Mr. Chairman,
It is an honour for me, as a young person, to speak at this meeting. I bring you greetings from my father Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Malaysia, who is currently incarcerated at Sungai Buluh Prison. His message is attached for your kind attention. I am Nurul Izzah Anwar, his eldest daughter. I am 19 years old and I represent my family and the Reformasi movement to draw your attention to a growing crisis of civil and political rights.
My father was arrested on 20 September 1998 [after leading an unprecedented rally calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad]. On the night of his arrest he was viciously assaulted by the Inspector General of Police Abdul Rahim Noor. One of the doctors who [later] examined my father concluded that “he is lucky to be alive” [because the blows were so severe and aimed at potentially fatal places.]
The way my father was arrested was an act of provocation, an insult to human dignity and common sense. A squad of hooded elite police commandos armed with sub machine guns broke into our home which was packed with family members, friends, journalists and supporters, all unarmed. Among them were women and children. Guns were pointed at my younger brother and sister, aged 13 and 14.
My father was arrested under the [Section 377B of the] Penal Code. But after he was so grievously assaulted by the nation’s police chief, his warrant of arrest was changed to that of under the draconian Internal Security Act [which allows detention without trial] to avoid having to produce him to court within 24 hours, to cover up the police brutality. For nine agonzing days, they refused to tell us where he was. They lied that he was safe and healthy, so you can imagine our shock to learn that he was beaten so severely. Even the Prime Minister maliciously alleged that my father’s injuries were self inflicted.
My father is a political prisoner. His prosecution [under the Penal Code] is a means of political persecution. He was sacked [from the government] because he called for reform of the economic and political system. As Minister of Finance he declared that public funds should not be used to bail out politically connected big corporations. His prosecution is a result of a collusion and abuse of power by several key government institutions.
In order to fabricate evidence against my father, the authorities violated the rights of other people. Dr. Munawar Anees, a scholar and a friend of my father, Sukma Darmawan, our adopted family member, and Meor, a fashion designer, were arrested, coerced and cruelly tortured by the police to extract so-called confessions that they were sodomised by my father. Dr Munawar and Uncle Sukma were subjected to sham court proceedings and sentenced to jail. These lies and fabrications which have been manufactured through human right violations not only hurt these men and our family , but also hurt the credibility and sanctity of the government institutions we are supposed to trust.
Although my father was charged and tried in a court of law, the trial has been severely criticised by the legal community, in Malaysia and internationally.[Amnesty International which has sent special representatives to study the entire episode of my father’s sacking and prosecution has declared my father as a prisoner of conscience.]
Although my father is a political prisoner he has been treated worse than a common criminal. He has been denied bail although the crime he was charged with is a bailable offence. The judge [in dismissing the appeal for bail] claimed it would cost the government a lot of money to control my father and his supporters.
My father Anwar Ibrahim is being kept under solitary confinement and family visits are severely restricted. There were even times when his legal counsel were denied visits.
Last year my father suffered sudden, severe and dramatic health problems in detention. Initial lab test results [of his urine sample] showed a dangerously high level of arsenic poisoning. The fear of losing our loving father forever became very real. Instead of appointing an independent team to investigate the poisoning [as had been done in the case the beating of my father], the Attorney General made irresponsible and malicious remarks; he implied that my mother could have poisoned my father. When my father was hospitalised at the National University Hospital, some of the doctors complained that their offices were bugged and they were harassed [by senior officials as high up as the Health Minister].
On the issue of impunity: While my father continues to be subjected to human rights violations, the perpetrator of the grievous assault against him remains free. The [now former] police chief Abdul Rahim Noor was charged in court last year for “attempting” to cause injury to my father. He later admitted guilt to an amended and much milder charge. He was given a light sentence [2 months’ jail and a fine of RM2,000/US540], and is out on bail pending appeal [against the outrageously mild sentence]. Nothing was done to bring to book other accomplices of the crime against my father.
It seems that the entire administration of justice in Malaysia is in a severe state of crisis. Laws are being abused to inflict injury on the innocent AND protect perpetrators of human right violations. Laws are being abused to harass and prosecute my father’s defence counsel, to prevent them from carrying out their professional duties. Mr. Zainul Zakaria has been sentenced to 3 months’ jail for contempt of court and another lawyer Mr. Karpal Singh has been charged under the Sedition Act [for what they said in the court while defending my father]. Thus I appeal to this commission to intervene to protect the rights of lawyers defending my father.
I appeal this commission to help secure the release of my father. There is an urgent need to right wrongs inflicted upon him and the other innocents who have been targeted for no other reason than their association with my father or their peaceful work for reform.
I must say the experiences [of my family and supporters of the Reformasi movement] of the past 18 months have helped us understand the necessity of civil and political rights. The injustices perpetrated in Malaysia have turned us into human rights activists because we cannot ignore what is happening in our beloved country. As a young Malaysian, I hope that you too, will not ignore this desperate and difficult situation and intervene now, before it worsens.
Mr Chairman, the members of this Commission may think that I am naïve and idealistic in seeking its help to solve the injustices in my country. The truth is, there is no other place left to seek mercy, when we cannot expect justice from the national institutions meant to protect our rights. Like the children and family members of political prisoners around the world, we want our father to come home. My younger sister, 7-year-old Nurul Hana, begged me to tell you of her dream. Her dream is that in the not-too-distant future, she will be able to sleep with a sweet smile on her face after listening to a reading by our ever-doting father of the beautiful story of Cinderella, ending with the sweetest line: “…and so they all lived happily ever after..”
Thank you.
COUNTERBALANCE.ANYWHERE.ANYTIME.ANYBODY.ANYONE.COM
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
