09/05/2020 Malaysia (International Christian Concern) – On August 30, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) called on the government to publicize the report of the task force on the enforced disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat.
In Suhakam’s statement, it referred to the task force that was set up by Kuala Lumpur in 2019 to look into Suhakam’s findings from the public inquiry on the missing Malaysians.
“Based on Suhakam’s 2019 report on its public inquiry into the disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat, it was concluded that enforced disappearance had taken place. In this regard, Suhakam calls for the report of the task force to be made public,” it said.
In the meantime, Suhakam will also continue its public inquiry into the disappearance of Pastor Joshua Hilmy and Ruth Sitepu, who also might have been abducted by state agents. The investigation is expected to be concluded by end of this year, according to the statement.
Suhakam suspected that the Special Branch, Bukit Aman (under the Royal Malaysian Police), was behind the disappearances of Koh and Amri. A recent proposal by Malaysia’s new government for an independent body to probe complaints of police misconduct, however, has just been criticized by human rights groups as toothless and lacks enforcement power.
According to Radio Free Asia, the New York-based Human Rights Watch stated that the proposed commission “would have no powers to punish rights-abusing police.” It calls on Muhyiddin’s government to withdraw and significantly revise its bill “to ensure genuine accountability of police.”
Under such proposed bill, it will be easy for the police to dodge punishment from any misconduct.
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