NST Leader: Of Taiping Prison and staff violence

PRISON walls must not serve as a shield against the rule of law, but that seems to have been the case in the violent prison transfer incident at the Taiping Prison on Jan 17 last year.

The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), which conducted a public inquiry into the incident, disclosed a series of disturbing incidents, one such resulting in the death of a detainee.

There is worse as the findings progress. “The public inquiry panel found that excessive physical force was used by a large number of prison personnel against the High Court detainees during the transfer operation from Hall B to Block E on Jan 17, 2025,” Suhakam chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Hishamudin Md Yunus revealed while delivering the panel’s decision.

The detainees were subjected to severe beatings using gazetted weapons and security equipment. As if that was not enough, the detainees were punched, kicked, dragged, trampled and pepper sprayed while handcuffed and seated in a row.

The weaponisation of security equipment against defenceless or subdued inmates point to a toxic culture where physical abuse is normalised.

Little wonder the findings called the systematic use of excessive force a breach of Articles 5 and 8 of the Federal Constitution on the right to life and equality.

The panel is clear: systemic negligence and inaction by senior prison leadership directly contributed to the violations and the death of the detainee. Here is more.

Compounding the abuse was a pattern of medical negligence, and worse, institutional cover-up.

The panel found that injured detainees were denied immediate medical attention and hospital transfers were delayed to conceal the extent of the violence.

To shield the prison from accountability, medical staff were found to have falsified records by backdating treatment entries and attributing injuries to “riots” or “accidental falls”, pointing to institutional protection trumping professional ethics.

The panel also uncovered false reports filed by prison personnel blaming the violence on the detainees. Key evidence, including photos and videos from a duty phone, was deleted.

There is more, but we have said enough to justify Suhakam’s demand for immediate action against Taiping Prison officers involved in the incident.

Let’s not forget that a civilised society is judged by how it treats its prisoners. Security can never be used as a justification for torture, fatal violence or a systemic cover-up. Suhakam’s report must not be shelved; it must serve as an immediate blueprint for institutional purging and legal accountability.

The Home Ministry and the Attorney-General’s Chambers must act swiftly on Suhakam’s findings to prosecute and discipline the Taiping Prison staff and senior officers responsible for the violence and subsequent cover-up.

What the alleged disturbing incidents such as violence, systemic negligence, cover-up and inaction by senior leadership during the Taiping Prison transfer incident tell us is this: the time has come for independent oversight mechanisms for custodial institutions to be put in place to prevent prisons from policing themselves.

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المصدر: New Straits Times