CH A PT E R 1 The detainees’ family members alleged to SUHAKAM that police used violence and torture during interrogation to coerce them into falsely confessing to belonging to a group of gangsters known as Geng x. The detainees were also forced to sign a document blindfolded. The authorities did not explain the contents of the document even after they were asked. Furthermore, the detainees’ families were not informed of the court’s mention dates and/or they were not allowed to enter the court during the mentions. In contrast, the media was allowed. The families added that the detainees were depressed. Their income and careers were affected due to the arrest and they did not know why they had been arrested even after several months in detention. SUHAKAM has taken several actions. SUHAKAM managed to get investigation officers to ask the court’s approval for family members of the detainees to attend case mentions. The investigation officers were also reminded to notify detainees’ families, especially those without legal representation, of court mention dates as well as the reason for their arrest. SUHAKAM has sent its recommendations to the office of the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court of Malaysia and the Attorney General’s Chambers over the long intervals between mention dates that lead to long drawn-out detentions. Additionally, SUHAKAM also visited and recorded statements from the detainees at Taiping Prison and wrote to the Prisons Department on the issues raised by the detainees. Statements of the Investigation officers were also recorded. The detainees were accused under Section 43 of Societies Act and most of them pleaded guilty and spent 12 to 18 months in prison. However, proving police violence and torture against the detainees was a challenging task for SUHAKAM. SUHAKAM has urged RMP to conduct interrogations in rooms with CCTV and to allow the family members of the detainees to visit them without unnecessary delay during their remand. SUHAKAM has made strong recommendations to the government with regard to SOSMA. The government is now in the midst of revising SOSMA and POCA as both the acts are considered oppressive. SUHAKAM had also been invited by MOHA to make comments on both the Acts. b) Juvenile detention under the Prevention of Crime Act (POCA) On 19 July 2018, SUHAKAM visited Kluang Prison. The purpose of the visit was to obtain information in relation to juvenile (minors) detainees under POCA. Kluang Prison is a Special Rehabilitation Centre for POCA detainees. This prison was gazetted on 28 March 2014 and it has the capacity to hold 2,500 people. During SUHAKAM’s visit, there were 43 people detained under POCA. They comprised 39 juveniles and 4 adults. SUHAKAM ANNUAL REPORT 2018 77