BERSIH: Siva not fit as Suhakam commissioner

Bersih wants Siva out of Suhakam

Yoges Palaniappan & Syed Jaymal Zahiid Nov 13, 07 5:04pm Malaysiakini

Elections watchdog Bersih today called for the resignation of Suhakam commissioner N Siva Subramaniam for defending the violation of human rights by the police force at a mass gathering last Saturday.In a press conference held in the parliament lobby today, Bersih committee members said that Siva acted out of his duty as a human rights commissioner by justifying the police action in subduing protesters at the rally.DAP MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok, reading out from a media statement, said that not only the commissioner has failed to defend the right of citizens to peacefully assemble, but had also told the press that the police only moved to quell the protest when the crowd got rowdy. “More shocking is that Siva had told New Straits Times yesterday that the police did not use violence to control the crowd and that they have acted professionally on the matter,” said Kok. “Siva is either completely incompetent or utterly dishonest to make such a statement. He has brought further shame to Suhakam which has failed to investigate the police shooting in the gathering at Batu Buruk in Terengganu.” Kok also rebutted claims that the gathering was illegal. She cited the federal constitution which allowed for every citizen to peacefully assemble without arms. The Bersih-organised rally saw some 40,000 people taking to the streets and the submission of a memorandum to the King calling for electoral reform. Shocking and disappointing Meanwhile, Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng said that Siva’s statement was shocking and disappointing. “There is abundance of evidence documented by the international media, which showed the violence committed by the police on that day. I don’t know how Siva can say that the police did not commit violence in handling the crowd,” he said at the same press conference. “His statement has also deviated from the mandate of Suhakam to protect and promote human rights. In that sense, Siva should resign from his position as a Suhakam commissioner,” he added. Yap said that Siva should visit the victims hospitalised to see for himself if the police had used excessive violence. When contacted from comment, Siva refused to say anything further on the matter, saying that the commissioners’ meeting have decided that all matters pertaining to the rally must be spoken through Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman. Suhakam deputy chairperson Simon Sipaun, when contacted, however said that the statement made by Siva was on an individual basis and did not represent the rights body’s view. Abu Talib was unavailable for comments. Police statement tomorrow At the same press conference today, commenting on Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s statement that the opposition was dragging the royalty into opposition politics, PAS central committee member Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad said the members of the public has every right to complaint to the king as he is the ruler of the country. “We don’t intend to drag the royalty into this, but if the Election Commission and the police refused to