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Stop ongoing attacks by police on JERIT bicycle campaign now
Suara Rakyat Malaysia Press Statement - December 17, 2008
SUARAM (Suara Rakyat Malaysia) condemns the ongoing attacks by police on the Oppressed People’s Movement (JERIT) “Ride for Change” bicycle campaign. To date, 120 individuals have been arrested on the JERIT bicycle campaign.
The JERIT bicycle campaign kicked off on 3rd December 2008 at Wisma Darul Aman, Kedah and is scheduled to end on 18th December 2008 at Parliament where a memorandum demanding policy and institutional reforms will be submitted to the Prime Minister and the Parliamentary Opposition Leader.
The campaign consisted of two teams, the first one cycling from the north and the second on from the south. The teams have been harassed by the police at almost every step of their campaign.
On 4th December, a volunteer, Ruben s/o Loganathan was arrested at Merbau Pulas, Kedah, for leafleting leaflets containing the demands of JERIT’s Bicycle campaign. He was released under police bail on the same day.
On 5th December, JERIT cyclists were stopped by the police when they were leafleting at Teluk Kumbar, Penang.
On 6th December, 16 JERIT activists were arrested at Skudai, Johor. They were released on the same day without charge.
On 9th December, two activists were arrested at Taiping and another six was arrested at Kuala Kangsar. One of the female JERIT activists, Helen Mary Johnson, was molested and punched on the face by a police officer while she was taking photographs. Another JERIT activist, Lee Huat Seng, had his camera confiscated by the police and he was also hit on the arm by the police.
At the latest incident on 15th December, 39 individuals from the Southern team were arrested at Bangi Lama Estate. They were consequently released following negotiations between the police and JERIT activists. The Northern team had 30 activists arrested and 26 cyclists who were minors, withheld at the Balai Polis Rawang for a night. At the police station, the activists and cyclists including the 26 minors were tortured by the police as they were made to stand under heavy rain in the middle of the night.
The 30 activists were charged with “illegal assembly” and released on police bail at around 4.00am in the morning while the 26 minors were released on 16th December at around 3.15pm after their parents went to the police station.
SUARAM also condemns the false statement made by the Chief Police Officer (CPO) of Selangor, Khalid Abu Bakar, claiming that the police detained the 26 minors to “save them from being misused and exploited by irresponsible people”. He also claimed that the minors did not know what they were participating in. The organizers of the JERIT bicycle campaign had shown the police written consent from the parents of the minors. The minors also participated in the cycling campaign on their free will and could withdraw their participation at any point if they wanted to. This proves that CPO Khalid Abu Bakar is making false public statements to mislead the public to form false perceptions of the JERIT campaign. On top of that, the minors were made to stand under the heavy rain late at night while detained at the Balai Polis Rawang. Is that the protection that the police are providing to the minors?
Malaysia has ratified the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and is obligated to provide protection to children. Freedom of expression of the child is provided for in Article 13 of the CRC and freedom of association and peaceful assembly is accorded to the child in Article 15. Article 37 states that the arrest and detention of the child should be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time; no child should be subjected to torture; and during arrest and detention, the child should have prompt access to legal services. The latest incident on 15th December has yet again proved Malaysia’s non-compliance with the CRC.
The actions of the police in detaining the minors and making them stay in poor conditions at the police station, including forcing them to stand under the rain, is in clear violations of the rights of the children as accorded in Article 37 of the CRC. The police have also violated the minors’ freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly by detaining them during their participation in the JERIT bicycle campaign.
Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly is guaranteed to Malaysian citizens under Article 10 of the Federal Constitution. Malaysia is also a member of the Human Rights Council and should uphold the citizen’s rights to expression and assembly as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
SUARAM demands the police to stop harassing the JERIT activists and cyclists and to allow them to conduct the last leg of their bicycle campaign in peace.
SUARAM further demands the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar and the Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan to ensure that the police do not harass the JERIT activists and cyclists any further and to protect the rights of the activists in exercising their rights as they make their way to Parliament to hand over their memorandum tomorrow.
For further details, contact SUARAM on 03-77843525 or suaram@suaram.net.
Released by,
Temme Lee
Coordinator
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