TODAY is International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

Today marks 515 days since the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) published its decision that Amri Che Mat and Pastor Raymond Koh are victims of enforced disappearances in Malaysia.

Specifically, Suhakam said Amri and Raymond were “abducted by state agents, namely the Special Branch (of the Royal Malaysian Police), Bukit Aman. (Suhakam Final Decision on Amri Che Mat, paragraph 32)”.

The image of the police has been impacted badly by the evidence adduced during the Suhakam inquiry and the inevitable conclusions.

On the day the Suhakam decision was released, Abdul Hamid Bador, then head of the Special Branch, Bukit Aman, was reported to have said: “I feel stressed at what was expressed by Suhakam for connecting the branch with illegal actions.” 

He added that a special team had been set up to investigate the allegations.

It is now 431 days since then home minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced the formation of a task force, the terms of reference of which were never published. When he announced it on June 26, it had six members, three of whom were connected to the police. All were Malay-Muslim men. 

After much public protest over conflict of interest, one of the members, the man who headed the legal division of the police during the Suhakam inquiry, did the honourable thing. He resigned. Muhyiddin then added two members: one Chinese man and a woman. This was to “balance” the ethnic and gender composition of the task force.

Muhyiddin had said the task force would be given six months to look into the disappearance of Amri. He was reported to have said Raymond was out of scope of the task force, purportedly because a person is being charged in court. 

The six months expired December 26, 2019. According to reports, Muhyiddin granted the request of the task force for a two-month extension. Therefore, the report of the task force should have been submitted to Muhyiddin on February 26, 2020. 

Six months have expired since February 26. Yet, there has been no news about the findings of the task force.

Members of the Royal Malaysian Police deserve better. They deserve to have wrongdoers in their ranks dealt with in a manner proportionate to the wrongdoings – in this case, the serious crime of abduction, which allows for punishment of up to seven years in prison. 

On this day, the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we call upon the Malaysian government, headed now by Muhyiddin, to make public the findings of the task force.

Further, we call upon Hamid, now inspector-general of police, to tell the public what actions the police have taken in response to the Suhakam report. – August 30, 2020. 

* Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (CAGED) is an activist group.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.