listen to our qualms, where else can we go?” asked Syed Azman. Syed Azman also said that Bersih’s steering committee has declared Saturdays to be its ‘yellow wave day’. Meanwhile opposition leaders and Bersih committee members Ronnie Liu, Salahuddin Ayub, R Sivarasa and Syed Azman will be meeting an officer from the Bukit Aman’s commercial crime department on Thursday to give their statement over a police report lodged against Bersih. On Nov 3, the committee members received a call informing them that a police report had been lodged by an individual in Setapak about Bersih’s status as an illegal organisation. They were supposed to have meet the police officer yesterday but the meeting was cancelled. SPECIAL REPORT: Bersih mass protest 净选盟周四将录口供 促民众逢周六穿黄衣 ■日期／Nov 13, 2007   ■时间／06:50:45 pm ■新闻／家国风云   ■作者／merdekareview 曾薛霏 【本刊曾薛霏撰述】武吉阿曼警察总部商业罪案调查组传召干净与公平选举联盟（Bersih，净选盟）的四名秘书处成员后天到该组录口供，不过，警方并没有说明调查详情。此外，净选盟决定将周六定为“黄潮日”（Hari Gelombang Kuning），呼吁公众今后每逢周六穿黄衣，继续争取干净与公平的选举制度。 净选盟今午在国会走廊召开记者会，透露净选盟秘书处的四名成员――回教党副主席莫哈末沙布（Mohd Sabu）、中委赛阿兹曼（Syed Azman）、民主行动党非政府组织事务秘书刘天球及人民公正党副主席西华拉沙（Sivarasa Rasiah）已接到警察总部商业犯罪组助理警监安然（ACP Amran）通知，要他们为上周六的“万人诉求公平选举和平大集会”录口供。 赛阿兹曼表示：“我们很乐意和警方合作，并打算在星期四去录口供。这场集会完全依照警方建议的程序申请准证，当警方拒绝发出准证后，我们还上诉，直到最后一分钟。”净选盟透露，吉隆坡金马警区主任莫哈末朱加乃因（Mohamad Zulkarnain）曾于10月29日致函邀请净选盟申请准证，而净选盟后来也申请准证。 巫统自游行诞生 当一众记者讶异为何由商业罪案调查组负责录口供时，净选盟秘书处成员法沙慕斯达化（Faisal Mustaffa，右图）表示：“警方可能认为净选盟是个非法组织。” 此外，净选盟表示，他们将争取晋见国家元首和各州统治者，传达净选盟的诉求；不过，净选盟尚未决定短期内是否还要再召集游行。 民主行动党全国宣传秘书、吉隆坡士布爹区国会议员郭素沁宣读净选盟文告，反驳首相兼国安部长阿都拉巴达威宣称示威不是我国的文化；她说，巫统也是诞生自1946年的游行。 她说：“1946年马来人反对马来亚联合邦（Malayan Union），催生了巫统，而巫统这些年来也一直举行大规模游行，其中一次游行是在美国国务卿赖斯访问我国期间举行，并由巫青团副团长凯里（Khairy Jamaluddin）带领。”凯里也是阿都拉巴达威的女婿。 郭素沁说，倘若巫统坚持游行不符马来西亚的文化，那巫统的精神也是非马来西亚（un-Malaysian）的；因此巫统“不要成为伪君子，该党应该自行解散。” 元首同意接收备忘录 净选盟也反驳阿都拉巴达威指摘净选盟意图使国家元首卷入政治的说法，郭素沁表示，净选盟呈交备忘录给国家元首，是因为陛下有宪赋义务维护我国的民主。 “在我国奉行的西敏寺（Westminster）制度中，国家元首是国会的三个组成部分之一，另两部分是上议院和下议院；因此，当人民对政府失去信心且无处申诉时，可向国家元首表达人民的意愿。” 净选盟表示，根据《联邦宪法》第40（2）条款，国家元首有权拒绝解散国会，直到选举委员会落实净选盟要求的四项选制改革为止。 回教党青年团团长沙拉胡丁（Salahudin Ayub，左图）补充道：“集会前一周，净选盟致函国家元首要求呈交备忘录，国家元首回信表示准备接受备忘录。如果国家元首认为净选盟的诉求是琐碎且不值一提的话，陛下定当拒绝接受备忘录。集会当天，也由国家元首的私人秘书亲自接领备忘录。” 警方滥用暴力对付群众 面对政府、警方和媒体将“万人诉求公平选举和平大集会”定调为非法集会，净选盟坚持这场大集会不是非法集会，反之警方设法阻止游行才是违宪的举措，因为《联邦宪法》第10（1）（b）条款阐明人民有和平集会的权利。 净选盟表示：“巫统主席阿都拉骄傲地说他‘忌讳受到挑战’，净选盟的劝告是，他不应该挑战人民。” 净选盟也认为，警方才是导致上周六吉隆坡交通大瘫痪的祸首，而非出席集会的人群。全国总警长慕沙哈山（Musa Hassan）上周六说，警方派出四千名警察控制大集会，但净选盟认为警方无需这么做，如果警察体现宪法和专业精神，就应该发出集会准证。 沙拉胡丁更表示，警方派出四千名警察控制和平集会是浪费警力，如果善用这四千名警察打击罪案，可收更大成效。 净选盟也批评警方发表不正确数据，例如指仅四千人参加大集会、245人被捕及无人受伤等。净选盟透露，参加大集会的人数多达四万至五万人，但仅34人被捕；不过，在示威期间有六人受伤，其中阿利亚撒（Aleyasak Hamid，31岁）遭联邦后备队踏伤、拖曳后，复被抛上卡车，以致腿断而被迫动手术。 净选盟成员马来西亚人民之声（SUARAM）记录了六人遭警方殴打，另外五人受伤，包括莫哈末阿尔法罗（Mohd al-Farook）宣称双手被反铐跌倒在地时，警方踢他的头部。另外四名受害者姆莫哈末阿斯里（Mohd Asri Ahmad）、阿都哈密（Haji Abdul Hamid Baharuddin）、凯鲁沙里（Khairul Salleh Ahmad）及纳斯鲁拉（Nasrullah Ahmad ）也因警察暴力而瘀伤。六名受害者已向警方投报。 人权委员会说法不实 人民之声执行主任叶瑞生（右图）在记者会上谴责马来西亚人权委员会委员西华苏巴马廉（Siva Subramaniam）昨天对媒体表示，警方没有使用暴力的说法。叶瑞生认为西华的说法与事实不符，且违背了人权委员会捍卫人权的立场。 西华昨天对英文《星报》（The Star）说：“警察只在人群不受控制时才镇压”，以及对《新海峡时报》（New Straits Times）说：“我认为警察根本没有使用木棍驱散人群，因此，任何指警方使用暴力的指控并不确实。” 叶瑞生表示：“人权委员会今年公布去年5月28日‘血腥星期天’的调查报告时，曾指出人民集会无需准证，如今西华这么说，违反了人权委员会捍卫和保护人权的立场。如果西华认为他已不愿意捍卫人权，就应该辞掉人权委员会委员一职。” 叶瑞生也呼吁西华与净选盟一同探望伤者，以了解警方是否使用暴力，并调查此事。 出席记者会的净选盟成员包括妇女发展组织（WDC）的玛丽亚陈亚都拉（Maria Chin Abdullah）、动力青年召集人李凯伦及民主行动党全国副主席古拉（M. Kula Segaran）等。