Family: Uthaya suffered a silent heart attack
Malaysiakini - K Kabilan Apr 12, 08 12:22pm
The Malaysian Indian United Party (MIUP) today joined a chorus of calls being made to the government to ensure that ISA-detained Hindraf legal advisor P Uthayakumar is given a proper medical treatment.MIUP president KS Nallakaruppan said that it was the duty of the government to ensure Uthayakumar received proper medical treatment for his diabetes.“The detention centre authorities must make sure that Uthayakumar and the other four Hindraf detainees are in good health,” said Nallakaruppan today.“The authorities must not fail in their duty to provide healthcare for these detainees. “If they are needed to be admitted in a hospital, they then should be admitted. If they need to see a specialist, again, the detention centre must make arrangements for that,” he added.He also warned that the detention camp authorities should not turn the admission of any of these Hindraf leaders into a government hospital into a media event.“We see them parading Uthayakumar in handcuffs while being taken to the hospital and back to the detention centre. “This shouldn’t happen. He is not a criminal. If you are taking him to the hospital for treatment, then make sure that he gets the propers treatment,” he said.Nallakaruppan also urged the detention centre authorities to allow Uthayakumar to receive his proper medications from his doctors.
Similarly, Nallakaruppan added that two other Hindraf detainees - V Ganabatirau and R Kenghadharan - had also complained of being denied medical treatment. “I urge the authorities to look into this matter seriously. I know how it feels to be locked up and being denied medical treatment. The government must show its humane face by giving proper medical treatment for these detainees,” he added.
Family: a silent heart attack
Uthayakumar, Ganabatirau, Kenghadharan, M Manoharan and T Vasantha Kumar - all key leaders of Hindu Rights Action Force - were detained under the Internal Security Act on Dec 13 shortly after organising a mammoth rally in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25 which saw some 30,000 Indians taking to the streets.Uthayakumar, a diabetic for the past 12 years, was admitted to the Taiping hospital in Perak on April 7 after his sugar level rose to more than three times the normal level. His lawyer Santha Devi Velusamy complained that he was not given his diabetes medicines for the past one month despite making repeated requests to the detention centre director.Uthayakumar was discharged from the hospital on April 10 and taken back to the detention centre but his family members insist that he is still not well.
Uthayakumar’s brother and Hindraf chairperson P Waythamoorthy today criticised the authorities for prematurely discharging his sibling from the hospital.In a statement issued from London where he is currently based, Waythamoorthy urged all Hindraf supporters to lodge police reports against the director of detention centre and the Home Affairs Minister for “negligently and prematurely discharging Uthayakumar thus seriously damaging his health”.“My family member who visited him confirms his complaints of decreased vision, giddiness, weakness and uncomfortable feeling in the heart. “The doctor who examined him at Taiping hospital suspected he may have damaged heart muscles and is suffering a silent heart attack as a result of being denied diabetes medication for more than a month,” he said.
Police reports lodgedWaythamoorthy added that a proper test to confirm Uthayakumar’s heart condition is only available at the Taiping hospital on April 28.
“His condition is so serious and my family are willing to bear the private medical expenses. He needs to be referred to IJN urgently and we need the public to support our request for urgent private medical treatment,” he added.
Waythamoorthy also claimed that upon Uthayakumar’s discharge from the hospital, he was again denied medication for more than 20 hours and served diet with high sugar content.
In order to force the government to provide proper medical treatment to Uthayakumar, his mother K Kalaivaniy and fiancée Indra Devi Subramaniam lodged separate police reports at the Seremban and Brickfields police stations respectively this morning.Yesterday some 300 Hindraf supporters gathered at the Kamunting detention centre to protest against the lack of medical treatment for Uthayakumar.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Gerakan Urges Govt to review Manoharan's ISA Detention- Bernama
Gerakan Urges Government To Review Manoharan's ISA Detention
KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 (Bernama) --
Gerakan has urged the home minister to review the decision to continue holding lawyer M. Manoharan under the Internal Security Act (ISA).Its vice-president, Datuk Dr S. Vijayaratnam said that as Manoharan was given the mandate by the people of Kota Alam Shah to represent them, the decision to detain him under the ISA should be reviewed."He received more than 12,600 votes, a 7,000 plus majority, which indicates they (the people) have faith in him."Continued detention is tantamount to ignoring the wishes of the people. At least, he should be sworn in as a state assemblyman," he said in a statement Friday.
