9月10日进行的国会会议，竟然有一则这样的消息。
我们的国内事务部(Home Ministry)尊贵的部长Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Radzi Sheikh Ahmad，在一项关于RELA的询问，竟然说 "There have been no complaints about RELA"
Jawapan Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri Mengenai Penyalahgunaan Kuasa Anggota RELA Adalah Tidak Bertanggungjawab
Saya ingin merujuk kepada soalan Parlimen lisan yang saya tanya pada 10 September 2007. Soalan dan jawapan adalah seperti berikut:
Tarikh : 10.09.2007
Soalan : 20
Puan Teresa Kok Suh Sim [Seputeh] minta MENTERI HAL EHWAL DALAM NEGERI menyatakan bilangan aduan yang diterima berkenaan dengan anggota RELA yang melakukan kesalahan semasa menjalankan operasi pengusiran Pendatang Tanpa Izin. Berapakah di antara mereka telah pun didakwa di mahkamah dan berapakah dijatuhkan hukuman oleh Mahkamah.
JAWAPAN
Tuan Yang Di Pertua,
Untuk makluman Ahli yang Berhormat, setakat ini tidak ada aduan rasmi yang diterima berkenaan dengan anggota RELA yang melakukan kesalahan semasa menjalankan operasi. Walaubagaimanapun aduan-aduan yang diterima hanyalah dibuat secara umum melalui akhbar-akhbar yang mendakwa bahawa anggota-anggota RELA bertindak secara kasar, mengambil harta milik Pendatang Asing Tanpa Izin (PATI) dan sebagainya semasa operasi.
Setakat ini tiada seorang pun anggota RELA yang didakwa di mahkamah atas kes-kes kesalahan semasa menjalankan operasi.
郭素沁的回应（Press Statment)
Saya merasa amat hairan terhadap jawapan yang diberi oleh pihak Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri ke atas soalan lisan saya, di mana pihak kementerian tidak menerima sebarang aduan tentang penyalahgunaan kuasa anggota RELA semasa menjalankan operasi, dan kementerian malah berkata bahawa tiada seorang pun anggota RELA yang di dakwa di mahkamah atas kes-kes kesalahan semasa menjalankan operasi.
Jawapan ini adalah amat tidak bertanggungjawab kerana ia menunjukkan pihak kementerian cuba menutup sebelah mata ke atas penyalahgunaan kuasa yang dilakukan oleh anggota-anggota RELA. Segelintir daripada mereka malah berlagak seperti penyamun, perompak dan perogol pada waktu menjalankan tugas.
Di sini saya ingin menyenaraikan kes-kes jenayah yang dilakukan oleh anggota RELA yang disiarkan dalam akhbar semasa menjalankan operasi:
1. Pada 30 Disember 2006, anggota RELA M Suresh (umur 20 tahun) , dan Norirwanshah Mat Nor (umur 21 tahun) merogol seorang gadis berusia 14 tahun di tandas awam di Taman Tasik, seksen 14, Shah Alam. Kedua-dua anggota RELA ini didakwa di Mahkamah Seksyen Shah Alam pada 28 Feb, 2007. ( Utusan Malaysia, Feb 28, 2007)
2. Pada 17 April 2007, 10 anggota RELA yang berpakaian seragam telah pecah masuk ke rumah asrama pekerja asing di Taman Botani dan Taman Soon Choon. Mereka telah merompak barangan bernilai RM 1,800 dengan senjata api. Ketua Polis Daerah Ipoh, ACP Jalaluddin Ibrahim kemudian mendakwa anggota RELA ke Mahkamah di bawah Kanun Keseksaan 395 atas kesalahan samun berkumpulan.
