Death in custody 2020 - August 2021
Prison - 21 prisoners died in prisons (19 were Malaysian citizens that included 16 Malay men and three Indian men. The two others were foreign prisoners with one each from the Philippines and Nepal.)
Police Custody - 19, nine were Malay men, six Chinese men, two Indian men, and two foreign nationals.
Immigration Detention - 65 detainees died from 2020 to 23 August this year.
INQUEST(Public Inquiries into the Death) - HOW MANY? Police, Prison officers and Immigration officers can say anything - but is it TRUE - it is always best that an INDEPENDENT Coroner do a public inquiry and tell us what happened - most importantly whether anyone is criminally liable...
Malaysian Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) clearly provides that a magistrate shall hold an INQUEST (inquiry into death) for all deaths, whereby during such inquest, the Coroner (usually a Magistrate or Judge) shall determine as to when, where, how and after what manner the deceased came by his death and also whether any person is criminally concerned in the cause of the death.(Section 333 and 337 CPC).
ALL deaths, according to Malaysian law, there SHALL BE an inquest(and inquiry into death).
For deaths in custody, section 334 adds emphasis for the need for an INQUEST
334 Inquiry into cause of death of a person in custody of police or in any asylum
When any person dies while in the custody of the police or in a psychiatric hospital or prison, the officer who had the custody of that person or was in charge of that psychiatric hospital or prison, as the case may be, shall immediately give intimation of such death to the nearest Magistrate, and the Magistrate or some other Magistrate shall, in the case of a death in the custody of the police, and in other cases may, if he thinks expedient, hold an inquiry into the cause of death.
so, HOW many inquest was done in this 105 death in custody cases?
If no inquest done, what was the reason of the Magistrate(Coroner) for not holding an inquest - Why was the public prosecutor satisfied, so as not to revert to the Magistrate ordering that an inquest be held.
Let's recall what an INQUEST(INQUIRY INTO DEATH) is supposed to achieve...
'A Magistrate holding an inquiry shall inquire when, where, how and after what manner the deceased came by his death and also whether any person is criminally concerned in the cause of the death.'(s.337)
Remember also the meaning of 'cause of death' ..."cause of death" include not only the apparent cause of death as ascertainable by inspection or postmortem examination of the body of the deceased, but also all matters necessary to enable an opinion to be formed as to the manner in which the deceased came by his death and as to whether his death resulted in any way from, or was accelerated by, any unlawful act or omission on the part of any other person.(328)
So, without holding a PUBLIC INQUEST, our Coroner(Magistrate) was able to come to the conclusion possibly just in reliance of police(or some other law enforcement) report, maybe a report of a doctor...etc..
- WHEN the person died? WHERE the person died? - these maybe easy
- how and after what manner the deceased came by his death - well, this is the difficult part...was he/she beaten to death, starved to death, poisoned, denied medication needed, denied or failed to provide needed healthcare or medical examination, did earlier beating during ARREST later speed up the rupture of something causing death...REMEMBER"cause of death" include not only the apparent cause of death as ascertainable by inspection or postmortem examination of the body of the deceased, but also all matters necessary to enable an opinion to be formed as to the manner in which the deceased came by his death and as to whether his death resulted in any way from, or was accelerated by, any unlawful act or omission on the part of any other person.(328)
- whether any person
is criminally concerned in the cause of the death.' - here we are not joust talking about poisoning or beating to death...but even negligence that resulted in death ...failure to conduct relevant medical examination, healthcare, needed medicine, provide safe and healthy environment ... this is wide?
SO, a Magistrate who decides not to have a PUBLIC INQUEST is really brave(or a 'fool') - and we need to know why he decided not to have an INQUEST - and why the Public Prosecutor refused to insist on an inquest, when informed of the Magistrate decision.
An OPEN Inquest allows for others to help the Magistrate(Coroner) in making his/her decision - it allows for input from families/friends of deceased, third parties
MURDER or other criminal liability in death MUST NEVER BE COVERED UP by lack of a PUBLIC INQUEST...or an inquest that makes a wrong finding ...
