PRIME MINISTER MAHATHIR RUBBISHES/UNDERMINES GOVERNMENT’S OWN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION SUHAKAM (established by an act of Parliament in 1999) IN FAVOUR OF ABDUCTORS!

by e.s.shankar

On 3 April 2019, PM Mahathir, deliberately and shockingly, without an iota of shame, dismissed as “hearsay”, Suhakam’s considered verdict that the abductions of activist Amri in Nov 2016 and Pastor Raymond Koh in Feb 2017 constituted acts of “Enforced Disappearances” by the Special Branch (SB) of the Royal Malaysian Police. CLICK HERE.

Enforced Disappearance is defined by the UN adopted International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) as:

Arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State.

I do not know if Mahathir is aware that there are two other missing persons, Malay Muslim convert Pastor Joshua Hilmi and his wife Ruth Sitepu, whose disappearance in Nov 2016, without a shadow of a doubt, falls in the same category of “enforced disappearance” as Amri and Koh. Joshua Hilmi was arrested under the Internal Security Act 1960 in 1987 by Mahathir’s orders and released a few years later. CLICK HERE. Most likely, all 4 are dead, tortured and ruthlessly murdered in cold blood, given there have been no demands whatsoever to-date for money or anything else by their abductors.

That Mahathir was the first to spring to THE SB’s defence is no more than a continuation of 38 years of Ketuanism (Malay Supremacism) and its second tenet that the Malay Muslim face must be saved at any cost. Its first tenet is that the Malay Muslim can do no wrong. As soon as Suhakam’s report was released on the morning of 3 April 2019, there was a twitter barrage demanding explanations from ex-Inspector General of Police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar, during whose tenure these abductions took place and current IGP Fuzi Harun, who was the SB Director then.

For a while there was no response from either. But later that afternoon, Khalid latched on to Mahathir’s lifeline and pleaded “hearsay”! Three days later Fuzi responded by saying he was disappointed with Suhakam releasing its report as it amounted to “punishing the police”. CLICK HERE. He did not specifically deny the SB’s involvement but added that the police would "take appropriate action", which begs the question as to what exactly they have been doing for the past two years. Fuzi seemed to be hinting that the report should have been suppressed so that a total cover-up could be instituted by the police.

It was apparent to anyone following Suhakam’s hearing that some members of the RMP were doing their level best to be evasive, obstructive and sabotaged Suhakam. The hearing was brought to a halt on Jan 2018 when police planted evidence and framed cock-eyed charges against a purported abductor, a taxi driver. Had UMNO/BN not lost the 2018 General Election, it is a certainty that the Suhakam hearing would have never resumed.

Mahathir’s despicable “hearsay” pronouncement is an act of treachery, given that among the top reasons Pakatan Harapan was voted into power was its promise of justice for murdered and C4’d Altantuya, the Teoh Beng Hock-MACC “suicide” and these “abduction” cases. Beyond that, his undermining of Suhakam Head, Mah Weng Kai, is diabolical and an act of cutting one’s nose to spite one’s face. Mah, a top and highly respected private practice lawyer of 25 years standing, was also a former Bar Council President and a retired Court of Appeal judge. Do people like him blindly or incompetently point the finger at our shadowy SB?

But, you know what is the really low point of this entire episode so far? We have not heard a peep from the Royals, Anwar Ibrahim, Wan Azizah, Nurul Izzah, Muhyiddin, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng, Antony Loke, M.Kula, Gobind Singh, Teresa Kok, Hannah Yeoh, Teo Nie Ching, Shafie Apdal, Mat Sabu, Dzulkefli Ahmad, Khalid Samad or any other Minister or MP? Where is Wong Tack who in 2013 famously inspired us with his incendiary 'Let's burn Lynas down'? The sole exception is DAP's Klang MP Charles Santiago who bravely demanded IGP Fuzi be investigated. The rest seemed to have suddenly lost their testicles. 

Why this open spineless display? Because being in power, like possession, seems to be 9/10 (nine tenths) of the law. Principles, ethics, morals, integrity and honour have all been thrown out the nearest window by PPBM, DAP, PKR, Amanah and Warisan, on the altar of power and money. Yes, we all fought long and hard and voted for PH to unseat one of the most evil governments (Najib/UMNO/BN) of the 21^st century. But that does not mean DAP and PKR in particular, must kow-tow wholesale to Mahathir and PPBM, the minority party within the PH coalition.

If push comes to shove, they should challenge Mahathir publicly on what he really wants – UMNO 3, continuation of Ketuanism and highway robbery affirmative action policies or to lay the foundation for a lasting united progressive and prosperous nation. Note that when the newly minted Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali talked about re-structuring, he blurted out that he was working on a New Malay Economic Policy. Finally, they have stopped being hypocritical and dropped the ‘Bumiputra’ rubbish under which the Umnoptras from West Malaysia conned native Malaysians, Sabahans and Sarawakians!

This is as pathetic, disgraceful, cowardly and shameful as it can get! Abductors, murderers, rogue police and SB officers and religious extremists must be brought to heel. The government must get to the bottom of what the Mufti of Perlis knows. Would Mahathir have so nonchalantly said he would look into the abductions AFTER IGP Fuzi retires in May if it were his son or daughter who had been abducted?

We must once again stand up and fight for what’s right. It’s OUR Malaysia and we must take it back from the Mahathirs, Ketuanists and other extremists once and for all. Hesitate and the Talibans and death squads and stoning squads will form the next government of Malaysia in 2023! BE WARNED!

NB Suhakam Reports on the enforced disappearances of Raymond Koh and Amri: CLICK HERE.