1．Rev.Sivin Kit's Garden (http://sivinkit.net)
CFM Statement of Concern on the Sudden Death of Mr. Teoh Beng Hock
CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA (PERSEKUTUAN KRISTIAN MALAYSIA)
Dear Bishops and Christian Church leaders,
Warmest Christian greetings in Christ Jesus from the CFM.In recent days the Christian community in Malaysia has been truly appalled and saddened by the sudden death of Mr. Teoh Beng Hock in strange and unclear circumstances on the morning of 16 July.
The Prime Minister himself has personally promised Mr. Teoh’s parents that every effort would be made to find out the cause of the political aide’s death (NST, 29 July 2009). To this end the Government of Malaysia has convened an inquest to look into the circumstances of Mr. Teoh’s death and to inquire if anyone was criminally liable. At the same time, a Royal Commission of Inquiry will be set up to inquire into the investigatory procedures of the MACC.
Collectively as a community we want to express our deepest condolences and sympathies to the family of the late Mr. Teoh and our prayers go out to them for God’s grace and comfort to face this difficult period. We encourage church leaders to express their prayers and condolences to the family.
As Christian citizens of Malaysia we pray that Almighty God will guide the inquest and the Royal Commission of Inquiry to unearth the truth, to uphold justice and to bring closure to the very unfortunate death of a young man with a bright future ahead of him.
We also pray that the Lord God will help us to seek an end to the many deaths in custody that occur all too frequently in our prisons, detention centres and lock-ups. [According to SUARA RAKYAT MALAYSIA's 2008 Human Rights Report, citing government statistics, in 2008 itself there were 13 cases of deaths in police custody while 255 deaths were recorded in prisons.]
The very least that must be demanded of the relevant authorities and which they in any event should at least do is to thoroughly investigate every loss of life in ambiguous circumstances while in the custody of our law enforcement agencies so that any element of foul play may be ruled out.
We call upon our fellow Christians in government and in the political parties to also seek to leave no stone unturned in seeking the truth of the death not only of Mr. Teoh but the many others who have died whilst in the custody of our law enforcement agencies. Every human life is precious in the sight of Almighty God. Every family of each deceased person has the right to know the truth behind the death of their loved one.
May we together in love and patience grapple with the issues of the day in seeking to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly before God (Micah 6 : 8). This is the very least that God demands of us.
Bishop Ng Moon Hing,
Chairman and the Executive Committee,
Christian Federation of Malaysia
31th July 2009
2. Council of Churches of Malaysia (http://www.ccmalaysia.org)
Statement of CCM Youth - Death by Detention?
CCM Youth refers to the articles, commentaries, joint statements and various public responses recounting the shocking death of an MACC witness, Teoh Beng Hock, under dubious circumstances. CCM Youth is not only horrified and outraged, but deeply ashamed and bewildered.This tragedy yet again adds another nauseating leaf to our country’s sheer lack of a credible and transparent value system of integrity against a painful track record of mistreatment of suspects and dubious deaths under detention. What makes this more disturbing is that this is the first case of a witness dying under questioning. The primary concern is the clear lack of oversight, which is a shameful symptom of the nation’s ingrained and persistent lack of political will to revamp clear violations of basic human rights by enforcers of the law and those in authority.
The critical issue is not one of “Who’s next?” but “Who’s before?” Teoh Beng Hock is but the latest of a growing list of deaths under detention or custody or police action – A Kugan, Samiyati Indrayani Zulkarnain Putra, Francis Udayappan, Dr Tai Eng Teck (the police officer was eventually convicted), V Vikines, Tharma Rajan, M Ragupathy, Syed Fadzil Syed Ibrahim, Hasrizal Hamzah, Prakash Moses, Kannan Kanthan, Ahmad Salleh, Ulaganathan Muniandy, Vivashanu Pilai, Ho Kwai See, Ravichandran Ramayah, Veerasamy Gopal, L. Yoges Rao –; just to name a few of the more celebrated deaths out of the untold numbers who died under police action, or inaction. Do we still remember these names? Or have they been neatly filed and forgotten?
This is only the tip of the iceberg - what of the deaths of undocumented migrants or detainees in rural police stations that we don’t hear about in the media? According to our previous Deputy Home Minister Wan Fairuz Wan Salleh, he reported in Parliament that a staggering 1,531 died in custody in 4 years from 2003 to 2007. According to Suhakam, 1,300 foreign migrants died in detention centres in the past 6 years. These statistics are damaging, and damning. How many more talented youth do we have to sacrifice before we finally pull the plug on the potential for blatant abuse by enforcers of the law?
We need to move beyond a call for yet another Royal Commission of Inquiry. We are jaded by the setting up of panels and commissions that are unable to bring about meaningful countermeasures. We are saddened that nothing concrete has been done despite countless recommendations by generations of “toothless tigers”.
We need a working public system to track such deaths. Witnesses and detainees should have the right to immediate legal representation. Standard operating procedures for the protection of witnesses should be made available to the public – remove the veil of secrecy. Violations by enforcers of the law, who are to protect, not harm, should be swiftly dealt with. So what if we have CCTVs? The tapes can be easily erased or tampered with unless a system of checks are in place to protect the integrity of evidence. Evidence collection and forensics intervention must be immediate and timely. We must remove any conflict of interest in investigations of public interest.
