For what reason did the government of Malaysia suspect a teacher of involvement in terrorist activities?
Answer
Very interesting question, but the answer lies in the curbing of individual freedoms in this country. Malaysia is a country that does not have much respect for individual freedom, and it would surprise many outsiders that this country, though it claims to be Islamic, does not trust Muslims who get involved in Islamic activities.
The reason given for people like me being arrested under the ISA was never spelled out to me in person. Hence I can only be suspicious of the reasons why the Malaysian authorities found it necessary that I should be put behind bars for a certain amount of time that did not extend to two years.
I can clearly state here that arresting a person under the ISA is equal to violating the rights of any individual to live a full Islamic life in Malaysia. Most of those arrested under the ISA in the past 3 years, are those who are involved in the Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) or are Islamic teachers and are those who fought the secular regime of Malaysia on Islamic issues as well as issues that showed an encroachment on Islamic etiquette in Malaysia.
The ISA is an outdated law that is still being brandished by the Malaysian government in a bid to control the population of Malaysia from being too demanding, from investigating the government and to keep people in line politically. What I mean is that in Malaysia, with the ISA in force, not a single individual can dare or should dare to be politically out of line with the regime and all that it represents. I cannot speak for myself here; that would be too cheap. I am speaking for the entire population of ISA detainees who should be released immediately or should be brought to court to get a fair trial, something that I did not get though I was never involved in terrorist activities.
Name
aishah
-
Profession
Question
Assalamualaikum. I just want to know how bad is the torture? I heard that there are police who make the detainees open their mouth and then they spit into it.. is that true?
Answer
The truth will only be known when the day comes for all the ISA detainees to speak out. They are afraid of being taken back to prison and of being bullied by the secret police; hence, many of them, a majority of them, prefer to keep their silence to remain free.
I would not know of a case where the police forced any of the ISA detainees to open the mouth and spit in it. I know what they did to me however. It was a classic thing. After a few hours of being detained under the ISA and held in the dark, in a location that I will never be able to tell since I couldn’t locate that place, I was finally interrogated by two agents in civilian clothes. They looked something like CID agents – Crime Intervention Division – but obviously they were trained to interrogate ISA detainees. The first month was the most horrible of all, since the interrogators kept sitting at their table and burning me with their lit cigarettes. They would also threaten to beat me up if I did not reply to their questions, which were silly questions and not about the alleged terrorist activities I was accused of. The whole thing was a scheme to drain the detainee of all his psychological strength and to make the detainee sign a confession, which I never did.
One of their threats was that they would go and spy on my family and would arrest them if they were found to be involved in terrorist activities. I wonder how my wife would be involved in such activities when she actually works for the government. After failing to impress me with their cigarette butts and their slaps on my face and body, they decided that it was high time to put me on the freezing mountain. That is to say I was made to sit on blocks of ice for hours while I was naked. They also threatened to castrate me if I did not cooperate with them, which I did only to satisfy them, though they did not realize that that.
They knew that I was not easy to crack, and that their attempts to turn me and make me sell the leaders of the PAS would fail. Hence they decided to keep me for two long years, and that is where I suffered the most.
However, it is obvious that others had a hard time during the first 60 days of detention under the ISA. The cases of well known politicians, including Anwar Ibrahim, who was beaten while he was handcuffed and blindfolded, is as outrageous as the treatment suffered by the Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.
Name
Ahmed
- Egypt
Profession
Question
Salamu aleikum, dear Brother. I recently read about Malaysia's torture of Muslims in its jails... I pray that Allah give you thawab [reward] for all that you have gone through. I wished to ask what you experienced in those jails... and I wish to ask you, how do you think Muslims find it in themselves to do this to other innocent Muslims?
Answer
The first and most important thing is that one must understand the Malaysian principle. A police officer, be it your own brother, will never let you go if he is directed by the highest authorities to arrest you or bully you in a bid to extract information from you. Hence, being a Muslim is not important to them; what is important is that they are bound by law and their principles and they do not “bother” about Islamic brotherhood.
As for my experience in jail, you can see the earlier questions to get a clear picture of what torture I went through there. However, to elaborate on my two years in jail at the Kamunting camp where the ISA detainees are held, I must say it was a horrible experience. Yet this experience now keeps my blood burning with desire for changes in Malaysian society, and I wonder what those “bullies” would be thinking if they knew that I was involved in attempting to change the mentality of people when it comes to the ISA?
The government has created more ISA freedom leaders in the past 3 years than any political parties would have been able to create. I mean to say that the innocent people jailed under the ISA are now icons of freedom, and they are not sitting at home, hiding from the police. They are actively engaged in the “Hapuskan ISA” movement, which means “Kill the ISA.”
Their children and family members too are active in such movements, and they are reaching out to their friends and foes. Though the struggle is a long one, they know they will eventually prevail and one day Malaysia will be rid of the ISA!
