Asia Times: Malaysia's tough tactics


	January 15, 2002	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Malaysia's tough tactics
By Anil Netto

PENANG - Walking along the narrow streets of this northern Malaysian city, lined with roadside stalls catering to teeming crowds tucking into their favorite spicy dishes, it is difficult to guess that suspected terrorists could be lying in the background, poised to endanger national security.

So the January 4 announcement that 13 alleged Muslim militants belonging to the so-called Malaysian Mujahidin (or Militant) Group (KMM) had been arrested between December 9 and January 3 has raised more than a few eyebrows. They were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows indefinite detention without trial. Two more men were picked up last week, bringing to 40 the total number detained for activities deemed detrimental to the state. Officials said the two had an agenda similar to other detained members of the KMM, which police said was Afghan-trained and had links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network.

The day after the January 4 announcement, the Home Ministry in neighboring Singapore announced that police in the island republic had detained 14 Singaporeans and a Malaysian under the republic's internal-security law for alleged involvement in terrorist activities, including procuring materials for making bombs and surveillance of potential targets.

Malaysia's Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin Zin said that the government hoped to interrogate the Malaysian held in Singapore, 39-year-old businessman Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana, as part of its efforts to uncover an alleged link among suspected terrorists groups in the region. Zainal said that the government had discovered a link between terrorist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan with similar groups in the region, but needed more information to find out the extent of their cooperation.

In disclosing the arrests on January 4, police chief Norian Mai was reported as saying that police were confirming reports that several KMM members had ties with Zacarias Moussaoui, a Frenchman facing charges in the United States in connection with the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Local news bulletins have reported the revelations in a matter-of-fact style, but there has been little in-depth discussion. It is difficult to gauge how ordinary Malaysians view the alleged terrorist threat, because of a reluctance to share personal views and curbs on the media, but there appear to be few signs of undue concern among many Malaysians that peace and stability is at risk.

"I have heard some people mentioning the arrests, but I don't know much about it," said a mechanic in his 40s. A woman in her 30s had her doubts about a terrorist network in Malaysia, saying she was not entirely convinced about the seriousness of the threat - but "that's just my view, I am just a nobody", she remarked.

Public-interest groups have been fairly muted, probably because of an unwillingness to question the official theory of a regional terrorist network in the absence of hard evidence to the contrary, and the sensitivity of the issue for the government. The subdued reaction could also be due to the use of the ISA, a colonial-era law that can be used by the state to address what it sees as security concerns.

But some critics say Malaysians are entitled to see what kind of evidence the police had against the suspects and whether it could hold in open court. "Without an independent trial in court, these allegations will only raise alarm and fear," said the non-government group Aliran. "They may even scare away much-needed investors and tourists."

To be sure, the arrests of the 13 comes at an awkward time for Malaysia, expected to have posted close to zero economic growth last year after a heady 8.3 percent expansion in 2000.

Asked whether the arrests confirmed foreign media claims that Malaysia was a terrorist haven, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said it showed that the authorities are firm in dealing with terrorists. "If we promised to take action against terrorists, regardless of whether they are locals or foreigners, we will take action," he said.

Indeed, security issues have had a high profile in Malaysia lately. The arrests of the alleged militants comes on the heels of a controversial Christmas Day front-page story headlined "Plot to kill PM" in a national English daily, The Sun. Mahathir, in power for 20 years, initially laughed off the report but later said that it could have serious repercussions for Malaysia's economy after the news was picked up by foreign media. The Sun published front-page apologies after its own probe discovered that the report was apparently unfounded. But some key editorial staff left in protest, prompting concerns about media freedom.

The ruling coalition leaders and ministers "regard public property as their private property and public funds as meant for their private dispensation", complained Lim Kit Siang, chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party.

For Mahathir, the September 11 attacks have apparently vindicated his ISA crackdown against the alleged militants that reportedly began as early as August, followed by arrests in September and October. But the repeated use of the ISA to rein in an assortment of suspects continues to alarm rights activists. Before the latest round of arrests, there were some 80 ISA detainees in the Kamunting Detention Center, north of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

When 10 reformasi activists were detained under the ISA last April, the authorities said that they were planning to topple the government. Yet some detainees have alleged that they were not interrogated about these allegations and that questions centered on their political activities and their sexual lives.

"If indeed there is a threat to national security, if the police have got proof of that, those arrested should be brought to a court of justice. The due process must take place, otherwise we won't have the confidence that [detainees] have been given their basic rights" to due process, argued Zaid Kamaruddin of the Abolish ISA Movement.

Wrote Aliza Jaffar, whose husband Saari Sungib is among the five activists still in detention: "The laws of Malaysia are actually sufficient to charge a person for any offense. So why do they still resort to the ISA?"

(Inter Press Service)