Meeting with the Menteri Besar of Kelantan, Dato’ Haji Ahmad Bin Yakob on 23 August.
The Commission appreciates the state government’s openness to discuss
the issue of Orang Asli’s customary land rights with the Commission and
the approval for the Commission to have separate discussion with the state
agencies on the specific cases. As a follow-up, the Commission has planned
to organise two activities in Kelantan next year, with the collaboration of the
Kelantan state government, namely a roundtable discussion on the concept of
Orang Asli customary land rights and a forum on Business and Human Rights.
(vii) Deaths in custody
During the year under review, the Commission investigated 10 cases of
custodial deaths which were reported to the Commission or highlighted
by the media, of which six deaths occurred while under the custody of
the police, three deaths occurred while under the custody of the Prison
Department, and one death occurred while under the custody of the
National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK). Among the cases investigated were
the deaths of S. Balamurugam at North Klang District Police Headquarters
on 7 February, M. Thanaseelan at Bukit Sentosa lock-ups on 25 February, K.
Parthiban at Hospital Melaka under the custody of Melaka Tengah Police
on 22 May and Benedict Thanilas at Jinjang Centralised lock-up on 10 July.
The Commission’s investigations into the custodial deaths found that not
all the deaths were attributed to assault and torture as there were cases
where the detainees died of diseases which could have been prevented
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