Home ministry to improve management of lock-ups, detainees

The home ministry is preparing a comprehensive amendment to the 1953 Lockup Rules to ensure that the management of lock-ups, detainees as well as the basic rights of detainees are improved in line with current requirements.

The ministry said in a reply published on the Parliament's official website that this was among the measures to be taken by the police to curb the issue of deaths in custody.

"This is in addition to providing SOPs for the management of detainees in the lock-ups as well as periodic inspections by the authorities to ensure compliance," it said.

The ministry was responding to a question from Zahari Kechik (PN-Jeli) who asked about the statistics of deaths in custody for 2021 and 2022 as well as the government's efforts to curb such incidents.

The home ministry said the police were also studying a proposal to place a "hospital or custody" notice on every police car as a reminder to send ill or injured detainees to the hospital for treatment, similar to the notices used by the UK police.
 
The ministry said that 24 deaths in custody were recorded from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2022, 11 of which occurred in police lock-ups. The other 13 occurred while detainees were either receiving treatment at a hospital or clinic or on the way to the facility.

The number of such cases in 2021 totalled 46, of which 14 occurred in lock-ups.

On the statistics of investigations, charges and convictions under the Sedition Act 1948, the home ministry said a total of 367 case files were opened from 2018 to 2022. Sixty-six cases were opened in 2018, 46 in 2019, 117 in 2020, 84 in 2021 and 54 in 2022.

Five of the cases have been tried in court, with three ending in convictions and two ongoing.

The ministry was responding to a question from Syerleena Abdul Rashid (PH-Bukit Bendera) over the matter.