Inquest should also be FAST - a delay may mean that most important EVIDENCE may be contaminated or disposed off - for after all many cremate the dead...and in most cases without even any kind of medical postmortem. Proof that the deceased was poisoned can so easily disappear...
Home Minister Gives A Breakdown Of 105 People Who Have Died While In Custody Since 2020
Hamzah Zainudin also confirmed that the police has requested an inquest into the death of A Ganapathy, a 40-year-old Malaysian-Indian whose death sparked a public outcry against alleged police brutality.
Earlier this week in Parliament, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin gave a breakdown of all the people who have died while in custody in immigration detention centres, police lock-ups, and prisons
Hamzah's breakdown was in the form of a parliamentary written reply
to Batu Kawan member of Parliament (MP) Kasthuriraani Patto, who had
asked the Home Minister to reveal the number of deaths in police
lock-ups, immigration detention centres, and prisons in 2020 and 2021 by
their ethnicity and states.
According to the numbers shared by Hamzah, a total of 105 people have died while in custody so far.
In police lock-ups:
The number of deaths of detainees reported in lock-ups was 13 people in 2020.
Meanwhile, as of August this year, six detainees were reported to have died in lock-ups.
From January 2020 to August this year, the total number of deaths in lock-ups is 19 people.
Hamzah also gave the ethnic breakdown of those who died in lock-ups.
Of the total of 19, nine were Malay men, six Chinese men, two Indian men, and two foreign nationals.
In prisons:
According to the Home Minister, the Malaysian Prison Department
records for 2020 and 2021 show that a total of 21 prisoners died in
prisons, of which 13 were recorded for the last year.
Of the 21
prisoners, Hamzah said, 19 were Malaysian citizens that included 16
Malay men and three Indian men. The two others were foreign prisoners
with one each from the Philippines and Nepal.
In immigration detention centres:
A total of 65 detainees died from 2020 to 23 August this year.
According
to records by the Immigration Department of Malaysia, the number of
deaths of detainees in immigration detention centres in 2020 was 37
people, Hamzah's parliamentary written reply stated.
Of this, the
highest number of deaths included Indonesian citizens at 16, followed
by Indian and Burmese nationals with five each, and three Bangladeshi
and Pakistani nationals.
Two were Cambodian nationals, with one Canadian, Nigerian, and Vietnamese national each.
Meanwhile, 28 detainees died in immigration detention centres from 1 January to 23 August this year.
Of
this, 20 were Filipino citizens, two Indian and two Vietnamese
citizens, and one citizen each from Botswana, Indonesia, Iran, and
Myanmar.
Meanwhile, Hamzah also confirmed that the police has requested an inquest into the death of A Ganapathy, a 40-year-old Malaysian-Indian whose death sparked a public outcry against alleged police brutality
The 40-year-old Malaysian-Indian succumbed to his injuries
on 18 April this year after fighting for his life since 8 March in
Selayang Hospital's intensive care unit. The victim had spent 12 days in
police custody from 24 February to 8 March before he was admitted to
the hospital, according to a Malaysiakini report.
His family alleges
that police had beaten him with a rubber hose and that they were barred
from seeing him when his sister went to the police station to deliver
medicines for his diabetes and heart problems.
However, police had rubbished the family's allegations.
The Home Minister, in his parliamentary replies
on 28 September to Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo and Klang MP Charles
Santiago, said that investigations were completed and a referral was
made to the Selangor state prosecution director's office (PPN) with a
proposal for an inquest.
"On 12 July 2021, the decision to hold
an inquest was accepted. Following that, the police registered an
inquest application at the Shah Alam Coroner's Court on 30 August 2021,"
his reply stated.
Hamzah also addressed the recent cases of three more men who died while in custody amidst the Ganapathy case. They are Sivabalan Subramaniam, Surendran Shanker, and Umar Faruq Abdullah.
According to the Home Minister, investigations are still underway. - Says, 30/9/2021 https://says.com/my/news/home-minister-gives-a-breakdown-of-105-people-who-have-died-while-in-custody-since-2020
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