(iii) Detention under Preventive Laws During the year, the Commission received a total of 25 complaints regarding detention under the preventive laws. Out of the 25 of the total complaints, 20 were on the detention under the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (POCA), two complaints were on the detention under Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures) 1985 (DDASPM) and three complaints were on SOSMA. Most of the complaints in relation to POCA were lodged by the families of the detainees, and each of the complaints had similar requests i.e. to seek for the release of the detainees. It was understood from the complaints that these detainees were mostly from poor families who were also the main breadwinners. As such, the detention of these breadwinners has caused financial difficulties to the families. In addition to the issue of detention without trial in an open court, the Commission was also alerted to the following concerns: a. Detention of Children under POCA On 8 November, it was revealed in Parliament that 142 children have been detained under POCA since it was enforced in 20143. Thus far, there were only three complaints on the detention of children under POCA that were brought to the Commission’s attention. The Commission is concerned with the high number of children detained under the preventive laws as it goes against the spirit of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in which incarceration should be the last resort, considering the best interests of the child. b. Allegation of excessive force used on detainees There were also allegations of physical force being used on the detainees to obtain confessions when they were under remand prior to being detained under POCA. In the government’s response to the Commission Annual Report 2016 regarding the Commission’s recommendation for the interrogation processes conducted on detainees to be mandatorily video recorded, the government simply dismissed the recommendation by stating that there is no provision in the law for such requirement while noting that such approach can be studied for future improvement.4 The Commission hopes that the government would look into the 3 “159 Kanak-Kanak ditahan di bawah POCA, SOSMA”, Freemalaysia Today, viewed at http:// www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/bahasa/2017/11/07/zahid-159-kanak-kanak-ditahanpoca-sosma/ on 8 November 2017 Maklum Balas Kerajaan Terhadap Laporan Tahunan SUHAKAM 2016, page 22. 4 74 S UH A KA M A N N UA L R E P O R T 2 0 1 7