Torture & Inhuman Treatment
Human Rights Perspective
What is Torture?
UNCAT
For the purposes of this Convention, the word
"torture" means any act by which severe pain or
suffering, whether physical or mental, is
intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes
as obtaining from him or third person information or
a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third
person has committed or is suspected of having
committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a
third person, or for any reason based on
discrimination of any kind, when such pain or
suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or
with the consent or acquiescence of a public official
or other person acting in an official capacity. It does
not include pain or suffering arising only from,
inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
CUSTODIAL DEATHS
Custodial Deaths in
Malaysia
P. Karuna Nithi, a 42 years old engineer, died
in police custody at the Tampin Police
District Headquarters in Negeri Sembilan on
1 June 2013.
He went to the police station to report a
domestic incident on 31 May 2013 but was
instead arrested for causing hurt. He died in
police custody the next day. The autopsy
report, according to the media, found 49
injury marks on his body.
In January 2015, the coroner’s open verdict
ruled that Karuna Nithi’s death was due to
several factors, including beatings by the
police, as well as other inmates, resulting in
him sustaining 49 wounds.
Custodial Deaths in Malaysia
Kugan, 22, was arrested in Puchong on
Jan 14, 2009, and held overnight at the
Puchong Jaya
He was taken to the Taipan USJ, Subang
Jaya police station two days later for
questioning and was found dead on Jan
20, 2009.
In 2012, Navindran — the only
policeman charged over Kugan's death
— was sentenced to three years' jail for
causing hurt to the 23-year-old. He
appealed this unsuccessfully at the High
Court.
Navindran was also found guilty of
malfeasance in the death and the family
was awarded RM751,700 in damages
Custodial Death in Malaysia
S Balamurugan, aged 44, was arrested on Feb 6, 2017
and brought before a magistrate for his remand
hearing on Feb 7.
It was reported that his mouth was bleeding and he
vomited blood in court. The magistrate quite correctly
rejected the remand and ordered that he be released
immediately and taken to the hospital.
In apparent defiance of the court order, the police took
him back to the police station. Reports state that at
about 11.30pm on Feb 7, police noticed that he was
unconscious while in a room and called an ambulance.
Paramedics pronounced him dead when they arrived
A post-mortem concluded that Balamurugan died of
coronary artery disease with multiple blunt force
injuries.
Custodial Deaths in Malaysia
Dharmendran was detained on May 11, 2013 and
died on May 21, 2013 while in detention at the
Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK
KL).
Dharmendran complained of chest pains while he
was locked up and collapsed at around 4.25pm on
May 21 2016. He was pronounced dead on arrival
after being immediately sent to the Hospital Kuala
Lumpur.
The Police said the was death due to asthma/heart
attack. He was complaining of chest pains before
being brought to Hospital Kuala Lumpur where he
was declared dead.
Dharmendran sustained 52 bruises on his body.
These included staple wounds on his ears.
Mysterious Death
Teoh Beng Hock was a journalist
and political aide of a Selangor state
executive councillor, Ean Yong Hian Wah.
On 15 July 2009, Teoh had been called
into questioning by the Malaysian Anti-
Corruption Commission (MACC) and was
held overnight at their headquarters on the
14th floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah
Alam.
Teoh arrived at the MACC headquarters at
6pm and was interviewed twice during the
course of that fateful night.
The first round of interviews was
reportedly held between 10pm and
midnight of 15 July 2009, with no official
statements being taken.
He was further questioned during a second
round of interviews held between 1.30am
Mysterious Death
• Teoh was found dead on the 5th floor
roof of Plaza Masalam the following
day around 1.30pm by one of the
building’s janitorial staff.
• He had reportedly fallen out the
window of the 14th floor of the
building, where the MACC offices
were located.
Mysterious Death
• 1st Investigation: An inquest was set
up to determine his cause of death.
Proceedings lasted 17 months and
essentially, two theories were pursued:
suicide or homicide. The inquest was
unable to reach conclusion.
• 2nd Investigation: A Royal
Commission of Inquiry (RCI)
concluded that Teoh was “driven to
suicide” due to the aggressive
interrogation methods used by MACC
officers.
• 3rd Investigation: In 2014, the Court
of Appeal ruled that Teoh’s death was
caused by multiple injuries resulting
from a fall from the 14th floor of Plaza
Masalam, a result of unlawful acts by
Torture in Malaysia
Source: https://www.amnesty.my/stop-torture/
Legal Provisions in
Malaysia
Section 334-338 of the Criminal Procedure Code,
Section 299, 300, 301, 304 of the Penal Code and
Practice Direction No. 2/2014 produced by the Office
of the Chief Registrar, Federal Court of Malaysia.
However, all provisions only underline the
procedures on managing death investigations and
inquest proceedings on deaths in custody
Is there a solution?
Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission is a Federal Statutory
Body established by an Act of Parliament, under Section 3 of
Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission Act 2009
(1) to receive complaints of misconduct from the public against an
enforcement officer or against an enforcement agency
(2) to make site visits to the premises of an enforcement agency,
Is there a solution ?
