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Malaysia: Controversial Security Law Best Tool Against Terror
By Kazi Mahmood, IOL Correspondent in Malaysia
JAKARTA, Oct 25 (IslamOnline) - Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday that the country's infamous Internal Security Act (ISA) is an effective tool by which to combat terrorism in the country.
Without it, said Mohamad, it would have been difficult for his government to "book Muslim radicals", such as the Al-Ma'unah and KMM.
The Malaysian leader made the remarks in an exclusive interview published in the October issue of Ad Rem, the official publication of the Selangor Bar Committee.
"To book these terrorists through normal court procedures would have entailed adducing proper evidence which would have been difficult to obtain," said Mahathir.
The Malaysian prime minister said he had toyed with the idea of repealing the ISA when the country seemed more peaceful, but was advised against it.
The ISA allows the government to jail suspects without trial for an initial 60 days, during which time it investigates charges against them.
The Malaysian police are charged with carrying out the arrests under the ISA and they work closely with the secret police or the "Special Branch", which also acts as the local investigation bureau.
Suspects are then transferred to the Kamunting center where they normally spend two years in jail. They are expected to reintegrate into the society after these two years, though the Malaysian home ministry may decide to extend the detention period.
Last month, Mahathir said countries that accused Malaysia of being undemocratic and unjust due to its use of the controversial ISA are now learning to do the same thing.
Mahathir said that when his government used the ISA to curb terrorism in Malaysia, he was accused of being undemocratic. "But now they [nations which criticized Malaysia - including the U.S.] are doing exactly what we did they are learning from us," said Mahathir.
"We have had 42 years experience with terrorism. We fought against the [communist] guerrillas, the Al-Ma'unah and so on," he added.
The prime minister said a large number of people under ISA detention were criminals associated with drugs and other serious crimes.
"There are people with plans to violently overthrow the government because they think the democratic system will not enable them to seize power," he said, alluding to the recent jailing of several opposition members, including the popular Mohamad Ezam Noor.
However, the opposition in Malaysia says the government has abused human rights in the country with the unjustified ISA arrests.
The most prominent case concerns former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was arrested under the ISA in September 1998. Ibrahim was allegedly manhandled by the chief of police while in custody.
The recent ISA arrest of suspected members of the KMM, belonging to the opposition Party Islam Se Malaysia (PAS), was cited by some opposition leaders as another reason why the law must replaced by legislation which is "more human and does not abuse human rights in Malaysia," a PAS member told IslamOnline on the phone.
The opposition also dismissed the "so called terror threats in Malaysia and scoff at the idea that bandits who wanted to break into a bank were Mujahideen's trying to overthrow the Mahathir regime."
The United States, under the Clinton administration, singled out the Malaysia as a country with significant human rights abuses.
The U.S. State Department's annual report detailed several alleged abuses, including Malaysian police beatings of demonstrators. The report also found that ISA arrests and the state of the Malaysian judiciary were reasons for concern that country's democracy was in danger.
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