FAC News - Sunday, January 20, 2002 6:07 PM

ISA Detainees to launch hunger strike on Monday

Five Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees currently being held in the Kamunting Detention Centre will be launching a hunger strike on Monday, 21 January 2002, to protest their continued detention. The five - National Justice Party (Keadilan) Youth Leader Ezam Mohd Nor, Lokman Noor Adam, Saari Sungib, Tian Chua, and Reformist Hishamuddin Rais - were arrested under Malaysia’s infamous and dreaded ISA in April last year together with five other opposition leaders and Reformasi activists.

Two of the detainees, FAC Director Raja Petra Kamarudin, and human rights activist, Badaruddin Ismail, were released unconditionally while N. Gobalakrishnan and Ghani Haroon were released by the Shah Alam Court when they filed a Writ of Habeas Corpus.

Dr Badrulamin Bahron was released later that year with stringent conditions attached. Amongst some of these conditions is he is restricted to the Gombak area, must remain indoors from 10.00pm every night until 6.00am the following morning, and must report at the nearest police station every Monday. Dr Badrulamin is also barred from holding any position in a political party, is not to give any public talks, and must not be involved in any political activities.

The ISA allows the Malaysian police to arrest and detain any person they consider "a threat to national security" indefinitely and without trial. No evidence is required to detain a person under the ISA other than the opinion that that person may pose a threat to national security. Further to that, a person can be arrested if it is considered that he or she may be contemplating committing a crime though no actual crime may have been committed yet.

According to a Reformasi Movement spokesman, an emergency meeting will be called tomorrow to discuss the course of action to be taken and to consider whether a similar hunger strike in sympathy with the ISA detainees should be launched in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. It is believed that a few Reformasi supporters have already volunteered to join in the hunger strike expected to be launched later in the week in concert with that of the ISA detainees’.

With the ban on political rallies and the police crackdown on street demonstrations, the Reformists have to look for newer and more creative ways to bring the attention of the International community to the plight of the ISA detainees.

So far, an estimated 6,000 Malaysians have been arrested under the ISA with about 100 still under detention in Kamunting.