A coalition of 126 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has labelled the report as weak, very lame and not driven to address the torture methods used

A coalition of 126 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has labelled the report as weak, very lame and not driven to address the torture methods used by MAAC

KUALA LUMPUR: The consensus among non-governmental organizations is that the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s report on Teoh Beng Hock’s death is weak and very lame.

A coalition of 126 NGOs today said the report was a whitewash as it did not probe the high-handed interrogation techniques of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

The report was more focused to determine the inference if Teoh had committed suicide rather than to question the harsh methods of interrogation used by the MAAC.

The 124-page RCI report was compiled after five months which saw the five-men commission taking testimonies from some 70 witnesses, including MACC and police officers and other forensic experts.

Drawing comparison to the RCI over the police force conducted several years ago, Suaram director Kua Kia Soong said: “This report is quite arbitrary compared to the RCI report on the police force.

“That report had recommended that an independent police body was needed. The commission had also recommended that there needed to be a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the force”.

“But in this (Teoh’s) RCI they had merely suggested that they need to change the attitude of the MACC officers. Did they even suggest that MACC (ought) to follow a SOP?” he questioned.

“If you were a teacher or a lecturer and you looked at this report, you will see that very little effort is put into the report,” he told a press conference today.

“If you look at the report, it has been divided into different parts which showed that a psychiatrist was brought in to determine if Teoh was high risk or low risk suicide victim. The RCI should have probed into the high-handed activities and actions of the MACC (which would have had either) psychological or physical effect on Teoh,” said Kua.

Tenaganita director Irene Fernadez added: “(The RCI) is still weak in their recommendations. They are not even driven to really address what were the torture techniques used”.

Aggresive methods

Fernandez said that it was proven that “aggressive” and “oppressive” methods had been employed by MACC and that such brutality was only increasing in enforcement agencies.

The NGOs also called for the resignation of several top leaders like Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ismail Omar and MACC chief Abu Kassim Mohamed.

Fernandez said that these leaders needed to be held accountable over the custodial deaths that have occurred and that the NGOs will continue to pressure them to do so.

“The MACC and the government must bear the full responsibility for the safety and human rights of all lives in custody. Any happenings in the government agency that causes a custodial death constitutes murder or homicide,” she said reading from a statement.

“We have to make them accountable. They cannot hold these positions without being held accountable. Life is not cheap,” she added.

The NGOs added that the public confidence on the MACC has only worsen and now was at a level “worse than zero”.

The RCI report was made public by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz yesterday. The report stated that Teoh had committed suicide due to aggressive interrogation techniques by three MACC officers.

Nazri said that the RCI conclusion was also supported by forensic psychiatrist Dr Paul Mullen who said that Teoh’s risk of committing suicide soared drastically due to the long hours of aggressive interrogation.

Teoh’s family however had rejected the finding, adding that Teoh was not a weak individual. Teoh’s former boss, Selangor exco Ean Yon Hian Wah also rejected the findings saying that he did not believe Teoh committed suicide.