Polis juga mendapati dua daripada 10 anggota RELA berkenaan mempunyai kes jenayah dan pernah didakwa di bawah Kanun Keseksaan 379 (kecurian) sebelum ini. (Utusan Malaysia April 17, 2007)
3. Pada 4 April 2007, jam 10:30 pagi, 80 anggota RELA telah menyerbu pasar pagi Pudu. Mereka telah menangkap 200 pekerja asing, termasuk mereka yang mempunyai permit kerja 18 pemegang dokumen UNHCR. ( China Press April 4 , 2007)
4. Pada 10 April 2007, 8 orang anggota RELA mengambil makanan dan minuman tanpa membayar di Restoran Golden Seafood di Tampoi, Gemas, Negeri Sembilan. Salah seorang daripada mereka malah mencabuli penghormatan seorang pelayan perempuan. Anggota RELA tersebut telah menahan 3 orang pekerja asing yang mempunyai permit kerja. Majikan restoran tersebut kemudian menghubungi balai polis dan imigresen Seremban tetapi tidak dapat mengesan pekerja asing mereka tersebut. ( Oriental Daily 10 April, 2007)
5. Pada April 2007, seorang anggota RELA melarikan seorang pembantu rumah wanita Indonesia. Beliau kemudian merogolnya sehingga dia berhamil. Tangan dan kaki wanita itu diikat selama satu bulan di sebuah rumah kosong. Mangsa rogol ini masih di bawah perlindungan di Kedutaan Indonesia.(Malasyiakini Spetember 7, 2007)
6. Pada 16 Feb 2007, 20 anggota RELA membuat serbuan di Medan Selera Cahaya dan menahan pekerja perempuan Indonesia. Majikan mereka terpaksa membayar wang rasuah RM2,000 untuk membebaskan pekerja mereka. Kes ini juga ditegur oleh YB Dato’ Tan Chai Hoe, Timbalan Menteri Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri. ( The Star May 29, 2007)
Kes-kes tersebut merupakan sebahagian kecil daripada jenayah dan salahlaku anggota RELA yang telah disiarkan dalam media. Pihak Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri tidak harus menutup mata dan mengendahkan kesemua penyalahgunaan kuasa yang dilakukan oleh anggota RELA yang telah disiarkan dalam media tanpa mengambil apa-apa tindakan.
Walaupun pihak yang terlibat tidak membuat aduan kepada pihak Kementerian Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri, pihak Kementerian tidak harus menganggap bahawa RELA tidak melakukan apa-apa penyalahgunaan kuasa semasa dan tidak mengambil tindakan terhadap anggota RELA yang melakukan jenayah semasa menjalankan operasi mereka.
Jawapan YB Menteri tesebut sebenarnya adalah memesongkan Dewan Rakyat dan ini merupakan kesalahan dalam Peraturan Mesyuarat Dewan Rakyat.
Akhirnya, saya juga ingin menyuarakan kebimbangan ke atas Rang Undang-Undang RELA yang dikatakan akan dibentangkan di Dewan Rakyat sebelum ini. Apakah rang undang-undang ini akan memberi lebih ruang kepada anggota RELA untuk melakukan jenayah semasa menjalankan tugas?
Saya ingin menyeru Menteri Hal Ehwal Dalam Negeri untuk mengadakan rundingan dengan Ahli-Ahli Parlimen, NGO dan orang ramai sebelum membentangkan rang undang-undang tersebut, demi mengelakkan penyalahgunaan kuasa anggota RELA.
Teresa Kok
Ministry of Home Affairs is lying about RELA因为震惊，她还联络了Migrant Care 的Alex Ong 及Tenaganita的 Dr Irene Fernandez 一同出席新闻发布会。
从新闻及郭素沁的网站看到这样的消息，我真的感到羞耻!!至少我知道的是，去年6月Selayang的大逮捕行动，因为很多外来移民、难民被打、被虐待及家里的东西被抢，这是一件大事，还闹到人权委员会(Suhakam)去了。然后去年8月Sepang那次很多难民的住家被RELA的人放火烧掉，还发生RELA连煤气桶也不放过的事，也是闹得很厉害。这两件事情，SUHAKAM都承诺调查，而且都是被媒体报导过的新闻。
接着是Kampung Barembang的事件，当我们的RELA被发展商聘请来对付那的居民的时候，这件事也曾经被报导过。除了这一切，还有很多大大小小的事件 -- 我们的RELA早已经享有很大的知名度，到一个国际的非政府组织都发新闻稿谴责RELA**************************************
For Immediate Release
Malaysia: Disband Abusive Volunteer Corps
Government Uses RELA Force on Migrant Workers
(New York, May 9, 2007) – The Malaysian government should immediately take steps to dissolve the People’s Volunteer Corps (Ikatan Relawan Rakyat or RELA), responsible for numerous cases of illegal detentions, unlawful use of force, and extortion, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Malaysian government has authorized almost half a million RELA volunteers to help maintain public order, primarily through the apprehension of undocumented migrant workers, most of whom come to Malaysia to augment Malaysia’s insufficient labor force. In carrying out their duties, RELA volunteers often employ unnecessary force and illegal policing practices. Fully uniformed, armed, and unaccompanied by police or immigration officers, they break into migrant lodgings in the middle of the night without warrants, brutalize inhabitants, extort money, and confiscate cell phones, clothing, jewelry, and household goods, before handcuffing migrants and transporting them to detention camps for “illegal immigrants.”
“The government has set up what’s little more than a vigilante force to target foreigners,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Given RELA’s repeated abuses, it should be disbanded right away.”
RELA members have failed to distinguish or deliberately ignored the distinctions between undocumented migrants, and refugees and asylum seekers. At other times, volunteers have refused to recognize a worker’s legitimate immigration status. In an effort to legitimatize their own behavior, the volunteers have been known to deliberately destroy identification cards proving a worker’s right to be in Malaysia.
