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Gerakan echoes MIC's urging for IPCMC to be set up

Gerakan has joined its BN coalition partner MIC urging the formation of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) in response to death in custody victim N Dhamendran's case.

In a press release today, its Environment, Security and Quality of Life chairperson Cheah Soon Hai (right)  said establishing the commission "would help restore public confidence in the police force."

He said he could not fathom the police's aversion to the IPCMC when it is needed to deal with complaints made by the public against the force.

"Public confidence in the law enforcers is crucial so they will not take matters into their own hands," he said.

He urged the police to streamline their interrogation tactics and called for the revamp of lock up and interrogation rules.

"These detainees are merely suspects; they're innocent until proven guilty, so the police must respect this cardinal principle and not take it upon themselves to decide the guilt of the suspects," he said.

'MIC, Pakatan, back IPCMC Bill'

Last week MIC spoke up for the formation of the long overdue IPCMC, saying the recommendation had to be implemented "immediately".

Its national treasurer Jaspal Singh was responding to Minister Paul Low'sambivalencetowards the proposal as an immediate redress to the numerous custodial cases this year.

Pakatan Rakyat has also urged BN parliamentarians to support a bill on IPCMC at the first sitting of the new Parliament on June 24.

The opposition coalition's plan to push the IPCMC Bill despite lacking a majority in Parliament came after P Karuna Nithi's death on June 2, bringing the custodial death toll to three in two weeks.

Jaspal, in another statement today, noted that the delayed charging of the policemen linked to Dhamendran's death would do little to solve the problem.

"If we think this is the end of the custodial deaths saga, we would be wrong. The next death is only around the corner," he said.

He also said it would be "hypocritical to congratulate the Home Ministry" for arresting the three policemen over Dharmendran's murder when it was only public pressure that had led the authorities to finally act.

"Those who are misguided enough to feel they are protecting the police by rejecting the IPCMC must look clearly at the situation of the three policemen arrested yesterday," he added.

He noted how the policemen had turned from enforcers of the law to being incarcerated, causing distress to their families, and this would not have happened if there was a regulatory body to keep the policemen in line.

"This situation may have been avoided if an IPCMC had existed handing out swift and cautionary justice in A Kugan's case."

The high-profile death of 22-year-old Kugan, who died in custody in 2009, has not been resolved to the family's satisfaction until today.

'Abominable statistic'