We are a grieving nation today. We are in pain. The government has failed repeatedly to enact meaningful and honest reform to the enforcement community, that is, the police, RELA and prison system - and the prospects are depressing to say the least.
We thank the public, NGOs and media for keeping such issues alive and urge politicians not to milk Teoh Beng Hock’s death for their own agenda.
We call upon Tan Sri Musa Hassan to ensure that he leaves no stone unturned in these investigations and to honestly reveal the findings, without conspiring to hide the truth from the Rakyat, to whom the Police are accountable.
We call upon our new Home Minister, Dato’ Seri Hishammudin Hussein to take leadership and act swiftly and courageously on this. The government urgently needs to bring the detention system up to basic standards of decency and fairness. We need to lift the veil on interrogation centres, migrant detention centres, police jails, and hold all heads of departments to full accountability for all misdemeanours by their officers. And that includes MACC. We demand automatic inquiries upon death whether by police action, or inaction. We need to implement and re-design an enforceable and just system with the highest standards of accountability and transparency. The Home Minister’s planned review of 33 Acts would not be meaningful to the Rakyat if there is no justice or if we are unable to trust the very authorities who are supposed to enforce them.
We believe that Teoh Beng Hock and the countless others who died before him, did not die in vain. We look to our Home Minister to restore the Rakyat’s faith in the authorities whose duties are to protect them.
In his efforts to bring about unity in his 1Malaysia concept, we call upon our Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak to make this a reality by leading the nation to repentance before the Almighty God for the deaths of our young Malaysians in custody, poor treatment of migrants, lack of honesty in the government system, and the lack of love and care for the vulnerable.
Our Prime Minister must honour God first, and since he is God’s chosen leader for this nation, he should call for a National Day of Prayer. We trust that our Prime Minister’s recent pilgrimage will give him new found strength to raise a God fearing nation that honours the Almighty, and a people not only of knowledge, but of wisdom, integrity and honesty. The first tenet of the Rukunegara – “Belief in God, or Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan” – bears no meaning if we do not come before God in national mourning and repentance. Failure to answer for wrongdoings puts us into condemnation from the Almighty God. The Rakyat is counting on our Prime Minister to ensure that justice will prevail in this nation for all communities. It is our hope and prayer that justice will prevail in this matter; that those who are responsible be identified, convicted and punished.
Our Prime Minister must be seen to exercise an even hand in his fight against corruption – if MACC is so short handed, then priority must be placed on catching the big sharks like political leaders with assets beyond their means or leaders who have misappropriated public funds in the name of welfare for their personal use or entertainment. To try to distract the Rakyat with investigations involving small amounts of a couple of thousand ringgit is insulting the Rakyat’s intelligence.
May our God Almighty deal justly and severely with those who do not fear Him, and on those who are intent on suppressing the truth.
Daniel Chai
Youth Secretary
CCM Youth
21 July 2009
3. NECF Malaysia (http://www.necf.org.my)
29 July 2009
The Pastor/Elder/Leader
NECF Member Churches/Organisations
Malaysia
Over the last two weeks, many of us would have agonized and raged over the untimely and most tragic demise of Teoh Beng Hock. Some of us may have even been overflowing with wrath, given the human side of the tragedy – that Beng Hock was hours away from being a husband and months away from being a father before his life was snuffed out.
Together with thousands all over Malaysia, we have shared a gut-wrenching grief with his family and fiancée, and the feeling has not abated through time.
Thanks to the persistent demands for truth and justice from many quarters, the Government has finally agreed to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI). Unfortunately, RCI will only investigate the interrogation methods of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and not Beng Hock’s death, which will be investigated via an inquest conducted by a magistrate beginning today.
Much as we are disappointed over the Government’s move, let us pick up from this decision to pray earnestly for the following:
1) Pray that the WHOLE TRUTH – and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH – about Beng Hock’s death will be revealed, whether through the inquest or RCI. Pray there will be no cover up and that the party (or parties) responsible for this heinous crime will be brought to book immediately;.
2) Pray that the Prime Minister’s pledge for a transparent investigation will not be empty rhetoric but an honest, sincere search for the truth, regardless of whatever consequences the truth may bring to the Government and to certain individuals.
3) Pray that the Government will heed the public’s cry for MACC to report to the Parliament instead of to the Prime Minister (as is the current policy). With MACC reporting to the Parliament, it will be impartial towards political parties and thus, be more effective in its objective of weeding out corruption.
While on this matter, we are most disturbed and displeased by the seemingly biased ongoing investigations of our politicians. Reported corruption cases of millions of ringgit involving individuals of certain political parties are left untouched while far smaller cases involving politicians of other parties are being pursued with missionary zeal.
The public is acutely aware of the MACC’s (seeming) partiality. It appears that the MACC is an instrument wielded by certain individuals for their own advantage. By making MACC accountable to the Parliament instead of to the Prime Minister alone, this will prove the Government’s desire to weed out corruption.
4) Pray that through the RCI investigation, MACC’s weaknesses and unjust and unlawful procedures will be exposed and corrected. An example of a weakness – MACC does not allow those being questioned access to solicitors.
5) Finally, pray and tell all your friends who eligible to vote to register as a voter NOW. Every individual vote counts as is proven in last year’s election. Let us take ownership of our country’s future by making our vote count.
Sam Ang
Secretary-General
NECF Malaysia
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