Name
Ina
- Malaysia
Profession
Question
Assalamualaikum
1) What is the worst way they have tortured you?
2) Do you somehow think ISA is justified for the government's excuse of "social stability" of our unique country?
May Allah bless you.
Answer
As I said in my earlier answer, I was treated in a way that would have shell-shocked and broken many people. I was burnt with cigarettes, stripped naked in front of several officers, made to sit on ice (which I heard is the traditional way they use to try to break one down), and threatened with the worst abuses, as well as with threats against my family. These are enough signs of the evil deeds of the secret police who tried to extract the wrong information from a person they thought would cry like a baby in front of them.
If that is not sufficient example of the wrong doings of the Malaysian authorities and of the violation of one’s legitimate right to due process when accused of any crimes, then wallahi [by God], there must be something wrong with the Malaysian government, including the Prime Minister who refused to admit that Malaysian ISA prisoners are badly treated!
It is high time that the Malaysian government rid itself of the ISA, which is just a tool in its favor and does not stop crimes in this country. The ISA has in fact failed in its objectives and has just been used by a so-called legitimate regime to bring down its toughest opponents in the Islamic Party. That is all that the ISA stands for today, and it is a pity that the government of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Malaysian prime minister, is still holding on to this ghost of the past. It’s a pity that this government’s ministers are still defending the use of the ISA to bully political opponents and to perpetuate a culture of fear in Malaysia. Yet they know, they know that the new generations of Malaysians are not afraid and are defying them in many ways.
Why does Malaysia need the ISA? If any one is suspected of terrorist activities, there are plenty of judges in the country to order that the suspect be remanded in custody for 14 days. Within 14 days, it is clear that the authorities should decide to either keep that person in jail for a longer term or release that person if this NO proof of terrorist activities. Is it not relevant that justice follows its course? Yet none of the ISA detainees in the course of Malaysia’s history were brought to court to face charges under the ISA, which range from rebellion to an attempt to overthrow the regime or engaging in terrorist activities, but surely not to sodomy and corruption!
Hence, we have to get rid of the ISA and give this society a chance to prosper on the quality of its individuals rather than on the value of money, which can and has corrupted this society.
Name
Hugo
- Argentina
Profession
Question
Argentina suffered it's own "dirty war," where people disappeared and were tortured... what is the situation now in Malaysia? What were you charged with? How many detainees are exposed to this kind of abuse?
Answer
Well, the scale of the dirty war in Malaysia took a turn in early 2001, well before the events of September 11 in the US. It is not as “bad” as Argentina, since no ISA detainees have been declared missing. But the fact remains that the abuse suffered by some high profile people speaks of the unspeakable manner the local authorities - under the direction of the government of Malaysia, surely - treats even honorable members of Malaysian society.
It is never enough to raise the issue of the beating of the Honorable Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who was punched hard in the face until he was knocked down. But that was not enough. His body was then kicked and punched, resulting in his suffering from prolonged back pain and a sickness that he will have to live with for the rest of his life. That is a great example of how a MINISTER, a future PRIME MINISTER, is treated under the ISA, and this same Anwar Ibrahim said after this ordeal that he feared for the lives and safety of the ordinary people at the hands of the Malaysian authorities.
All the detainees, be they men or women, are exposed to some form of abuse, if not to a whole set of abuses once they are informed that they are being detained under the ISA.
The first thing is that the ISA is an immoral act, and when a person is detained under such an act, it is immoral of the regime to claim that there is no harm done to that person. This attitude must change. The regime must grow up and mature, and accept the fact that in 2004 it can’t run away from reality; it must either accept and acknowledge its abuses of the people under the ISA, or it must buckle up and reject the infamous, dirty and immoral law that the ISA is.
An example of the abuses is given today by the Malaysian Human Rights Movement, the SUHAKAM, and it reads as follows: 1. Detainees were kicked many times when they gave inappropriate replies to the investigators. 2. A woman detainee was forced to strip naked at least two times in front of male officers. 3. A man was stripped naked and abused by officers. He was accused of being a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) member. 4. Many were psychologically abused, and that is the worst abuse ever when one is under the ISA, locked from everyone and cut off from life outside, without a lawyer or any other witnesses. 5. Interrogations during the night which means no sleep for the detainee and all the abuses.
However, it is sad that the government has rejected all these accusations, as it proves that it intends to continue using the ISA to protect “its own interests.”
Name
Nooruddin
- Bangladesh
Profession
Question
As a PAS member, are you aware of any systemic abuse or harassment of PAS members? What is the party's relationship with the ruling regime? And why, if the PAS is really an Islamic party, has it lost so badly in recent elections?