Last December, Manoharan was detained for alleged involvement in organising illegal gatherings on Nov 25, and making seditious statements against the government.He is the third ISA detainee to contest on a DAP ticket in a general election.Chan Kok Kit and Chian Heng Khai contested on a DAP ticket in 1978 in Sungai Besi (Selangor) and Batu Gajah (Perak), respectively, when they were under detention.Both won.-- BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 (Bernama) --
Gerakan has urged the home minister to review the decision to continue holding lawyer M. Manoharan under the Internal Security Act (ISA).Its vice-president, Datuk Dr S. Vijayaratnam said that as Manoharan was given the mandate by the people of Kota Alam Shah to represent them, the decision to detain him under the ISA should be reviewed."He received more than 12,600 votes, a 7,000 plus majority, which indicates they (the people) have faith in him."Continued detention is tantamount to ignoring the wishes of the people. At least, he should be sworn in as a state assemblyman," he said in a statement Friday.
Last December, Manoharan was detained for alleged involvement in organising illegal gatherings on Nov 25, and making seditious statements against the government.He is the third ISA detainee to contest on a DAP ticket in a general election.Chan Kok Kit and Chian Heng Khai contested on a DAP ticket in 1978 in Sungai Besi (Selangor) and Batu Gajah (Perak), respectively, when they were under detention.Both won.-- BERNAMA
GMI- Calling to release all ISA detainee
GMI: Enough of 6 years of ISA cruelty
Malaysiakini-Azreen Madzlan Apr 11, 08 6:16pm
As part of its ongoing campaign to seek justice for all Internal Security Act detainees, the Abolish ISA Movement (GMI) today launched a host of new measures to highlight the perils of detention without trial.For starters the movement aim to collect 300,000 letters from member of the public to be sent to the United Nation in the hope of raising the human rights issues in Malaysia. They would also be sent to Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar.The new campaign - themed ‘Enough of six years of cruelty’, to signify the duration 10 men have been detained for allegedly being members of Jemaah Islamiah - was launched this morning at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.According to GMI president Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh the campaign will also try to gain the support of the 82 Pakatan Rakyat members of Parliament.The letter will be sent to the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar and High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nation in Switzerland.Syed Ibrahim was confident that the new campaign would augur success, taking note of the recent dramatic changes in the country’s political landscape.“If people have shown their courage to deny Barisan Nasional two-thirds majority in the Parliament, let’s all of us rise again to pressure the government to release all the ISA detainees,” he said.Although principally the campaign was targeted for the 10 alleged JI detainees who have been incarcerated for six years, GMI reiterated that all other ISA detainees including the Hindraf 5 must be tried fairly in courts or released unconditionally.
Also present at the press conference were GMI campaign manager Noorlaila Othman and member of Human Rights Committee of the Bar Council Syamsuriatina Ishak.
‘Call for media to play their part’
According to Noorlaila, the campaign was a response to Syed Hamid’s call last Sunday that the government would abolish the ISA if the people wanted it.“This is what we are doing, we’ll take the challenge. We will show him that the people do not want the ISA.” she said. Noorlaila - whose husband is one of the ISA detainees- added the letter-signing marathon campaign might be new to the Malaysian public compared to other countries and urged to media to promote this cause to the public
She added that the movement’s previous postcard campaign by GMI in 2006 has helped the release of nine ISA detainees.The campaign is a continuation of an international campaign organized by the Islamic Human Rights Commision (IHRC) launched last year.Meanwhile, Syamsuriatina said that one of the efforts undertaken by the Bar Council to support GMI was by having lawyers visiting ISA detainees in Kamunting detention camp.“This will help monitor the situation of the detainees. It will give them moral boost,” she said.
Release Uthayakumar
GMI also revealed that of the 10 who had been in detention for six years, five have been given an extension for a further two years, making their detention to run into eight years.All of the detainees are allegedly members of the JI extremist group. To date, none of the detainees have been charged for any offences in an open court.
Syed Ibrahim also questioned why the 10 detainees were not released when 40 others who were detained for the same reason have been released in the past years.“These are questions that have always been asked by the media. Is there any reason why they are being detained for so long?” he asked.
Syed Ibrahim also said that the movement was also said, concerned with the health of Hindraf legal advisor P Uthayakumar, also an ISA detainee.“This has happened before. And it can be used as a form of mental torture on the detainees. For them to be denied the rights for medical treatment is a violation of human rights. It’s a gross injustice,” he said.He added the government must take this matter seriously and allow Uthayakumar to be given full medical treatment. He also called for the release all the Hindraf 5 leaders.
