Bersih 3.0 1. Government Panel finds that Police and KL City Hall fueled Bersih 3.0 chaos. 2.

SUHAKAM panel finds excessive force and misconduct by cops in Bersih rally.

Police, KL City Hall fueled Bersih 3.0 chaos, panel finds

B Y TR IN NA L EO NG JU LY 12, 201 3

A government panel has confirmed that Malaysian police used excessive force against yellow-shirted supporters of last year's Bersih 3.0 peaceful rally that descended into chaos in Kuala Lumpur. Sources in the panel headed by former police chief Tun Hanif Omar also faulted the Kuala Lumpur City Hall for their flimsy excuses in disallowing rally organisers to use Dataran Merdeka for the gathering and Syarikat Prasarana Negara Berhad (SPN) for stopping government-owned buses and trains from getting into the city. The panel was set up by the government to investigate police on allegations of brutality against demonstrators and reporters in the rally on April 28, 2012. It handed over a 500-page report of its deliberations to Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi on Wednesday. Speaking to The Malaysian Insider on condition of anonymity, a source said the panel had criticised police for its high-handedness in dealing with the rally participants after they had breached the cordon at Dataran Merdeka.

The report chronicled the events before, during and after the rally that was held to demand for free and fair elections. Investigations over the past year had led panelists to the conclusion that the police resorted to violence upon provocation. Before 3pm, the police behaved professionally," said the source, adding that this information was sourced from 70 videos submitted by the police force to the panel. But after 3pm, when some demonstrators took down the barricade at Dataran Merdeka, all hell broke loose. Police charged after the demonstrators, chasing them down at various places in the city centre. And most of those targeted were clad in the now-famous yellow Bersih T-shirts. The police had its shortcomings but have learnt their lesson based on what happened during Bersih 3.0, said another source. This, said the source, was evident in the recent Black 505 rally organised by opposition parties to protest alleged electoral fraud. KL City Hall was also taken to task for its poor handling in the run-up to the event when they offered flimsy excuses why Dataran Merdeka could not be used, the source added. City Hall could have handled it better and avoided the mess. The panel concluded that City Hall did not give any valid reasons why Dataran Merdeka could not be used. The panel had to accept those reasons because City Hall is the authority in charge of the historic site," said the source. The panel also criticised the government-owned SPNB for its handling of buses and trains that link suburbs to the city centre. On that day, trains and buses stopped running into the city, in an obvious move to discourage Bersih 3.0 supporters from turning up in the city centre," said the source. The 500-page report encompassed the actions of different parties including the media, an institution that the panel felt had failed to protect its reporters. Most editors just told their reporters to stay safe but there were no guidelines on what they should do when things turned out the way that it did, said the source. The panel also raised concerns over the lack of awareness the members of the public have towards the law and the potential risks of demonstrations. The sources revealed that although the investigation had cited 45 witnesses, the panel did not rely on their testimonies alone.

The panel studied news reports, blogs and the social media. Police were called to confirm reports," one source said. The panel, however, was boycotted by the opposition and Bersih 3.0 organisers, who were unhappy with its terms of reference. The opposition maintained the panel did not have legal power and credibility to summon any witness. And the fact that panel chairman Hanif had made biased comments on how the Bersih 3.0 rally was being planned by communists added to the panel's lack of credibility. However, opposition members participated in a similar hearing on Bersih 3.0 held by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam). The lack of participation from the public was also one of the reasons why the panel had to resort to sourcing eyewitness accounts online. The findings were not as thorough as we hoped because many witnesses refused to show up, said the source, adding that prior to publishing its report, the panel also looked at the report published by Suhakam. While the sources interviewed felt the report was fair, they were not sure if the government is going to take up the proposals made by the panel. It was also reported that the Cabinet will decide if the advisory panel's report will be made public. - July 12, 2013.

MALAYSIA

Suhakam finds excessive force and misconduct by cops in Bersih rally

UPDATED @ 10:03:02 PM 17-04-2013
B Y ID A LIM A PR IL 17, 201 3

Suhakams report says the police used disproportionate force during and after the arrest of participants of the Bersih rally for free and fair elections last April 28. Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 The police had used disproportionate force during and after the arrest of participants of the Bersih rally for free and fair elections last April 28, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) said today. In releasing its report following a three-man panel's public inquiry into the rally, Suhakam also noted other violation of human rights, including the freedom of media and freedom of expression. "The Panel is of the view, based on the testimonies of the witnesses as well as video recordings, that there was use of disproportionate force and misconduct by the police

towards the participants," the panel chairman Datuk Dr Khaw Lake Tee said when reading out an extract of the report at the Suhakam headquarters here. The panel pointed to cases where some policemen had assaulted rally goers who were being arrested, despite a lack of evidence of resistance by the latter. Among other things, the panel found that the police did not facilitate a safe dispersal of the massive crowd in the national capital, highlighting the insufficient time given and the continuous firing of chemical-laced water and tear gas on those trying to leave after the rally ended. The panel said that the police had failed to handle the rally in a way that reflected the spirit of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) 2012, saying that their exercise of "restraint" last April 28 was different from their prescribed role in the newly-introduced law to "facilitate" public assemblies. But it also noted that as the rally took place only five days after PAA 2012 came into force, it would be "too early" for the police to fully make the switch from the old Section 27 of the Police Act. The panel also presented 25 recommendations in their report, including proposals for the police force to review and make public their Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and ensure an orderly and safe dispersal with proper exit routes, besides exploring other methods to sufficiently warn rally participants. ((It also proposed that the police distinguish between a peaceful assembly and a riot, while another recommendation said the police should complete its investigations into police reports involving members of the force to avoid allegations of bias. The panel said that while the people is entitled to the right to freedom of assembly "as enshrined under the Federal Constitution, the PAA 2012 and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)", it is not an "absolute" right and should be exercised with regards to the rights of others. In an immediate response after the briefing that was also attended by the police, Bersih 2.0 co-chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan told reporters here that the report was "very balanced". "We hope the police will take further steps on that," she said, noting that it was unclear if disciplinary action had been taken on police personnel who had acted beyond their scope of duties last April 28. "It is clear that we need the setting up of a separate independent body to look into the conduct of the police, IPCMC is something that civil society has been asking for a long time," Ambiga said, referring to the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

She also welcomed the panel's recommendations and noted that it had commended the police force for successfully ensuring that the "Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat" (KL 112) mega-rally went on peacefully in Kuala Lumpur this January 12. "We agree with that. We think that's how it ought to be handled. There's a big difference between the way Bersih 3.0 was handled and the way KL 112 was handled," she said of the rally where no incidents of violence had happened and where the police had worked to ensure the safety of media personnel. Later in a press conference, Khaw said Suhakam plans to discuss its recommendations with the police to take things forward, but said this will be handled by the incoming commissioners as the term of the current batch ends next week. The 29-day public inquiry by Suhakam that started last July 5 and ended this January 10 saw submissions by rally organisers Bersih 2.0, the Bar Council and the police. A total of 49 witnesses - including 19 members of the public, four members of the media, 18 police officers and eight experts - have testified before the panel headed by Suhakam vicechairman Khaw, and commissioners Prof Datuk Dr Mahmood Zuhdi Abdul Majid and Datuk Detta Samen.