Malaysian detainees routinely tortured

When i was doing my Legal Aid, i had the opportunity to interview a few client who had just been released from the lock up. One of them told me that the police threaten to arrest his whole family if he did not confess to the crime. A majority of them told me that the police hit them with a phonebook and some said that the police hit the bottom of their foot with a metal ruler.
The article below has more detail on what the detainees went through :-
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KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 (AFP) – Detainees held under Malaysia’s notorious security laws are routinely tortured during interrogations, stripped naked, beaten with broomsticks and threatened with rape, former inmates said Monday.
Former Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees and their supporters gathered at the state-backed Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) to condemn the act and push for it to be repealed as it marks its 45th year in operation.
The ISA, which allows for indefinite detention without trial, is “a licence to torture,” said Kua Kia Soong, director of leading rights group Voice of the Malaysian People (SUARAM).
Malaysia cannot call itself a democratic country while retaining a law that permits gross violation of human rights, he said, urging authorities to launch a probe into claims of torture and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“All human beings who were disgusted at the torture and humiliation of the detainees at Abu Ghraib must open their eyes to the reality of the ISA,” he said, referring to the jail in Iraq where US abuse of prisoners came to light.
Malaysia must also “abolish the ISA and all forms of detention without trial; charge all detainees in an open court or else release them immediately and unconditionally,” he added.
Goh Kean Seng, 55, who was detained between 1974 and 1982 for allegedly being pro-communist, described an ordeal of sexual humiliation while behind bars.
“I was stripped naked most of the time. Police officers booed me on my shrunken penis, sneering at me that I would become impotent after their ‘special treatment’,” he said.
Police also threatened to rape his girlfriend if he did not confess, and punching, kicking and beating with a broomstick were common during his five-day interrogation, he said.
Patricia Lourdes Irene, 54, who was held for a year in 1987, said she was also threatened with rape if she did not cooperate.
“They said they had raped many times before and I believed them,” she
said.
One inmate developed schizophrenia and never recovered, said Ban Ah Kam, 59, who was detained for 10 years from 1968. He said he was hit with a broomstick until it broke.
Pressure group Abolish ISA Movement said in a report that some detainees were subjected to non-stop interrogation for days, had their heads bashed against the wall, needles stuck in their fingernails and nails inserted into their genitals.
It said they were made to strip and sit on open bottles, forced to re-enact the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, had their heads pushed into toilet bowls and were force-fed urine.
“Our stand is very clear. Detention without trial is an extreme form of detention. It denies a person the right to liberty, the right to appear in a public trial and the right to assume innocence until proven guilty,” SUHAKAM commissioner Siva Subramaniam said.
Subramaniam said the government seemed increasingly keen on using the ISA, even in cases like forgery, which would normally have been dealt with in the courts.
The ISA, originally designed to combat a communist rebellion half a century ago, allows for two-year detention periods without trial, which can be renewed indefinitely.
Critics say that the law, which has been used to arrest more than 10,000 people since 1960, is used to crush political dissent. The government maintains it is an essential tool against terrorism.
Malaysia is currently holding over 100 people in detention under the ISA, more than 80 of whom are suspected Islamic militants.