cable 437: controversy in malaysia over government misuse of anti-terrorism laws

8/6/2019 Cable 437: Controversy in Malaysia over Government Misuse of Anti-Terrorism Laws

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/cable-437-controversy-in-malaysia-over-government-misuse-of-anti-terrorism 1/10

O 230721Z DEC 08

FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2163

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 KUALA LUMPUR 001114

SUBJECT: PRESSURE MOUNTS AGAINST INTERNAL SECURITY

ACT (ISA)

REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 1026 - DPM NAJIB DISCUSSES ISA

¶B. KUALA LUMPUR 990 - RAJA PETRA RELEASED¶C. KUALA LUMPUR 944 - MCA AND GERAKAN

CRITICIZE UMNO

¶D. KUALA LUMPUR 846 - UPDATE ON RAJA PETRA

¶E. KUALA LUMPUR 834 - KOK RELEASED FROM ISA

¶F. KUALA LUMPUR 810 - UPROAR OVER ISA

¶G. KUALA LUMPUR 806 - JOURNALIST DETAINED

UNDER ISA

¶H. KUALA LUMPUR 902 - BEYOND ISA

Classified By: Political Counselor Mark D. Clark,

reason 1.4 (b, c and d).

NOTE: THIS CABLE TRANSMITS AN EDITED VERSION OF

KUALA LUMPUR 1102 SENT ON 12/18/08 IN MORE

RESTRICTED CHANNELS. END NOTE.

¶1. (S) Summary: The Malaysian government's use

of the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows

for detention without trial and is central to the

GOM's intelligence-driven CT effort, has come under

increasing political pressure over the past three

months. The GOM's employment of the ISA in



September to carry out three politically-motivated

ISA detentions unrelated to terrorism sparked

unprecedented public criticism. At least eight

component parties from the governing National Front

(BN) coalition have since broken ranks with the

leading United Malays National Organization (UMNO)and called for amending or abolishing the ISA. The

opposition party alliance led by Anwar Ibrahim has

made the revocation of ISA one of its highest

profile policy goals. In November, a High Court

judge delivered a legal blow to the GOM's wide

discretion in using the ISA in a ruling that freed

blogger Raja Petra, and the GOM is appealing the

decision. Prime Minister Abdullah, his deputy andsuccessor Najib and Home Minister Syed Hamid have

defended the ISA as essential to national security,

while Najib told the Ambassador privately ISA

should be retained but used more judiciously.

The GOM released 17 ISA detainees, among them 10

previously linked to terrorist groups, including

Yazid Sufaat, from November 5 to December 4.

¶2. (S) Comment: The ISA is the cornerstone of

Malaysia's CT effort and has allowed Special Branch

to take successful preemptive action against

suspected terrorists and their supporters. Given

the GOM's exclusive reliance on the ISA "crutch"

and on Special Branch's role, police and

prosecutors remain ill-prepared to investigate and

bring to trial terrorist suspects (or prosecuteother complex criminal conspiracies). The ISA also

is subject to misuse for political ends and is an

important insurance policy for maintaining UMNO in

power. For both CT and political reasons, the GOM

will not readily give up the ISA. We doubt that

the increased political pressure and seeming swing



in public opinion against the ISA, due in part to

its misuse in September, will result in the ISA's

amendment or revocation in the near future, absent

the Opposition coming to power. These developments,

however, reinforce the conclusion (ref H) that

Malaysia cannot take for granted the availabilityof the ISA as a CT tool in the long run. It

remains in the U.S. interest to encourage and

assist Malaysia to develop an approach centered on

prosecutions and convictions before an independent

judiciary to combat terrorism.

¶3. (C) Comment continued: It is unclear to whatextent outside political pressures played a direct

role in the GOM's latest release of ISA detainees.

The decisions may have more to do with Syed Hamid's

personal exercise of authority as Home Minister.

Syed Hamid has taken a more proactive role as

Home Minister, compared to PM Abdullah who held the

position through March 2008 and tended not to

become involved in details. End Summary and

Comment.