Answer
Politics is one thing that I am not doing, though I am a member of the PAS. However, I will cite one example of abuse in Malaysia against the PAS. The PAS has a newspaper called the Harakah, which can’t be printed daily, but can only be printed twice a month. It has a web site, and according to law, its web site can’t be updated daily. The regime has decided that the party has no right to a daily newspaper.
The PAS' newspaper also has no right to print advertisements from the government or from any governmental bodies. The paper cannot be in Tamil or Chinese, but must be in Malay and English. Do you know why these rules are unfair to the PAS? Because the PAS is a party that has a huge following; it controls one state in Malaysia and is a legitimate party. Because the government parties in power have their own dailies and their websites can be updated daily, even hourly. All this is unfair because the Malaysian authorities are practicing anarchy and are bullying their own people by refusing to allow the PAS to have its own daily media. This is enough blatant abuse and harassment of the PAS and its members I feel, though there is a lot more of that!
The PAS is really Islamic no doubt about that, and it failed in the polls in March due to - what we can say - a blatant abuse and corruption of the electoral system.
Name
sana
-
Profession
Question
ASSALAMU ALAIKUM,
MAY ALLAH BLESS YOU! AMEEN! I would like to know how your life changed after suffering from the torture? Did you become more inclined towards Islam after that?
Answer
By Allah, I was always an Islamic element in society and will remain such.
Actually, you may be right in one thing though. I have become more intense in my devotion and belief. Like I said earlier here, the Malaysian police and government are missing the point. They are creating more solid Muslims, more anti-abuse leaders, stronger people, through their use of the ISA to curb Islam in the country. For that is what I call the ISA, the Anti Islam Law.
However, I would not want any of my brothers and sisters to be arrested under this infamous law. We should all protest and resist such arrests in the future!
Name
Emy
- United Kingdom
Profession
Question
It's not just torture of political opponents, is it? I heard they torture maids too, and these are private citizens, not the government! What is wrong with this culture that allows people to so casually harm and abuse others?
Answer
This is not special or inherent to Malaysia. The maid-torture issue happens in many societies, and it does not involve Muslims alone, but non-Muslims as well in many cases. Singapore is one place where the abuse of maids is frequent too. Even in Indonesia, this kind of thing happens.
Malaysia is not free from such things, since it is a highly developed society that needs more freedom of expression rather than more barriers to allow it to develop further! That is the aim of this session tonight and I would not be able to say why Malaysia too has abuse cases!
Name
Adil Mohd
- Malaysia
Profession
Question
Torture is a serious allegation and should be brought into the open. Why did your party not make torture an issue during the last elections barely three months ago?
Answer
Brother, I think you are missing the point. The PAS campaigned on the ISA abuses during the polls, but since the local television stations and the newspapers in the country are all boot lickers of the current regime, it was expected that they would not allow such comments on the ISA to be aired or published in their columns in the print press.
You should read the PAS manifesto, which is a gem in itself, to understand the whole struggle of the Party.
Name
Al Battar
- United Arab Emirates
Profession
Question
I am shocked when I hear about these things happening to our Muslim brothers in Malaysia. Many people in the Muslim world think the Malaysian government is very Islamic, judging by the statements they make in the IOC about jews and Israel and Muslims... Was this just an attempt to buy credibility by the government?
Answer
Brother, criticizing the Jews and the Israeli regime does not make one an Islamist. It does, however, depict the political inclination of that particular regime or person who criticizes and condemns the Jews and the Israelis for their brutal abuse of the Palestinians.
It was not an attempt by the Malaysian government to get credibility by doing so at the OIC, rather it was the need for a Muslim nation to take up the challenge and do the necessary thing during the OIC. That is how I see it, and I would like to say that we cannot criticize the government for everything and anything that it does.
Name
AbdulQahar
- Egypt
Profession
Question
How does the repressive government in Malaysia deal with the supporters of Islamic causes, like Pattani, for example? Does it persecute people who help our brothers in Thailand?
Answer
This issue is far removed from the ISA issue, but it may be said here that the Malaysian government has made a swift turn in its policies regarding south Thailand. It is well known that it used to obey the dictates of the Thai governments, certainly during the days of Mahathir, but it has shifted policies now and is refusing to bow to the Thai government’s pressure in curbing the Muslims who helps the Thai Muslims.
That may be positive and good in the present term, but I feel the Thai Muslims need more than help from the Malaysian government. They need the help and the concern of all the Muslim Ummah.
And no, so far I have not heard of any Muslims who helped the Thai Muslims being persecuted in Malaysia lately.
Name
Adil Mohd
- Malaysia
Profession
Question
Three ex-ISA detainees are now members of parliament and one is the Leader of the Opposition. Why have they not brought up the question of torture while in detention?
Answer
Very interesting indeed! However, I must say that the leader of the Opposition, Lim Kit Siang, has indeed spoken in the past about abuses he suffered during his detention. He was detained a long time ago and many do not even remember that. I guess he too may be busy with his work as opposition leader to meddle in this again, or he may simply want to get over with it, as these are really painful memories!
