Suhakam to investigate alleged torture and death in Juru Immigration detention centre

KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) will investigate claims of alleged torture and deaths at the Immigration detention centre in Juru, Penang, said its chairman Tan Sri Razali Ismail.
"It is the duty of Suhakam to do it (investigate), we are already in the process of asking the authorities about the issues going on over there," Razali told reporters after he delivered the keynote speech at the Civil Society Conference on National Security here today.
Razali stressed that he is not "pointing fingers" at the government and the authorities, but expressed his disappointment over the issue.
"(The news is) awful, it is an embarrassment to the government and disservice to society," he said.
On Monday, The Cambodia Daily newspaper quoted a Cambodian woman who was detained at the centre as saying that detainees were physically abused at the detention centre.
According to the woman, seven people had died at the detention camp after they were kicked and punched in the face and chest.
Cambodia's Foreign Affairs Ministry has refuted her claims, adding that embassy officials who visited the detention centre were told by staff that there was no truth to the allegations.
On Wednesday, Amnesty International (AI) Malaysia's executive director Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu said Putrajaya needs to urgently ensure that all detention centres meet the United Nations' Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
The UN standard provides for the basic standards for prisoners' living conditions, personal hygiene, food and medical services apart from other basic rights, AI Malaysia said.
She also noted that at least 17 countries had in 2013 urged Malaysia to make an international agreement against torture effectively valid here by implementing it into local laws, policies and practices.
The call was made at Malaysia's Universal Periodic Review, a UN Human Rights Council mechanism where UN member states' human rights records are reviewed by other countries and recommendations are given to improve on the existing human rights situation in member countries.