¶4. (C) The Malaysian government's use of the

Internal Security Act (ISA), central to the GOM's

intelligence-driven counterterrorism efforts, has

come under increasing political pressure since the

September ISA arrests of three persons based on

political rather security considerations. TheSeptember 12 ISA detentions of an ethnic Chinese

journalist, an ethnic Chinese Opposition MP (Teresa

Kok), and a prominent blogger (Raja Petra

Kamaruddin) served the ruling UMNO party's

immediate political purpose of sending a warning to

opposition politicians and those considering



defecting from BN, as some UMNO politicians have

told us. This came at a time when Anwar Ibrahim

was publicly threatening to bring down the BN

government via parliamentary crossovers by

September 16. The arrests, however, also sparked

unprecedented public criticism of the ISA,including from UMNO's ethnic minority partners

within BN. The Malaysian Chinese Association

(MCA), the key ethnic Chinese BN component party,

reportedly threatened to leave BN unless the

GOM released the Chinese journalist; the GOM

complied within less than 24 hours (ref F).

Authorities freed MP Teresa Kok after seven days.

Home Minister Syed Hamid ordered a two-year ISAdetention period for Raja Petra, who was freed

on appeal in November in a surprise court ruling

(see below).

¶5. (C) Comment: Unlike his predecessor Mahathir,

PM Abdullah refrained from using the ISA for

political purposes until December 2007 when police

detained five leaders of the ethnic Indian activist

group HINDRAF that organized large street protests.

The public viewed the GOM's September 2008 ISA

arrests as more transparently political, in part

because of the lack of public order concerns. End

Comment.

¶6. (C) Political pressure against the ISA did notdissipate following the release of the first two of

the three recent ISA detainees. At least eight

component parties from the governing BN coalition

of 14 parties have since broken ranks with UMNO and

called for amending or reviewing the grounds

for the ISA, while several have supported the law's



abolition. In late September MCA, BN's second

largest party, called for "a comprehensive review

of the ISA so that it will apply strictly to cases

relating to terrorism and subversive elements," and

also argued for the introduction of "checks and

balances in the use of ISA." The leader of theGerakan party, Koh Tsu Koon, called on the GOM to

"abolish the ISA once and for all," and rely on the

judicial system instead. The leader of the Peoples

Progressive Party (PPP) also initially called for

ISA to be abolished, and on December 1 said PPP

would withdraw from BN unless if the ISA were not

amended before the next election. In response,

Prime Minister Abdullah called PPP's bluff and saidthe small party, which holds no seats in

Parliament, could leave BN if it wished. BN MPs so

far have not backed up their criticism of ISA with

action. In response to a petition circulated in

Parliament for the review or repeal of ISA, only

one BN MP signed his name.

¶7. (C) The opposition party alliance (Pakatan

Rakyat, or Pakatan) led by Anwar Ibrahim has

vocally condemned ISA as undemocratic and unjust,

and made the abolishment of ISA one of its highest

profile policy goals. A number of senior officials

from Pakatan's three parties, Anwar's Peoples

Justice Party (PKR), the Democratic Action Party

(DAP), and the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) were

detained under ISA during the era of former PrimeMinister Mahathir. Not surprisingly, the three

parties have vowed to revoke ISA if they come to

power. "Abolish ISA" was the most prominent

theme at PKR's annual party conference on November

29, which Polcouns observed. The keynote event

concluded with a focus on ISA and featured large



screens that scrolled through the list of all 60-

plus ISA detainees with the several thousand

attendees reciting the detainees' names as they

appeared. Well-known blogger Raja Petra, released

from ISA detention only days before, mounted the

stage as the surprise guest of the grand finale.

¶8. (SBU) On November 7, a High Court judge

delivered an unanticipated legal blow to the GOM's

wide discretion in using the ISA in a habeas corpus

ruling that freed blogger Raja Petra. The Embassy

obtained the full text of the judge's 22-page

ruling. ISA Section 8.B states "there shallbe no judicial review in any court" of the Home

Minister's exercise of "discretionary powers in

accordance with this Act," except for compliance

with procedural requirements. The judge ruled,

however, that the Home Minister decisions could not

be "unfettered and arbitrary," allowing for the

court to consider whether the Minister's ISA

detention order was "in accordance with the Act,"

and its focus on threats to national security,

including the national economy; threats to

maintenance of essential services; and threats to

the public emanating from a "substantial body of

persons" who intend to change the government

through unlawful means. In the case of Raja Petra,

the judge concluded that the grounds for his

detention did not fall within the purview of the

ISA. The government has appealed the ruling and asof mid-December the appeal remains pending.

¶9. (C) Many civil society groups took the

opportunity over the past three months to highlight

their standing opposition to the ISA, as well as



other emergency ordinances that allow for detention

without trial. Both conservative and liberal

Muslim NGOs called on the GOM to abolish the ISA,

as did the inter-faith Consultative Forum that

groups the leaders of all major religions except

Islam. The National Human Rights Commission(SUHAKAM) chairman Abu Talib restated the

commission's existing position, namely "detention

without trial is against human rights principles;

that's why we advised the Government years ago to

repeal the ISA."

