KUALA LUMPUR: National Human Rights Society (HAKAM) is perturbed by the authorities' treatment on Movement Control Order (MCO) violators.
Its president Prof Dato Dr Gurdial Singh Nijar said MCO violators are not hardcore criminals and that their rights must be protected.
“They are ordinary members of the public who are found outside their abodes during this Covid-stricken stay-home lockdown. Ostensibly, for violating measures and laws,” he said in a statement, here, today.
Charges can be laid under Section 269 of the Penal Code for the offence of committing a negligent act likely to spread infection of any disease dangerous to life.
The offence carries a six-month jail term and/or fine upon conviction. As well as under Rule 3(1) of the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases (Measures within the Infected Local Areas) Regulations 2020, which carries a RM1,000 fine or six-month jail term.
“I understand there is a chorus of opinion that wants an early end to the state we are in: for a variety of reasons. And the politicians are responding to this clamour. And many may support such robust and fierce power over citizens.
“But we must not lose sight of our values of humanism that informs our animated democracy. There is a growing risk of an abrupt inflection of our cherished human right values,” he said.
He added that generally, the police had acted sincerely and moderately.
“But they must guard against a besmirching of their role by any disconcerting acts of a few. In particular, there ought to be a public disavowal of such action”, he said.
Gurdial said the Malaysian public is not used to the implementation of such drastic MCO measures.
“Their implementation should be viewed as encouraging people to restrict their movements to the bare essentials. And will be a steep learning curve for the public to reorder their lifestyle to these new restrictions,” he said.
In short, he said the newly minted regulations should be implemented in a facilitative rather than a punitive way.
“Except perhaps for the exceptionally willfully defiant recalcitrant,” he said.
Ultimately, he said Malaysia must emerge from this pandemic episode with its human rights record unscathed.