As for other members of the Parliament, they may simply be too embarrassed to speak of that. Would they want to tell the crowds or the Parliament that they were stripped naked and abused? I would welcome that! You should also press them to do so.
Name
Johann
- Belgium
Profession
Question
Wasn't it assumed that things would improve once Mahatir left office? Is Badawi no different? Or has abuse lessened under his leadership?
Answer
Mahathir Mohamad’s departure from the post of Prime Minister after holding on to it for so long was most welcomed in Malaysia. However, if some people had hoped that things would be different under Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, I would say they were purely naïve to think or believe so.
Why would Abdullah change things drastically when it was such laws and the abuse of such laws that brought him to power in March 2004? He has no reason to do so and the formula in Malaysia will remain the same unless this regime is given a shock in the next elections!
Whatever his good will and intentions maybe, it is such good will and intentions that can create more problems in Malaysia. I mean to say that he might just have to put more restrictions on freedom of thoughts and on the behavior of the Muslims if he wants to keep his party in power in 5 years time.
Nothing will change as long as they continue to deny the people their rights. Look at the Ibrahim case again… many said Abdullah will free the poor former Deputy Prime Minister. He has not been freed, not at all, and the judges in his case are still showing that they are under pressures from somewhere. Somehow or rather, the judiciary in this country is still corrupted, since it is still under the yoke of the current government, which is a shame. It must be freed first. Then only the judges will decide on major political cases in Malaysia.
Name
Ahmed
- Saudi Arabia
Profession
Question
Salamu aleikum, can you please give us details about this ISA act? What is its origin? What is it for? What does it entail?
Answer
ISA stands for Internal Security Act. It was implemented by the British in its colonies across the world. It took many forms, and in Asia it was decided that the ISA should be implemented for two reasons: 1. To curb Communist proliferation, and 2. To control the independence movements.
With the accession of Malaysia to independence decades ago, the ISA is still being used to 1. Control the population, and 2. Instill fear in the people.
There is no need for the ISA in Malaysia in 2004 and beyond, but go and tell this regime that it does not need the ISA and it will tell you that you are trying to run the country in the government’s place!
Is that what the Malaysian people need? Do the Malaysians need the ISA to prevent the population from being too demanding and inquisitive, and to instill in its youth a fear of being jailed for 2 years without trial if they do not follow the regime?
Malaysia does not face a communist threat and it is independent. I wonder whether the independence movements won the struggle for independence or whether it was won by the lackeys of the British colonial regime?
Name
Mohammad Muzzamil
- Malaysia
Profession
teacher
Question
What kind of torture they usually apply on the ISA prisoner?
Answer
We have already replied to this question and I cannot get involved in rumors, as it is not healthy. I described my experiences and those of some close friends and the former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. You can also search the Internet to find more reports on the ISA abuses, Insha Allah.
Name
tajudeen
- Nigeria
Profession
accountancy
Question
Asalamu Alaykum,
Could you please explain the psychology of Muslims citizens living in Malaysia as regards the present leaders'policies on the concept of terror that the US and her allies are using to enslave the world, especially Muslim countries?
Answer
Malaysians tend to believe and accept all that the regime says, since the press in general and television in particular are government controlled, and other views have no access to the media.
Hence, it is a simple equation to understand that the Malaysians will believe all that the government will say regarding terrorism and the fight against terror. They believe that the regime is doing well in containing terrorists, and incredibly enough they also believe that these terrorist may have come from their own wombs, that is to say from the same society where they live! Is that not incredible?
However regarding policies, I would say that the Malaysian government really has no choice but to side with US policies on terrorism, and at least show that it is doing something to curb terrorism, thought it does not really exist here! I hope you understand what I mean.
Name
Zakariah
- Indonesia
Profession
Lecturer
Question
I would like to know if any comparisons could be made between the ISA of Malaysia and the new set of laws applied in the US when it comes to Homeland Security?
Answer
The Malaysian government is actually proud that the USA has finally restricted its civil rights and imposed new sets of rules under the Homeland Security laws, since that proves, at least to the Malaysian policy makers, that the ISA was actually useful and that the US had finally agreed to it with their own Homeland Security laws.
The US panicked after 2001, most probably. Hence, its use of a set of laws that reminds us of the ISA. That does not mean the US is right and that Malaysia should sit and shout that it’s doing the right thing by enforcing the ISA. Both nations should go back to their history and find useful anecdotes and resources where freedom of speech, of action and of political belief was salient to the success of both societies.
The ISA and the Homeland Security laws are immoral and abusive of the memory of these societies, among Muslims in Malaysia or Asia and in America during the days of Abraham Lincoln for example. It is again, a shame that both these countries have failed to protect their citizens and have imposed laws like the ISA to bully the citizens instead.