¶10. (C) As questions over the ISA have mounted,Prime Minister Abdullah, his deputy and successor

Najib, and other senior UMNO leaders defended the

ISA as essential to national security. In the wake

of public criticism over the September ISA arrests,

Home Minister Syed Hamid, who has authority under

the ISA to approve detention orders, defended the

Act as essential and stated clearly that "we have

no plans to do away with ISA." In early December,

Syed Hamid waved off criticisms, arguing that the

ISA "has never been abused or used for politics."

He also commented that, "Malaysians sometimes don't

know how lucky we are in that we have not

experienced what is happening in Mumbai (the

terrorist attack) and Bangkok (political unrest)

now." He said the fact that there have been no

post 9/11 terrors attacks in Malaysia was in part

due to the ISA. On December 15, Syed Hamid againpublicly defended use of the ISA, stating, "More

apt, faster and better to use the ISA... detention

under the act is early action to prevent the

security of the country from being adversely

affected."



¶11. (C) DPM Najib, who is anticipated to become

Prime Minister in late March 2009, told the

Ambassador privately on November 11 that the

government continued to need the ISA, "even though

there are civil liberty concerns," but shouldreserve ISA only for those who pose "serious

threats, like terrorists" (ref A). On December 8,

PM Abdullah publicly rejected calls for amendments

to the ISA.

¶12. (SBU) In early December, local and

international press reported that the GOM hadreleased 17 ISA detainees from November 5 through

December 4. Of those released, 10 had been held

for suspected links to Al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah,

and/or the Darul Islam terrorist groups. The

released terrorist suspects included Yazid Sufaat,

who played an important role in Al Qaeda's anthrax

development program, according to the 9/11

Commission. The remaining seven persons released

consisted of suspected foreign agents (2 persons),

southern Thailand separatists (2), document forgers

(2), and prominent blogger Raja Petra, according to

an NGO that consistently and accurately monitors

ISA detentions. In his public remarks, Syed Hamid

said those recently released ISA detainees had been

rehabilitated and no longer posed a security threat

to Malaysia.

¶13. (S) Note: Authorities had detained the

terrorist suspects for periods between two and (in

the case of Yazid Sufaat) seven years, for an

average detention period of four years for the ten

individuals. Special Branch relies on a process



for rehabilitating ISA detainees, and eventually

releasing them under restricted and monitored

conditions when judged necessary. The GOM has

never attempted to prosecute any terrorist

suspects, including those held under the ISA.

This is due in large part to the fact that the GOMpursues almost exclusively an intelligence approach

to CT, as opposed to a law enforcement approach

that would involve criminal investigations,

collection of legally admissible evidence, and

development of cases for prosecution in the courts.

In 2007, Malaysia amended anti-terrorism provisions

in its penal code and criminal procedures code, but

authorities have not yet utilized these provisions.Malaysia also has a poor track record of

prosecuting other complex criminal conspiracies,

including drug trafficking cases, preferring

instead to utilize the ISA and other emergency

ordinances to detain suspects without trial. End

Note.

¶14. (S) A well-known journalist contacted us in

early December and said that officers of the Police

Special Branch had complained to him that Home

Minister Syed Hamid had ordered the recent releases

of terrorist suspects without adequate consultation

and in some cases against the recommendation of

Special Branch. Australian and British diplomats,

speaking with Polcouns December 16, stated that

Syed Hamid, who is a lawyer by training, personallyreviewed the dossiers of ISA detainees and was

inclined to approve releases absent compelling

justification from the Special Branch.

¶15. (C) The Thai embassy contacted Poloff on



December 15 to express concern over the release of

two ISA detainees (Abdul Rahman bin Ahmad and Mat

Tarmizi bin Shamsudin, who apparently are dual-

citizens of Malaysia and Thailand) who had been

held for their connection to the insurgency in

southern Thailand. The Thai diplomat said Bangkokconsidered Abdul Rahman in particular to be a major

player in the insurgency. He noted that those

released are required to remain in Malaysia and

check in periodically with the police. The Thai

diplomat said he believed the GOM released the

detainees in order to diffuse criticism of the ISA.

We learned that the Thai embassy also has contacted

other Western embassies (UK, France, Australia) toexpress concern over the recent ISA releases.

KEITH

(Edited and reformatted by Andres for ease of

reading.)

cable 437: controversy in malaysia over government misuse of anti-terrorism laws

Documents