There have been many examples of unlawful behavior by RELA. Cases from 2007 include:
1. On April 5, RELA members arrested some 20 Burmese refugees and asylum seekers at a market in downtown Kuala Lumpur. At least five had been recognized as refugees by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
2. In late March, eight members of a RELA team removed belongings amounting to RM 1,800 (approximately US$525) from one dwelling. After police ascertained that at least two of those implicated had stolen before, the full team was detained on robbery charges.
3. On March 8, a RELA officer detained an Indian immigrant with identification certifying his legal status. It took four days for the worker’s employer to obtain his release from a detention camp for illegal immigrants.
4. On March 6 and 7, RELA volunteers, who had come to Kampung Berembang, a village near Kuala Lumpur, supposedly to hand out flyers related to court orders, instead helped a developer evict 50 families and tear down their houses. Several villagers were arrested. The demolition went ahead despite an injunction to desist until a scheduled hearing was held. By helping the developers, RELA volunteers engaged in activities – some were spotted operating bulldozers – well beyond their mandate. In addition, they used excessive force while doing so.
5. On March 2, at 2:30 a.m., 10 RELA volunteers raided a factory in Jenjarom, Selangor state, injuring two Nepalese workers and detaining eight others.
6. On January 28, a RELA raid in Kampung Sungai Merab, Denkil, resulted in the arbitrary arrest of 14 persons recognized by UNHCR as refugees.
“The Malaysian government fans xenophobia through its use of RELA,” said Adams. “By targeting all foreign migrants, Malaysia undermines its espoused pan-Asian ethic.”
According to the 2005 amendment to Malaysia’s Essential Regulations, part of Malaysia’s security legislation, RELA is allowed to arrest an individual or enter and search any premises, public or private, without a search or arrest warrant. The amendment also gives RELA volunteers the right to bear and use firearms, and to demand documents. All that is necessary is authorization to conduct a raid from certain RELA officials, including the director general and deputy director general of RELA and other RELA officers appointed by the home affairs minister.
The 2005 amendment also gives effective legal immunity to RELA volunteers. Regulation 16 of the act states: “The Public Protection Authorities Act 1948 shall apply to any action, suit, prosecution or proceedings against … RELA … or any member … in respect of any act, neglect or default done or committed by him in good faith or any omission omitted by him in good faith, in such capacity.”
In response to publicized abuses in April 2007, RELA headquarters issued a circular announcing that a raiding team leader would be responsible for conducting body searches on force members before and after raids to ensure they were abiding by the law. To make sure that volunteers do not steal or plant evidence, the team leader is instructed to check that volunteers are not carrying cell phones or weapons and only a limited amount of money. RELA officials have also responded to complaints by announcing new training procedures.
“RELA’s behavior has embarrassed the government into announcing some minor reforms,” said Adams. “But tinkering with raiding procedures or upgrading training will not get to the fundamental issue, which is that RELA should be disbanded. Malaysia has plenty of professional law enforcement bodies.”
According to Malaysia’s Home Ministry, the role of RELA, which dates back to 1972, is “to help maintain security in the country and the well-being of the people.” It is used as the eyes and ears of the government, to collect information for government agencies such as the police, customs, and immigration on threats to security, to do security patrolling to prevent crime, and, when necessary, to carry out citizens’ arrests. The 2005 amendment ceded more power to RELA by permitting it, “where it has reasonable belief that any person is a terrorist, undesirable person, illegal immigrant or an occupier, to stop that person in order to make all such inquiries or to require the production of all such documents or other things as the competent authority may consider necessary.”
For more information, please contact:
In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-20-7713-2767; or +44-79-0872-8333 (mobile)
In New York, Mickey Spiegel (English): +1-212-216-1229; or +1-917-968-9937 (mobile)
In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin): +1-202-612-4341; or +1-917-721-7473 (mobile)
我们的国内事务部的部长的英文水准太差了？还是他的眼睛瞎了，耳朵聋了？
我突然可以理解为什么我们的RELA可以那么的无法无天，就是因为他们有这样一个部长。
记得5月的时候Suaram发了一个有关RELA的新闻稿，我们的陈财和说没有那么严重，坏苹果只有少数。而RELA的Cheif Director则说Suaram这样的组织应该解散。
不要怪我为什么那愤怒，也不要骂我没有好好修心。
你听过RELA滥用权力如流氓一样的故事，看过那些照片，看过那些怕RELA怕的要死的难民朋友，你就了解我为什么那么愤怒。
国内事务部部长！我为你感到羞耻！
另外：如果有人不满意我说的这些话，或者想控我毁谤，尽管来吧！我有很多非政府组织的呈交过的报告。我等你们。
Labels: RELA, 人权课题、国家
Picture from Mob1990
