Alleged members of an al-Qaida-linked extremist group jailed in Malaysia were routinely stripped naked, slapped, kicked and subjected to sexual abuse by police interrogators, according to a human rights document obtained by The Associated Press. Security officials have said the questioning produced information about plots by Jemaah Islamiyah to bomb U.S. and other Western interests in Singapore and other extremist operations in Southeast Asia. Information also was gained about Malaysia's role as a meeting point for senior al-Qaida operatives involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, the officials said. Malaysia routinely shares intelligence about Jemaah Islamiyah with Washington and in 2002 let the FBI question a key al-Qaida suspect at a prison camp. There has been no allegation the FBI was involved in any abuses in Malaysia, although some rights activists have questioned whether the U.S. government turns a blind eye to mistreatment of terror suspects by its allies in exchange for information.
| Who are we to impose our western beliefs on a muslim country? |
The abuse allegations are contained in a report seen by The Associated Press this week. The report was compiled by the government's human rights commission from prisoner complaints relayed by lawyers and rights activists.
| And their words can't be questioned |
The commission said it did not investigate the claims and only forwarded the document to police officials, who have repeatedly denied condoning mistreatment of prisoners.
Unlike the scandal involving abuses at U.S. detention camps in Iraq, there is no independent corroboration of the Malaysian charges such as photographs or testimony from non-detainee witnesses.
| See, now this is how you're suppose to run a detention camp. |
The activist group Human Rights Watch says it will release a report Wednesday on abuses of Malaysian terrorism suspects. Malaysia is holding about 100 people at the Kamunting prison camp under a security law that allows indefinite detention without trial. About 70 of those are alleged Islamic militants, many of them suspected members of Jemaah Islamiyah. Malaysian officials allege the suspects threatened national security by vowing to wage holy war to create an Islamic super state in Southeast Asia. Some are accused of involvement in plots to bomb targets in neighboring Singapore.
| Well, they did issue ppress releases taking credit for pretty much everything. |
The bomb plots allegedly were masterminded by a militant known as Hambali, an Indonesian suspected of leadership roles in both al-Qaida and Jemaah Islamiyah and blamed for attacks that have killed more than 200 people the past four years.
| Who is safe in a US run prison......snicker |
AP previously reported claims of abuse by some Islamic militant suspects detained in Malaysia, but the document obtained this week gives a broader and more detailed look at the alleged mistreatment. Thirty-one of the detainees signed a complaint that was lodged with the government's Malaysian Human Rights Commission in January. The prisoners list 57 types of abuse they claim to have been subjected to after their arrests. Some detainees produced sketches of mistreatment they allegedly suffered.
| Sorry, no video, no story. |
The complaints range from verbal attacks and denial of religious freedoms to long periods of solitary confinement and physical abuse and humiliation. "I was forced to strip ... and a chief inspector called his friends into the room to watch me, then they all laughed at me," one detainee, Sulaiman Suramin, wrote in a letter that accompanied the complaint. "I was forced to masturbate," he wrote. "They threatened to pull out my fingernails if I refused."
| Ah, the old ways still can't be topped. |
At least once, Sulaiman wrote, he was forced to stand on one leg with one arm extended for 20 minutes while interrogators peppered him with questions. Another time, "I was forced to lift a dustbin that had a lot of cigarette ash and other rubbish. I was then ordered to put my head into the dustbin and sniff the ash and say 'I am stupid' many times," he said.
Other detainees charge they were routinely slapped, kicked and spat on during interrogations. One said his beard was set afire. Some said they were forced to perform demeaning tasks such as massaging interrogators' feet. Police threatened to arrest their wives if they did not provide information, the prisoners allege. Several detainees claim they were forced to sleep on plywood planks and denied pillows or mattresses.
| Plywood? Hell, in my day, we slept on rocks and we were damm glad we had that much. Kids today! |
A spokesman for the national police, Jamshah Mustapa, said Friday that he had not seen the commission's document. "But if there are such complaints lodged with us, we will investigate," Jamshah said. "We do not condone this kind of thing. It is unethical. It is also not effective."
| See, he's a professional. Did you notice his lips didn't fall off? |
The head of the commission, Hamdan Adnan, confirmed the report obtained by AP was the document filed with the commission. He said it was forwarded to police months ago, but "we don't know what happened to it."
| Maybe they used it to light that guys beard on fire. |
Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim country of 25 million people, has been a staunch critic of the U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But its advocacy of a moderate version of Islam and a security crackdown that helped hobble Jemaah Islamiyah has won personal praise from President Bush.
| Well, no wonder they're being attacked. |
The U.S. State Department, however, noted in its annual human rights reports that the security law under which militant suspects are being held is one of several that undermine Malaysia's commitment to human rights. All the detainees are being held on two-year orders signed by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. The orders are based on police recommendations reached after a 60-day investigation period that follows arrests, a time when suspects are denied access to families and lawyers. No suspect has ever been charged in court, and the complaint document claims the police information in the detention orders was fabricated.
Among the complainants is Yazid Sufaat, a former Malaysian army captain accused of helping top al-Qaida operatives - including two Sept. 11 hijackers - when they visited Malaysia in 2000. He is alleged to be a close associate of Hambali, whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin. Yazid charges he was confined to a small cell and barred from reciting the Quran for three weeks. He said he also was forced to pray wearing short pants, which goes against Islamic norms.
| Gee, isn't Malaysia a muslim country? Thought so. |
A U.S.-trained chemical engineer, Yazid was arrested in December 2001 as he returned from Afghanistan, where officials allege he was working on a fledgling chemical weapons program for Osama bin Laden. He was briefly interrogated by FBI agents in 2002 who reportedly found him to be untruthful and uncooperative.
| I feel sorry for poor Yazid.....no, that was just gas. |
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