What we need to know about Internal Security Act (ISA)?

1. What is ISA?

ISA is one of the 3 main laws in this country that allows the Government to detain anyone indefinitely without charging them in court.

2. Where did ISA come from and when was it enforced?

ISA originated from the Emergency Ordinance Laws 1948-1960. The Emergency was declared over on 30th July 1960 and 24 hours after that on 1st August 1960 the ISA was enforced. ISA was based on Article 17 in the Emergency Ordinance Laws 1948-1960.

3. What will happen if a person is detained under ISA?

The person will be detained for interrogation by the Special Branch (SB) of the Police Force for a period of up to 60 days. During the police detention, the person is subjected to mental stresses, psychological manipulations, inhumane treatments and many testimonies have shown that the detainees were brutally tortured by the SB.

After the 60 days interrogation period, the detainee can be further detained at the Kamunting Detention Camp for 2 years. This detention order is signed by the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security and can be renewed for another 2 years.This 2-year detention order can be renewed endlessly.

4. What are the latest developments on ISA?

For your information, today there are still almost 100 people detained without trial at the Kamunting Detention Camp. In addition to this, a number of detainees are still being under the 60-days interrogation by the SB. At the same time, social and political activists in the country are being constantly threatened with the indefinite detention without trial under the ISA.

5. For what offenses are these people detained at the Kamunting Detention Camp in Taiping, Perak?

A large number of them are detained because the Government said that they are involved or are the members of Jemaah Islamiah (JI) and Darul Islam (DI).

6. Who else are undergoing ISA detention at the Kamunting Detention Camp?

A number of people were also detained because they were said to forge documents.

7. Have they been charged in court?

No, not even one of them has been charged in court. All of them have been detained for 2 to 6 years and more merely because of the detention order signed by the Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security which is also the Prime Minister.

8. What are the accusations of the Government towards JI and DI?

The Government accuses JI and DI of being part of the network of terrorists or international terrorists who have links with the Al-Qaeda. The Government also accuses them for wanting to establish an Islamic State in this region.

9. Who else other than them have been accused as members of the network of terrorists?

Before this, the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM) was detained under ISA. Among the KMM detainees, there were also some of them detained for being a member of the Kumpulan Militan Kedah (KMK). There was one detainee who was detained and accused of being a member of the Al-Qaeda.

After the 11th September 2001 Al-Maunah incident, they were also listed as a terrorist group. Before that, in year 2000 the Government also detained a number of people said to be members of the Pertubuhan Pengganas Antarabangsa (PPA).

10. Isn’t this kind of accusation the same as what had been done by the US President, George W Bush?

True, Bush created a global picture on the existence of a network of terrorists for US to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. After both countries were destroyed, Bush successfully controlled all the oil supplies and reserves and prevent the existence of political leaders in that region who are not aligned with the policies and interests of the US.

11. What happened to the KMM, Al-Maunah, PPA and Al-Qaeda that were once detained under ISA now?

All of them that we accused as being KMM members were released from the Kamunting Detention Camp. Some of them were released under restricted area confinement and some of them were released fully.

All of the Al-Maunah and PPA members were released fully. The said Al-Qaeda detainee was released without any Government protection to avoid him from being caught by the FBI or CIA from US.

12. If Bush’s terrorism agenda is political motivated, isn’t the ISA detention in Malaysia motivated to protect the political interests of the Government?

Yes, true. ISA detention is politically motivated. The JI and DI detentions and its continuance of the detention order of some of the KMM detainees were to convince the US that this country is walking alongside the US policy of fighting international terrorism.

Another evidence is that in the year 2001 where 10 activists of the Reformist were detained on the accusation that they wanted to overthrow the Government by gathering explosives, Molotov cocktails and rocket launchers. 6 of them were detained for 2 years at the Kamunting Detention Camp. They were released in the year 2003. Since their releases until now, the Government has not proven that there were explosives, Molotov cocktails and rocket launchers. The political motive of the detention was to suppress the rise of the Reformist wave against the UMNO-BN Government.


13. For preventive purposes, is ISA still needed?

Preventive laws does not mean that the Government can transgress HUMAN RIGHTS and jail anyone like that without a trial. Preventive steps must walk in hand with efforts to uphold the truth, transparency and justice.

14. Isn’t the majority of the citizens’ interests more considerate to be protected than that of the doings of the minority?

Justice is for all, majority or minority. Actions to safeguard the interests of the majority does not mean that the Government can transgress the HUMAN RIGHTS of the minority. If anyone has committed an offence, then charge he/she in an open court.

15. Some issues like leaving the religion or deviant teachings are sensitive to be tried in an open court. Isn’t the detention and rehabilitation under the ISA a smart solution?

False. Based on the principles of Truth and Justice, whatever offences that are to be settled through a punitive or rehabilitative process must go through a fair and open trial. Islam rejects detention without trial. So, using the ISA for the purported purpose of protecting the interests of Islam is a matter rejected by Islam itself.

16. There are certain quarters saying that ISA is not wrong, what happened was that ISA was wrongfully used. Is this acceptable?

This is totally unacceptable. Laws that transgress HUMAN RIGHTS by jailing a person without trial is itself clearly a wrongful law. Right laws can also be wrongfully used and of course wrongful laws will be wrongfully used even worse still.

17. The PM said that ISA is inline with Islam Hadhari, is this true?

True. The PM has said that. If what is meant by Islam Hadhari is Islam that focuses on building a civilization, of course Islam Hadhari is not inline with ISA. This is because ISA is a law that is the worst civilized of them all because it transgresses HUMAN RIGHTS by jailing people without trial.

18. Who are the ones worst suffered by the ISA detention?

Wives, children and close families are the ones that are worst suffered. They lost their love ones, place of refuge and frequently the loss of income. The wives of the detainees had to be the heads of the families and the bread winners for their children. They are constantly threatened and disturbed mentally and sexually by the SB.

19. What are the opinions of other parties about ISA?

International HUMAN RIGHTS organizations like the Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Islamic Human Rights Commission urge that the Malaysian Government abolish ISA.

SUHAKAM being the highest body advising the Government regarding HUMAN RIGHTS has also recommended that the Government abolish ISA.

Other than that, NGOs of HUMAN RIGHTS like HAKAM, SUARAM, JIM, ABIM that have coalesced into Abolish ISA Movement (AIM) urge that the ISA be abolished, the Kamunting Detention Camp be closed down and all detainees be released if the Government has no proof to charge them in court.

The above is a translation of the AIM’s leaflet for our understanding, reference and action. We also urge the Government to abolish ISA – a Draconian law. In the meantime, do not use it against the Truth Bearers, Freedom Fighters and HUMAN RIGHTS activists. It is WRONG.