How are we going to trust leaders like Hishamuddin?

 

source : Free Malaysia Today

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:59

BY FMT Staff
KUALA LUMPUR: Civic groups today demanded the resignation of Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein over Sunday’s police swoop on anti-ISA gatherings.

In a joint statement released here, they accused the government of insincerity and deplored the disruption of the peaceful protests and arrest of more than 30 people.

They said Hishammuddin lied when he made an assurance last June that the government would not bar peaceful gatherings.

“We are calling for the Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to step down immediately and take responsibility for the mass detention which snatched from the citizens their fundamental rights as guaranteed in the Federal Constitution,” said the statement.


It was signed by the presidents of the Writers Alliance for Media Independence (WAMI), the Culture Development Centre (LLG) and the Civil Rights Committee of the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH).

Police, many of them in riot gear, on Sunday broke up several candlelight vigils held in several parts of the country to mark the 50th anniversary of the Internal Security Act’s coming into force.

The statement recalled Hishammuddin’s statement that the government would table amendments to the ISA and would ensure the right of citizens to gather in peace.

“If we gather in peace,” Hishammuddin said in June, “we have no reason to impose too many restrictions and bar peace assemblies.”

No to ISA
Sunday’s detention of citizens contradicted the minister’s words, said the three NGOs.

“It is our opinion that the large scale arrests on Aug 1 contradicts the government’s promise and pledge to amend the ISA, and effectively exposes the government’s insincerity in wanting to reinstate the civil rights of the people,” their statement said.

It noted that the government had imprisoned 625 citizens without trial between 2008 and 2009 and said the “staggering figure” showed its intolerance of the right to peaceful assembly.

“It is as if we have moved into an era of the police state, and the slogan People First is merely empty talk.
“As such we are asking the Home Minister and the Inspector General of Police to resign and shoulder the responsibility of denying the rights of the citizens to assemble in peace.”

The NGOs said they would not support amendments to the ISA, calling instead for the outright abolition of the law.

“We urge the government to once and for all abolish the ISA without any conditions,” the statement said.