Malaysiakini-Azreen Madzlan Apr 11, 08 6:16pm
As part of its ongoing campaign to seek justice for all Internal Security Act detainees, the Abolish ISA Movement (GMI) today launched a host of new measures to highlight the perils of detention without trial.For starters the movement aim to collect 300,000 letters from member of the public to be sent to the United Nation in the hope of raising the human rights issues in Malaysia. They would also be sent to Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar.The new campaign - themed ‘Enough of six years of cruelty’, to signify the duration 10 men have been detained for allegedly being members of Jemaah Islamiah - was launched this morning at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.According to GMI president Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh the campaign will also try to gain the support of the 82 Pakatan Rakyat members of Parliament.The letter will be sent to the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar and High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), United Nation in Switzerland.Syed Ibrahim was confident that the new campaign would augur success, taking note of the recent dramatic changes in the country’s political landscape.“If people have shown their courage to deny Barisan Nasional two-thirds majority in the Parliament, let’s all of us rise again to pressure the government to release all the ISA detainees,” he said.Although principally the campaign was targeted for the 10 alleged JI detainees who have been incarcerated for six years, GMI reiterated that all other ISA detainees including the Hindraf 5 must be tried fairly in courts or released unconditionally.
Also present at the press conference were GMI campaign manager Noorlaila Othman and member of Human Rights Committee of the Bar Council Syamsuriatina Ishak.
‘Call for media to play their part’
According to Noorlaila, the campaign was a response to Syed Hamid’s call last Sunday that the government would abolish the ISA if the people wanted it.“This is what we are doing, we’ll take the challenge. We will show him that the people do not want the ISA.” she said. Noorlaila - whose husband is one of the ISA detainees- added the letter-signing marathon campaign might be new to the Malaysian public compared to other countries and urged to media to promote this cause to the public
She added that the movement’s previous postcard campaign by GMI in 2006 has helped the release of nine ISA detainees.The campaign is a continuation of an international campaign organized by the Islamic Human Rights Commision (IHRC) launched last year.Meanwhile, Syamsuriatina said that one of the efforts undertaken by the Bar Council to support GMI was by having lawyers visiting ISA detainees in Kamunting detention camp.“This will help monitor the situation of the detainees. It will give them moral boost,” she said.
Release Uthayakumar
GMI also revealed that of the 10 who had been in detention for six years, five have been given an extension for a further two years, making their detention to run into eight years.All of the detainees are allegedly members of the JI extremist group. To date, none of the detainees have been charged for any offences in an open court.
Syed Ibrahim also questioned why the 10 detainees were not released when 40 others who were detained for the same reason have been released in the past years.“These are questions that have always been asked by the media. Is there any reason why they are being detained for so long?” he asked.
Syed Ibrahim also said that the movement was also said, concerned with the health of Hindraf legal advisor P Uthayakumar, also an ISA detainee.“This has happened before. And it can be used as a form of mental torture on the detainees. For them to be denied the rights for medical treatment is a violation of human rights. It’s a gross injustice,” he said.He added the government must take this matter seriously and allow Uthayakumar to be given full medical treatment. He also called for the release all the Hindraf 5 leaders.
Hindu American Foundation Press Release: HAF Advocates for Malaysian Hindus at Congressional Briefing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Ishani Chowdhury
Hindu American Foundation
Director of Public Policy
Office: 301.770.7835
Fax: 301.770.7837
Washington, DC (April 8, 2008). The Hindu American Foundation Director of Public Policy, Ishani Chowdhury, testified on recent events in Malaysia at a briefing held by the Congressional Task Force on International Religious Freedom (TIRF) today on Capitol Hill. Entitled "Matters of Life and Death in Malaysia: Does the Recent Election Point to a Trend Toward Religious Tolerance?," prominent panelists included Dr. Bridget Welsh, Assistant Professor in the Southeast Asia Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University-SAIS; Angela Wu, International Director with The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; and Mickey Spiegel, Senior Researcher with the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch.
At the briefing attended by representatives of the U.S. Department of State, staffers of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Malaysian Embassy, Chowdhury flayed the Malaysian government on its record of persecution and discrimination of the country's substantial Hindu minority, constituting 7% of the population. "With a 40% minority population, Malaysia needs to include the minority population in dialogue and address grievances such as the violent responses to peaceful protests, judicial onslaughts against faith, and destruction of temples," stated Chowdhury. As noted in the Foundation's report 'Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Report: 2006', 76 Hindu temples were demolished, desecrated or forcibly relocated by the Malaysian government. The most prominent case is that of the destruction of the 100-year old Sri Muthu Mariamman temple, which was located on a rubber plantation and home to approximately 1,000 families.
