In the Name of Security: Counterterrorism and Human Rights Abuses Under Malaysia's Internal Security Act

By: Human Rights Watch

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Synopsis: Nearly one hundred men currently languish in Malaysia's Kamunting detention center-some have been there for more than two years-without being charged with a crime or any prospect of a trial. Almost all are accused of being involved with organizations implicated in terrorist activity. While in detention, detainees report that they have been mistreated, some subjected to sexual humiliation, others slapped and kicked. All were held incommunicado for several weeks after they were first detained. Family members report that detainees showed signs of more extensive physical abuse when they first were able to meet with them. These men are being held under Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA), a form of administrative detention that permits the government to detain individuals without charge or trial, denying them even the most basic due process rights. The ISA allows the government to hold detainees for two years after arrest, and then renew this period indefinitely without meaningful judicial approval or scrutiny:

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