CIVIL society groups have questioned Putrajaya’s decision to postpone debate and voting on the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) bill, and also whether the police are truly interested in reform.

They said there must be no more delays as the IPCMC is an important legislation for accountability, transparency, integrity and respect for human rights.

Failure to push the bill through will only worsen public confidence and trust in the police, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) director Melissa Sasidaran said.

LFL is disappointed with the numerous objections police have raised against the bill, as this was a departure from the greenlight given by Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador when he first took office in May, she added.

“It reveals the truth of the matter, which is that the police were never serious about accountability, transparency and serving the nation with integrity and respect for human rights.

“No country has it easy in making the first steps towards restoring public confidence in the police, but if we don’t have the political will to do it now, when will we do so?” she told The Malaysian Insight.

Putrajaya today postponed the second and third readings of the bill, which would have enabled debate and voting by MPs on the move to create an independent oversight body to investigate and handle disciplinary action on police misconduct.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Liew Vui Keong said the postponement was based on the need for more fine-tuning to the legislation, which faced massive pushback from the police force and opposition MPs.

A report on the IPCMC bill by Parliament’s select committee on the consideration of bills was also due to be tabled today, but with the postponement of the bill’s second and third readings, the select committee’s report was not tabled.

The report would have looked at 37 proposed amendments made to the bill based on stakeholder consultation sessions.

LFL also took to task Pakatan Harapan MPs who have kept silent over the postponement, more so when several of them have experienced first-hand the abuses of power by a centralised police force.

She said countries with a police complaints system did not have a perfect mechanism either, but they each started somewhere, and have seen improvements to integrity in their police force.

“Of course, the work to improve IPCMC won’t end if it had been passed. Even in other countries their independent police complaints mechanism evolved over the years.

“No perfect system anywhere but what we have seen is a change in the culture of impunity for the better, better accountability, transparency, and respect for the rule of law and human rights.”

Human rights activist Rama Ramanathan, meanwhile, said establishing the IPCMC is an urgent matter as police are not held accountable for cases involving shootings and deaths in custody.

“The government must tell the public which model it wants to adopt and on what grounds before it talks about the bill. Right now, we are clueless whether it’s the Hong Kong model, the Ireland model or the England and Wales model,” said the spokesman for rights group Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (Caged).

He also said a law should be passed to reveal the number of deaths in custody and other human rights crimes that have taken place at the hands of the police.

Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, who earlier today pushed for the bill’s passing, said it was disappointing that MPs did not get to debate on the IPCMC.

She said she had been hoping the debate would correct misconceptions about the bill.

“We have to set higher standards in the police force. IPCMC is actually asking the police to work with the government to achieve that.

“It is crucial that it is tabled and passed immediately.” – December 3, 2019.