 19. Prior to her arrest, it was claimed by the Malay daily Utusan Malaysia and its columnist that she "advised" a mosque not to use loudspeakers while making the call to prayer. Both Kok and most importantly, the mosque in question, denied the allegation and yet she was arrested for "involvement in acts that can be considered as prejudicial to the security of the country", an allegation which is also applied to Raja Petra, who is a keen critic of the money politics, corruption and ethnic polarisation that is deeply rooted in Malaysian society.

In view of the recent political developments in Malaysia, it is not difficult to relate the arrests to the rise of the opposition party led by Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy prime minister who was put in jail for nearly 10 years on corruption and sodomy charges. The ISA is used to instigating fear among the people of a repetition of the May 13 race riots. It is a tool for the ailing government to hang on to power. As long as the act exists, Malaysia cannot regard itself as a true democracy.

Chiew-Siah Tei
guardian.co.uk