50 YEARS OF ISA: NO AMENDMENTS! ABOLISH ISA!

Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI) and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) would like to invite all concerned citizens to a Candle light Vigil in conjunction with 50 years of  ISA. The Vigil will be held on the 1st of August 2010 at several parts of Malaysia such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Perak, Johor, Kedah and Kelantan. We demand the Government of Malaysia to Abolish the ISA as soon as possible as the barbaric and unlawful Act has existed in Malaysia for 50 years. The ISA is draconian and most importantly, it is against the fundamental human rights.

Please join us together to fight the ISA and all other detention without trial laws! Together We CAN Bring CHANGE!

GMI Secretariat will update everyone from time to time regarding the venue of the Vigils in each state mentioned above. Please bear with us. For further info, please contact Miss Nalini at 019 3758912 or 03 77843525.

FREE WATER IS POPULIST AND IRRESPONSIBLE

By Dr Kua Kia Soong, Director of SUARAM, 13 July 2010
The current spat between BN and PR leaders regarding the budgetary “possibility” of providing free water to consumers is missing the point raised by environmentalists when we were opposing the Sungai Selangor dam.
It’s Water Demand Management Stupid!
Certainly, a precious social utility such as water should belong to the people and not to private interests. Water is a public good and it is the people’s right to have access to clean water and to ensure that the sources of clean water are properly protected.
The Sungai Selangor dam has not only destroyed irrevocably a region of pristine natural environment in Kuala Kubu Baru but has destroyed the ancestral homes of the Orang Asli who lived there. Selangor rate payers are now paying the price of the dam.
During our campaign against the dam, we stressed the urgent need to focus on water demand management. Water demand management includes targets set for per capita water use, and reductions in non-revenue water.
Giving away free water makes a mockery of water demand management. In fact, water demand management would involve making sure those who wash their precious cars everyday pay MORE for the luxury.
That may not be populist but it is what we expect of a responsible government that protects our resources and does not tell us that we need to pay for yet another dam because the current reservoirs are inadequate.
When Malaysians start collecting our plentiful rain water for their gardening and cleaning needs, only then will we be on our way to becoming an  environmentally conscious people and to have a sustainable lifestyle. Malaysia is blessed to be among the countries in the world with abundant rain water yet we are also the worst squanderers of this natural resource.
A comprehensive water policy would include changes to building by-laws, through subsidising the installation of water saving devices in business and residential properties and through giving industry incentives to switch to water-efficient technologies.
 
Selangor Rate Payers Expect Excellence
As the richest state in Malaysia, Selangor rate payers expect the best quality of life and the best standard of governance to go with it. The current debates about whether the state is going bankrupt do not humour us. The Deputy Prime Minister may have his own agenda but the PKR’s own leader, Azmin Ali’s warning to the State Government at the state assembly yesterday that it’s spendthrift ways have to stop does not speak well of sustainable governance in the state. He mentioned an instance of the state government spending RM500,000 on a single official ceremony and that the state reserves have dipped below RM800 million. I still remember the PR Speaker telling off the State Exco Ronnie Liu for spending RM10,000 on durian feasts for his constituents.

Who knows what else goes on…Is this corruption, or do free handouts count as corruption only when they are given out close to an election?

FREE WATER IS POPULIST AND IRRESPONSIBLE

By Dr Kua Kia Soong, Director of SUARAM, 13 July 2010

The current spat between BN and PR leaders regarding the budgetary “possibility” of providing free water to consumers is missing the point raised by environmentalists when we were opposing the Sungai Selangor dam.

It’s Water Demand Management Stupid!

Certainly, a precious social utility such as water should belong to the people and not to private interests. Water is a public good and it is the people’s right to have access to clean water and to ensure that the sources of clean water are properly protected.

The Sungai Selangor dam has not only destroyed irrevocably a region of pristine natural environment in Kuala Kubu Baru but has destroyed the ancestral homes of the Orang Asli who lived there. Selangor rate payers are now paying the price of the dam.

During our campaign against the dam, we stressed the urgent need to focus on water demand management. Water demand management includes targets set for per capita water use, and reductions in non-revenue water.

Selangor Rate Payers Expect Excellence

As the richest state in Malaysia, Selangor rate payers expect the best quality of life and the best standard of governance to go with it. The current debates about whether the state is going bankrupt do not humour us. The Deputy Prime Minister may have his own agenda but the PKR’s own leader, Azmin Ali’s warning to the State Government at the state assembly yesterday that it’s spendthrift ways have to stop does not speak well of sustainable governance in the state. He mentioned an instance of the state government spending RM500,000 on a single official ceremony and that the state reserves have dipped below RM800 million. I still remember the PR Speaker telling off the State Exco Ronnie Liu for spending RM10,000 on durian feasts for his constituents.

Who knows what else goes on…Is this corruption, or do free handouts count as corruption only when they are given out close to an election?

Hormati Keputusan Mahkamah dan Segera Berikan Pampasan Kepada Puan Suzana !

