Malaysia must account for role in CIA torture on terror suspects, says PKR
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- Malaysia must account for role in CIA torture on terror suspects, says PKR
Putrajaya must explain its role in controversial torture programmes by America's spy agency following a US senate report in which Malaysia is implicated, PKR Youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (pic) said.
The recent report on the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) tactics after the September 11, 2001, terrorists attacks have revealed that Malaysia was among other allies in the US's "Global War on Terror" in which suspected militants were captured and sent to secret prisons set up for torture purposes.
"While stopping terror plots is paramount, Malaysia should not have compromised its moral integrity in this way," Nik Nazmi said in a statement today.
The report contains graphic details of harsh investigation methods said to be used by the CIA on detained terror suspects.
Nik Nazmi was commenting on the summary of a longer report by the Senate intelligence committee which concluded that the torture methods used were brutal and that they were ultimately ineffective because the information obtained from detainees were either fabricated or were already gathered through other intelligence work.
At least one individual died from torture and 26 out of more than 100 detainees were deemed wrongfully held, the summary had said.
Malaysia had played a part in the practice of "extraordinary rendition" – whereby secret arrests were made and where detained suspects were moved to undisclosed prisons.
Nik Nazmi noted, however, that the names of US allies had been redacted from the summary of the report.
But Malaysia was named in having assisted the CIA in at least two cases in another report titled "Globalising Torture: CIA Secret Detention and Extraordinary Rendition”, by the Open Society Justice Initative, in February last year.
As such, the youth chief said there was a serious impact on Malaysia as it could possibly expose the country's role on the global war on terror.
"It would appear that (Tun) Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s hysterical denunciations aside, Malaysia seems to have little or no qualms with collaborating with the United States in such actions," he added, in reference to the country's former prime minister.
Nik Nazmi said that while it was crucial to fight terrorism, Malaysia should not compromise its moral integrity in such a way.
He added that the fight against terrorism and extremism was a war on human values.
"These two threats can only be defeated if our societies remain dedicated to preserving civil liberties and personal freedoms even as we work to protect the lives of its citizens," he said, adding that there had also been allegations that those who were innocent were unjustly subject to cruelty in detention.
Nik Nazmi added that paranoia, the suspension of civil liberties and the demonising of dissent in the name of distorted notions of “security” would simply play into the hands of those who would wanted to hurt and ultimately destroy civilisation.
"The US and Malaysia must explain to its people and the world community this sorry and sordid affair," he said.
According to an article on the US Senate report in British daily, The Guardian, the report revealed that the torture tactics used in the secret prisons was more extreme than previously believed, and involved “rectal rehydration” and “rectal feeding”, sleep deprivation and threats to the families of the detainees.
Some CIA officers were said to have been reduced “to the point of tears” by witnessing the treatment meted out to one detainee, The Guardian said.
It also quoted British prime minister David Cameron as saying that a parliamentary inquiry would deal with issues surrounding Britian's involvement, as a US ally, for having facilitated the CIA's torture programmes.
US president Barrack Obama has said that some of the CIA's techniques "were contrary to our values", while the CIA, put on defensive by the report, has accused the Senate committee of selectively picking facts to build a case against its intelligence-gathering methods. – December 10, 2014.
