RELIGIOUS minorities in this country had legitimate fears for their safety – particularly between 2016 and 2017 – given the sudden and mysterious disappearance of Pastor Raymond Koh, Amri Che Mat, Joshua Hilmy and Ruth Sitepu, all within a year.

After all, there were allegations that Koh was targeted for his involvement of trying to convert Muslims, Amri Che Mat was abducted for allegedly preaching Shia Islam, while Joshua Hilmy is a Christian convert from Indonesia who preaches his religion.

Suhakam’s public inquiry on Koh and Amri was released in 2019 and the conclusion it reached was that they were indeed victims of enforced disappearance, and the abduction was perpetrated by the Special Branch of the Royal Malaysia Police.

As for the case of the missing husband and wife, Hilmy and Sitepu, Suhakam also recently concluded its public inquiry and released its findings on April 15, 2022.

The final report shed light on many of the questions surrounding the case.

However, as opposed to the previous damning findings of Koh and Amri, Suhakam found that state agents were not involved in the abduction of Hilmy and Sitepu.

Naturally, the “State agents not involved in abduction” headline is too good to be ignored by news media. But headlining the public inquiry in such a manner may give a false impression and absolve the police or government of their complicity in the disappearance of the couple.

Even if there is a distinct possibility that police were not physically present in the abduction of the couple in the first place, the evidence and findings revealed by Suhakam indicate obvious clues that the state was complicit in the couple’s sudden disappearance.

Section 240 of the report speaks of the “highly unsatisfactory conduct and shortcomings of the Royal Malaysia Police in investigating the disappearances of Joshua Hilmy and Ruth Sitepu had contributed to the acquiescence of the State in the abduction of the couple”.

There is more than a little evidence that supports the argument that Suhakam is making.

For instance, as stated in the report, the close duration in the timing of the speech by Deputy Police Commissioner Awaluddin Jadid equating leaving the Islam faith with terrorism and urged the public to act against those who engage in religious conversion activities and the disappearances of Hilmy, Sitepu, Koh and Amri between 2016 and 2017.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the interval between the abduction of Amri and the couple was only six days, and the abduction of the latter has since been concluded to be perpetrated by state agents.

Secondly, it is also well noted in the report that the police had failed to investigate the case in a diligent and professional manner.

Moreover, the report also revealed that the investigation officers had been lackadaisical in their investigation and there were even attempts by the investigation officer to suppress the case from the knowledge of other agencies and public.

Furthermore, the police were not cooperative with Suhakam when it came to production of documents and information to assist with the public inquiry.

Suhakam revealed through the report that the police officers did not produce their investigation diary during the public inquiry upon request.

Naturally, the Royal Malaysia Police should be giving full support to the public inquiry and view it as part of the process of restoring public faith towards the force.

However, the lax and disobliging attitude that they showed towards the investigation of the missing couple and the whole enquiry process would not reinforce the notion that the police were involved in the involuntary disappearance of the couple.

As for the government’s responsibility in providing public accountability on issues that concern major human rights violations, the report had also made it clear that the Malaysian government has thus far not cooperated and given any information about the couple’s disappearance.

When we consider that Malaysia was recently elected to the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, this is a tragedy when they were totally silent about major human rights violations of the nature of enforced disappearances happening in the country.

It has been more than a week since the findings were published but the government and police have not released any statement, never mind acknowledging the findings of Suhakam.

Equally, we still have not heard about any findings nor a single word from the task force on Koh and Amri that was set up in June 2019.

Therefore, as opposed to what the media had suggested, the report did not exonerate the police but rather it reinforced the notion that the four individuals that were abducted between 2016 and 2017 were victims of enforced disappearance and the police and government ought to be held accountable.

Enforced disappearance is defined as the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the state and is known as one of the major human rights violations.

Frankly, it would be a shame especially to the families of victims of enforced disappearance if the silence on cases of enforced disappearance by the government still persist while the same government talks about the importance for Malaysia to secure a seat in the UN Human Rights Council. – April 24, 2022.

* Kenneth Cheng has always been interested in the interplay between human rights and government but more importantly he is a father of two cats, Tangyuan and Toufu. When he is not attending to his feline matters, he is most likely reading books about politics and human rights or playing video games. He is a firm believer in the dictum “power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will”.