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New Malaysian security law provides sweeping powers to PM's council
Sydney Morning Herald - December 4, 2015
The National Security Council bill was passed late on Thursday by a majority vote after hours of heated debate, with opposition MPs voicing fears the prime minister now has power to declare a state of emergency without having to seek consent from Malaysia's King.
The bill gives the National Security Council the authority to impose strict policing of areas deemed to face a security risk. Once a security area is declared, security forces would be allowed, among other things, to impose curfews and would have wide powers of arrest, search and seizure without a warrant.
The legislation allows for the establishment of security areas, where restraints on police powers would be suspended and the authorities would have the ability to conduct arrests, searches and seizures without warrants.
The bill also permits the destruction of unoccupied structures if they were deemed to pose a threat and allow investigators to dispense with formal inquests into killings by the police or armed forces in designated security areas.
The legislation is "quite clearly a tool for repression," Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, said in a written statement.
"While touted as a law to protect national security, the law provides expansive powers that could fundamentally threaten human rights and democratic rule," he added.
The legislation comes after growing complaints about assaults on civil liberties in Malaysia, including the use of sedition laws to arrest government critics. In April, the government reintroduced the power to detain terrorism suspects without trial, raising concerns about potential abuse.
Although Prime Minister Najib Razak said in October that his government would introduce a bill outlining the powers of the country's national security council, critics said the content of the legislation was unexpected.
"It just came out of the blue, and suddenly there is a massive national security bill," said Eric Paulsen, executive director of the Malaysian rights advocacy group Lawyers for Liberty. "It is shocking and a huge surprise."
Mr Najib has been under pressure at home from both the opposition and some members of his party, the United Malays National Organisation, over issues like the crackdown on dissent and a political scandal involving an indebted government fund. (New York Times, AP)
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