Kenyataan Media: 9 Julai 2010

SUARAM menggesa Peguam Negara supaya membayar  pampasan ganti rugi yang berjumlah 1.4 juta kepada kepada Puan Suzana yang telah  kematian suami semasa dalam tahanan polis.  Pembayaran pampasan tersebut merupakan satu kemenangan rakyat dalam memperjuangkan hak asasi manusia dalam kes kematian dalam tahanan  polis.

Puan Suzana merupakan isteri kepada mangsa Mohd Anuar Sharip (31 tahun) yang telah meninggal dunia dalam tahanan polis di Balai Polis Rawang pada 19 Ogos 1999. Pada 1 Julai 2010, Pesuruhjaya Kehakiman, Lee Swee Seng telah memerintahkan  bekas Ketua Polis Negara, iaitu Tan Sri Norian Mai dan  kerajaan perlu bertanggungjawab membayar ganti rugi sebanyak RM1.4 juta kepada Puan Suzana ke atas kecuaian dan kegagalan pihak polis yang menyebabkan suaminya Mohd Anuar Sharip meninggal dunia dalam tahanan lokap.

Isu kematian dalam tahanan selalu menjadi isu yang hangat sejak dahulu lagi dan kami memandang amat serius terhadap isu ini kerana  perbuatan membunuh seseorang semasa dalam tahanan polis adalah perbuatan yang menyalahi undang-undang dan hak asasi manusia.  Malah, ia turut menyalahi dan memncabuli Artikel 5(1) seperti yang terkandung dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan iaitu menghormati hak bernyawa setiap manusia terutamanya dalam menjalankan tugas tanpa mengira sama ada penjenayah atau orang biasa.

Mengikut kenyataan yang dikeluarkan oleh Kementerian Dalam Negeri di Parlimen baru-baru ini yang menyatakan bahawa terdapat sebanyak 153 kes kematian dalam tahanan polis antara tahun 1999 hingga 20081.  Kami berpendapat bahawa pihak polis perlu bertanggungjawab terhadap segala kes kematian dalam tahanan kerana adalah tanggugjawab polis untuk menjaga OKT (orang kena tahan) dalam keadaan sihat seperti yang dinyatakan dalam Akta Kaedah-Kaedah Lokap(L.N.3289/1958)(4).

Oleh itu, kami berpendapat bahawa amat penting wujudkan Suruhanjaya Bebas Salahlaku dan Aduan Polis (IPCMC) yang bersifat bebas ,telus dan adil untuk menyelesaikan masalah sedemikian serta mengawal  tindakan polis memandangkan terlalu banyak kes kematian dalam tahanan berlaku sekian hari.

SUARAM menyeru sekali lagi agar Peguam Negara menghormati keputusan mahkamah dan segera membayar pampasan kepada Puan Suzana kerana segala bukti dalam kes Encik Mohd Anuar Sharip adalah jelas dan  kini tiba masanya keluarga mangsa untuk mendapatkan keadilan!

_________________________________
[1] Parliamentary reply to Manogaran A/L Marimuthu (Teluk Intan) at the Dewan Rakyat, 3 March 2009, Question 60, Reference Number 1540.

Jemputan menghadiri kes perbicaraan inkues R.Gunasegaran

Kes R.Gunasegaran merupakan salah satu kes kematian dalam tahanan yang amat memerlukan pemerhatian daripada semua pihak masyarakat.

Pihak SUARAM ingin menjemput semua pihak untuk menghadiri perbicaraan inkues tersebut dan memberikan sokongan kepada ahli keluarga R.Gunasegaran yang berani berdepan untuk memperjuangkan keadilan dan hak asasi manusia daripada penindasan oleh pihak polis.

kami berharap kes ini mendapat liputan yang luas supaya mendapat perhatian daripada rakyat dan memberi tekanan kepada kerajaan untuk menubuhkan IPCMC ( Suruhanjaya Bebas Salahlaku dan Aduan Polis ) dan membuat reformasi terhadap institusi Polis Diraja Malaysia.

Latar belakang:

R.Gunasegaran (31 tahun) didapati mati dalam tahanan di Balai Polis Sentul pada hari bulan 16 Julai 2009 selepas 2 jam dia ditangkap oleh polis dalam satu operasi penangkapan penagihan dadah di sekitar kawasan Sentul.
Namun demikian,kakak Gunasaegaran yang bernama R.Ganga Gowri telah melaporkan kepada polis terhadap sebab tidak setuju kematian adiknya adalah berpunca daripada pengambilan dadah yang berlebihan dan dia mempercayai Gunasegaran pernah dipukul oleh pengawai polis sebelum dia meninggal dunia, dan kenyataan tersebut disetujui oleh beberapa orang saksi yang pada masa itu berada dalam lokap yang sama dengan adiknya, mereka menyatakan Gunasegaran dipukul oleh polis dengan menggunakan hos getah dan juga kayu.

“Memperjuangkan Hak Asasi Manusia!”

Yap Heng Lung

Penyelaras SUARAM