Harrowing 'torture notes' emerge from Kamunting

By Aidila Razak
The emergence of 'torture notes' smuggled out of the Kamunting detention camp, where Internal Security Act detainees are held, has raised questions about interrogation methods used by the authorities. 

The notes, allegedly smuggled out by camp staff and passed on toMalaysiakini, detail the Guantanamo-style 'torture' experienced by some of the 45 detainees still held at the infamous facility in Taiping, Perak.

No dates are given, but the incidents are said to be from the interrogation process while they were held at a remand facility, prior to being transferred to Kamunting.

The contents of the notes cannot be independently verified but the claims include:

• Being forced to strip down to their underwear, and ‘hung’ upside down from a ‘machine’ which moves around the “torture room suspected to be in Bukit Aman”: “Suddenly the machine stops and (the detainee's) body is hit repeatedly with a blunt object (likely with batons). When the blows stop, the machine moves again, but it will soon start up again. Then it is stopped and (the detainee) will be beaten up badly.

• Hot oil being poured onto the genitals

• Ripping out of body hair, including pubic hair

• Smearing of  chilli paste on the body, especially the genitals, with the paste being “left to dry on the body for two to three days.

• Burning of the genitals with cigarettes

• Being made to do naked half-squats for several hours a day for 60 days

It is understood that a Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) team that had recently visited the camp to check on detainees, who were on hunger strike, had also received the same set of notes.

Confirming the existence of the notes, commissioner Muhamad Sha'ani Abdullah said the commission is “discussing” its contents. 

“We will then decide on our next course of action,” he said.  

When contacted, police spokesperson Ramli Yoosuf said the complaint has been noted. 

“We are in the midst of formulating a response as this matter has to be referred to top officials first. We will provide our feedback to you as soon as possible,” he said. 

'Names exist'

Gerakan Mansuh ISA chairperson Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, who has sighted the notes, confirmed that these were from the detainees.

“It is definitely from them,” he said. 

The notes list names and detainee numbers of the alleged victims, butMalaysiakini is withholding the details in the interests of the detainees' safety. 

Lawyer Fadiah Nadwa Fikri said ISA detainees have confirmed that those named in the notes are currently serving out their detention orders. 

Her clients, whom she had visited last month, are not listed in the notes. 

However, she said her clients claimed that they had been “kicked around” in order to force them to sign confessions during the 60-day remand period at Bukit Aman. 

Suhakam commissioner James Nayagam, who visited the camp with Home Ministry officials last month, said the detainees include those being held for alleged human trafficking, involvement in the Jemaah Islamiah, Darul Islam and Jemaah Santri Melayu groups, and for falsifying documents.