"Hindus also face an socio-economic disadvantage as they are not entitled to benefits under the government's bumiputra program," said Chowdhury. The majority Muslim Malay, viewed as bumiputra or "sons of the soil," benefit from an affirmative action policy that includes discounts on housing, quotas on educational institutions, preference for government jobs, and disproportionate opportunities for economic advancement. "Many Malaysian Hindus have left Malaysia to settle in the United States, as they are unable to gain scholarships or admission to colleges or jobs, despite high academic achievements," she said.
This panel included discussion of the implications of Malaysia's March 8th elections on religious minorities. Although the elections served as watermark of Malaysian democracy, the long-term effects are uncertain. Religious minorities were galvanized during the vote by the government authorized destruction of Hindu and Buddhist temples, and legal decisions that limit their religious freedom rights related to issues of life and death, including marriage, conversion, custody of children, and burial. The election resulted in damaging losses for Prime Minister's Abduallah Badawi's coalition.
"As an economically strong nation with a large minority community, Malaysia has the opportunity to serve as a model of harmony in the Muslim world, with the US benefiting both strategically and economically, " said Chowdhury. "It is in the nation's best interest to work to promote dialogue, repeal the draconian Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite imprisonment without trail, and work with the Hindu community to ensure fairness towards all faith traditions. Otherwise, it may not be too long until we see another country spiral out of control into the contentious and devastating realm of human rights abuse, and religious and racial divide.
"The Hindu American Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, non-partisan organization promoting the Hindu and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism. Contact HAF at 1-301-770-7835 or on the web at www.HAFsite.org.
Contact:
Ishani Chowdhury
Hindu American Foundation
Director of Public Policy
Office: 301.770.7835
Fax: 301.770.7837
Washington, DC (April 8, 2008). The Hindu American Foundation Director of Public Policy, Ishani Chowdhury, testified on recent events in Malaysia at a briefing held by the Congressional Task Force on International Religious Freedom (TIRF) today on Capitol Hill. Entitled "Matters of Life and Death in Malaysia: Does the Recent Election Point to a Trend Toward Religious Tolerance?," prominent panelists included Dr. Bridget Welsh, Assistant Professor in the Southeast Asia Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University-SAIS; Angela Wu, International Director with The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty; and Mickey Spiegel, Senior Researcher with the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch.
At the briefing attended by representatives of the U.S. Department of State, staffers of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Malaysian Embassy, Chowdhury flayed the Malaysian government on its record of persecution and discrimination of the country's substantial Hindu minority, constituting 7% of the population. "With a 40% minority population, Malaysia needs to include the minority population in dialogue and address grievances such as the violent responses to peaceful protests, judicial onslaughts against faith, and destruction of temples," stated Chowdhury. As noted in the Foundation's report 'Hindus in South Asia and the Diaspora: A Survey of Human Report: 2006', 76 Hindu temples were demolished, desecrated or forcibly relocated by the Malaysian government. The most prominent case is that of the destruction of the 100-year old Sri Muthu Mariamman temple, which was located on a rubber plantation and home to approximately 1,000 families.
"Hindus also face an socio-economic disadvantage as they are not entitled to benefits under the government's bumiputra program," said Chowdhury. The majority Muslim Malay, viewed as bumiputra or "sons of the soil," benefit from an affirmative action policy that includes discounts on housing, quotas on educational institutions, preference for government jobs, and disproportionate opportunities for economic advancement. "Many Malaysian Hindus have left Malaysia to settle in the United States, as they are unable to gain scholarships or admission to colleges or jobs, despite high academic achievements," she said.
This panel included discussion of the implications of Malaysia's March 8th elections on religious minorities. Although the elections served as watermark of Malaysian democracy, the long-term effects are uncertain. Religious minorities were galvanized during the vote by the government authorized destruction of Hindu and Buddhist temples, and legal decisions that limit their religious freedom rights related to issues of life and death, including marriage, conversion, custody of children, and burial. The election resulted in damaging losses for Prime Minister's Abduallah Badawi's coalition.
"As an economically strong nation with a large minority community, Malaysia has the opportunity to serve as a model of harmony in the Muslim world, with the US benefiting both strategically and economically, " said Chowdhury. "It is in the nation's best interest to work to promote dialogue, repeal the draconian Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite imprisonment without trail, and work with the Hindu community to ensure fairness towards all faith traditions. Otherwise, it may not be too long until we see another country spiral out of control into the contentious and devastating realm of human rights abuse, and religious and racial divide.
"The Hindu American Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, non-partisan organization promoting the Hindu and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism. Contact HAF at 1-301-770-7835 or on the web at www.HAFsite.org.
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