THE public inquiry into the disappearance of pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife Ruth will continue once the conditional movement-control order (CMCO) is lifted, as Malaysians want to know the truth about what happened to the couple, said Suhakam.

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia will start finalising the dates for the resumption of the inquiry once the CMCO ends on June 9.

The inquiry was suspended in the middle of March after two Suhakam commissioners tested positive for Covid-19. The panel is chaired by commissioner Hishamuddin Yunus, assisted by commissioners Joseph and Madeline Berma.

Suhakam commissioner Jerald Joseph told The Malaysian Insight all precautions in accordance with Health Ministry guidelines will be taken before the inquiry commences.

They will comply strictly with guidelines on social distancing and other health protocols, he said. The human rights body may even resort to live-streaming but it will still be a public hearing.

“We still need another 15 days of inquiry into this case,” Joseph told The Malaysian Insight.

“Malaysians need to know what happened to the couple and we aim to get to the bottom of this.”

At the last hearing on March 4, before the MCO, an Indonesian civil society, KontraS, said they will bring the couple’s case to the attention of President Joko Widodo if nothing concrete comes out from the inquiry.

The group’s coordinator Yati Andriyani said it has already raised the issue with the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The inquiry aims to ascertain if the couple were victims of enforced disappearance.

International human rights laws define enforced disappearance as when a person is secretly abducted or imprisoned by a state or political organisation, or by a third party with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of a state or political organisation.

Little is known about Joshua and Ruth, who went missing in 2016. Two years after their disappearance, Ruth’s siblings lodged a missing person’s report.

Ruth’s family comes from the fishing village of Nambiki in northern Sumatra, Indonesia.

In past proceedings, the panel was told the couple wanted to flee the country when he started receiving “threatening” phone calls and emails from as early as 2015.

The emails were over Joshua’s alleged conversion of Muslims to Christianity.

Former youth and sports minister Khairy Jamaluddin was named in the inquiry for allegedly sending emails to Joshua, warning the couple to leave the country. 

Khairy, however, denied this accusation, saying he did not know Joshua or Ruth.

This is the third public inquiry conducted by Suhakam. The human rights body had previously held similar inquiries into the disappearance of pastor Raymond Koh and Perlis activist Amri Che Mat.

The inquiry into the two activists revealed they were abducted by Special Branch from Bukit Aman.

Former Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai, who headed the panel in both Koh and Amri’s inquiries, said state agents were involved in the abduction of the two activists, adding that the inquiry panel was unanimous in its findings.

The panel heard that a police report was lodged against Koh, months after his abduction, for allegedly proselytising to young people up north.

Amri, meanwhile, was under police surveillance over alleged Shia links.

Mah had said that during the course of the inquiry, several complaints were raised against the police, including the lack of cooperation, suppression and concealment of evidence.

The inquiry also recommended police reopen investigations into the two activists. – June 2, 2020.