(IPCMC)
• The IPCMC was first proposed by the Royal Commission to
Enhance the Operation and Management of the Royal
Malaysia Police in 2005. It was watered down to the EAIC
after fierce objections by the police force under then inspector-
general of police Musa Hassan.
• The EAIC can investigate, but cannot take action.
Torture in International
Perspective
Torture in International Perspective has broader definition:
(1) Living conditions
(2) Solitary confinement/incommunicado
(3) Unlawful detention
(4) Refoulement
(5) Sex and Gender Based Violence
(6) Female Genital Mutilation
(7) Enforced Disappearance
Examples of intense
Torture
Jaguar
victim’s wrists are tied to his feet. He is then suspended from a bar and thus
kept upside down, sometimes over a fire, and is beaten in the soles of his feet
Strappado
victim's hands are first tied behind their back, and then he or she is
suspended in the air by means of a rope attached to wrists, which most likely
dislocates both arms. Weights may be added to the body to intensify the
effect and increase the pain
Forced fellatio
Forced penetration of the mouth as a humiliating and degrading attack on
human dignity
Torture Techniques
Torture Techniques
Torture Techniques
CIA Enhanced
Interrogation Technique
1) Abdominal slap
2) Cramped Confinement
3) Dietary Manipulation
4) Stress Positions
5) Sleep Deprivation
6) Waterboarding
7) Rectal feeding
8) Water Intoxication
9) Extraordinary Rendition
10) Enforced Disappearance
UNCAT as a Solution ?
United Nation Convention against Torture (1984)
Charter Divided into 5 elements:
1) Prohibition
2) Prevention
3) Punishment
4) Redress
5) Reporting
UNCAT
Article 4
Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its
criminal law.
Article 14
Each State Party shall ensure in its legal system that the victim of an act
of torture obtains redress and has an enforceable right to fair and
adequate compensation, including the means for as full rehabilitation as
possible.
Article 17
There shall be established a Committee against Torture. The Committee
shall consist of ten experts of high moral standing and recognized
competence in the field of human rights, who shall serve in their
personal capacity
UNCAT
Torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, must attain a
minimum level of severity.
The assessment of this threshold of severity is made in regard of the specific
circumstances of the case and the Court considers the following: -
(1) duration of treatment;
(2) physical effects of treatment; -
(3) mental effects of treatment; and
(4) Sex, age and state of health of the victim
Irlande v. United Kingdom (1979-1989)
UNCAT / ECHR
Gäfgen v. Germany (1 June 2010)
The Grand Chamber considered that police officers threatening the applicant imminent
pain for the purpose of extracting information constituted “inhuman treatment” falling
within the scope of Article 3.
Slyusarev v Russia (20 April 2010)
The Court found degrading treatment in breach of Article 3 when a person was deprived
of his spectacles even though there was no evidence of impairment to the eyes caused by
the delayed replacement. The fact that the applicant could not read or write normally
was sufficient to amount to treatment in breach of Art.3.
Cesaro v Italy, 7 April 2015.
When riot police burst into schools used as shelters by G8 protestors and meted out
punishment with riot sticks, this was found to have reached the level of torture under
Art.3
International Convention for the
Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance
Article 1
1. No one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance.
2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state
of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any
other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for
enforced disappearance.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Convention, "enforced disappearance"
is considered to be the arrest, detention, abduction or any other
form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by
persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization,
support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to
acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of
the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place
such a person outside the protection of the law.
Pastor Raymond
Koh
On Monday morning, February 13, 2017 Pastor Raymond Koh
(pictured) was driving his car to visit a friend’s house. He never
arrived. He was stopped in Petaling Jaya, Selangor State by
unknown assailants and abducted in broad daylight. He has not
been seen or heard from since and his car has never been found.
Early in 2019, Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission issued a
report blaming the abductions of Pastor Raymond and others on
the Special Branch of Malaysia’s police. But to date, no one has
been held accountable, and Pastor Raymond’s whereabouts and
condition remain unknown.
There are possible links to Koh's role as a Christian activist at a
time when Malaysia is moving to enforce stricter Islamic laws
Torture is still Prevalent?
• Abu Zubaydah, an alleged Al Qaeda operative
captured in Pakistan in 2002, was suspected of
being a senior member of the group an
• it turns out that he wasn’t even a member of Al
Qaeda—the C.I.A., convinced that he was
harboring knowledge of future attacks, subjected
him to twenty days of torture.d a plotter in the 9/11
attacks.
• They stripped him, deprived him of sleep, slammed
him into the prison wall, and played music at
deafening volumes. They waterboarded him eighty-
three times, driving him into fits of hysteria and
involuntary spasms;
Why Torture is still
prevalent?
1. Some, including those in prominent political positions,
inaccurately believe that torture is an effective interrogation
method and, therefore justified in some circumstances
2. Second, torture is often committed in secret or in places with
little to no independent oversight or monitoring
3. Third, because torture is a universal crime of the highest
order, governments will go to great lengths to manipulate
both law and language to avoid the moral and legal
ramifications of torture.
4. Torture continues today because impunity for perpetrators is
widespread.
