The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) today did not mince its words in condemning the “excessive force” being used by the police against residents during the fracas at the Bandar Mahkota Cheras on Tuesday night.
The commission demanded the police to explain the alleged beating of a 21-year-old man during the incident where about 200 BMC residents were ordered to disperse by the police.
“In doing their duties, they have to be more human-rights friendly and the degree of brutality used did not justify it (their action),” said Suhakam commissioner S Subramaniam at a press conference.Subramaniam said while the police have the authority to take action against the residents, it had to be in accordance with human rights.
Chang Jiun Haur (left), who was with his sister and two other men in a car, was allegedly dragged out of his Proton Wira and repeated kicked and beaten by 20 Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) personnel armed with shields and batons.He was subsequently hospitalised in for injuries to his face and other parts of his body.FRU must show proofAccording to Subramaniam, it was “absurd” for a team of well-trained FRU men to “feel threatened” by four unarmed youths.
“If they (FRU) have proof that they were hit by the car (as claimed), then they have to provide the names of the officers who were injured,” he said.
Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung told Parliament yesterday that according to a report given to him from the police, two police officers were hurt - one on the hand and another on the thigh - from falling down after being knocked by the said car.
Subramaniam added that the affected officers should also state which hospital they had gone to for treatment and the doctors who had attended to their injuries.
Meanwhile commissioner Denison Jayasooria, who was also at the Suhakam press conference, stressed that the police should be held responsible for their alleged beating of Chang.
Both the commissioners visited Chang at the Teluk Kemang hospital in Port Dickson, where he lives.
My 2 cents worth: This incident remind me of Rodney King, an African-American taxi driver who, in 1991, was stopped and then beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers after being chased for speeding. A bystander, George Holiday, videotaped much of the event from a distance. Part of the video was broadcast around the world and shows four LA police officers restraining and repeatedly striking a black man, while four to six other officers stand by. There is no part of the tape that shows Mr. King attacking the officers, as some have claimed.
The resulting public outrage raised tensions between the black community and the LAPD, and increased anger over police brutality and issues such as unemployment, racial tension, and poverty in the black community of South Central Los Angeles. The four officers were tried in a state court for using excessive force, but were acquitted. The announcement of the acquittals sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.
After the riots, the United States Justice Department reinstated its investigation and subsequently obtained an indictment of federal civil rights violations against the four officers involved in King's beating. The federal trial, as compared to the state trial, focused more on the medical and officer training evidence in the case instead of just relying on the videotape of the incident which the state had done so previously. As a result, Officer Laurence Powell and Sergeant Stacey Koon, were found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 30 months of prison, while Timothy Wind and Theodore Briseno were acquitted of all charges against them.
I hope those who witnessed the incident can come forward to proof that Chang Jiun Haur did not intentionally try to ran his car over the FRU. I also hope that Suhakam can take action against those 20 FRUs who beat the shit out of Chang Junn Haur, we do not need this kind of gangster in our so-call elite squad which are suppose to protect the citizens and to maintain law and order. Not forgetting the senior officer who make that idiot comment saying "He asked for it. He ran over a policeman and he got what he deserved", he is the one who dont deserve to be a high rank officer in the squad.
1 comment:
Well said.
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