KUALA LUMPUR: The prisons department told a public inquiry into alleged rights abuses at Taiping prison that its officers were at fault for violating detainees’ basic rights during a relocation exercise earlier this year.
The department’s federal counsel Amirah Abdul Razak, in her oral submissions today, admitted that CCTV recordings on Jan 17 showed that prison wardens assaulted detainees with pepper spray and batons that day, despite certain officers claiming otherwise.
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) inquiry is investigating allegations that more than 100 inmates at Taiping prison were assaulted by around 60 wardens during the relocation exercise from Hall B to Block E. One of the detainees, Gan Chin Eng, died in the incident.
Amirah said some prison officers who previously testified in the inquiry had attempted to cover up their wrongdoings.
“We are here not to find fault, but to identify the breaches and make our recommendations to improve (prison) facilities,” she added.
The legal officer also said that medical officers and assistant officers were partly negligent in providing timely medical assistance to Gan and other detainees.
She claimed that they were burdened with work as they needed to attend to more than 1,200 detainees at Taiping prison.
Amirah also said the department had previously suggested that the government build a new prison to replace the Taiping centre, due to its outdated structure and the inability of contractors to carry out construction work.
Prison officers failed to stop riot, lawyer says
Lawyer T Shashi Devan, representing Gan’s family in a watching brief, told the inquiry that some senior prison officers on duty made no attempt to stop their subordinates during the Jan 17 riot.
“Two of them even tried to distance themselves from the incident and one of them admitted that he deleted a video on his phone (that showed Gan and other detainees being assaulted),” he said.
Shashi also said that the prison’s medical officer, Dr V Navin Esavik, had failed in his statutory duty by not rushing Gan to the hospital.
“Taiping Hospital was just five minutes away from the prison. How long did it take (for the prison authorities and the doctor to send) Uncle Gan to the hospital? Thirty minutes.
“Uncle Gan died under the neglectful eyes of Dr Navin,” he added.
The lawyer also said that Navin had not taken immediate action to treat Gan while in prison, but had “called the hospital to ‘warn’ them about a potential mass casualty”.
In response to a question from Suhakam chairman Hishamudin Yunus on the progress of the investigation, Shashi said the police had yet to update Gan’s family on whether anyone had been charged.
Lawyer Abang Iwawan Abg Narawi, representing the Malaysian Bar in a watching brief, said it was time for the government to ratify the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The inquiry, chaired by Hishamudin and commissioner Farah Nini Dusuki, will notify the lawyers of its verdict at a later date.
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