Its name may have ‘broken out of jail’ multiple times, but its essential feature has remained unrepentant and firmly behind bars for decades – preventive/administrative detention of anyone for an indefinite period, without trial or criminal charges, under ‘extraordinary’ circumstances. Most Malaysians (wallflowers and boat-rockers alike) recognize this fearsome legislation by its most glamorous showbiz alias of ‘ISA’ – but the Act had the dowdier birth name of ‘ERO’ (Emergency Regulations Ordinance) when first implemented by the British during the Malayan Emergency in 1948 (along with its avid understudy, the Sedition Act). Following its (partial) repeal, it received a Hoochie Mama makeover, and was re-introduced as the sexier ISA in 1960. When the 13th May race riots put on a show-stopping performance in 1969, the legislation took on a second, more extravagant public persona dubbed the ‘EO’ (Emergency Public Order and Crime Prevention Ordinance), which instantly captured Malaysian hearts, imaginations, and thousands of dissidents. The ISA and EO were repealed in 2012 and 2013, respectively, for a much-need facelift and tummy-tuck, and returned to the spotlight as the dazzling, if tightly-pulled, SOSMA (Security Offenses Special Measures Act), which continues to enrich our lives today.
Exact figures, like listenable Miley Cyrus songs, are hard to come by, but estimates for the number of people who have been incarcerated under Malaysia’s preventive/administrative detention law (in its rainbow Roman alphabet of acronyms) stand at over 10,000. Detainees comprise Members of Parliament, academicians, political activists, bloggers, religious groups, trade unionists, lawyers and student leaders (and the occasional tutti-frutti). Many are/were foreign citizens, with the largest groups being from Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, India and Syria. Some were held for as little as a few days, while others (mostly political prisoners) were locked up for more than a decade, mainly at happening digs afforded by the maximum security Kamunting Detention Centre near Taiping, Perak. And according to data provided by former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi during a parliament session in 2005, 12 people were executed under the ISA between 1983 and 1993 (they were ISA-cuted).
Our insatiable preventive/administrative detention law has never had a problem snagging reluctant BFFs to spend long prison cell quality time with, but particular moments in history saw it reaping bumper crops of captive playmates. The biggest, prize-winning hauls were from 1963’s Operation Coldstore crackdown (a joint operation with Singapore which scored over 117 artists, writers, trade unionists, leftists and academicians), 1987’s Operasi Lalang (119 NGO activists, opposition politicians, intellectuals, students and journalists), and the 2013 Lahad Datu standoff (104 Filipino militants with suspected links to Jamalul Kiram III).
What follows is a (very) brief list of local luminaries subjected to “unwanted touching” by Malaysia’s preventive/administrative detention law over the years (in all its hideous iterations):
Teresa Kok
DAP Member of Parliament for Seputeh
Arrested in: 2008 under the ISA
Charged with: Insulting Islam (later proven to be completely unfounded)
Detained for: 7 days
Botak Chin (Wong Swee Chin)
Gangster/ career criminal
Arrested in: 1980 under the ISA
Charged with: Possession of firearms and ammunition (a capital offense)
Detained for: 13 months. Tried, found guilty, sentenced to death and executed in mid-1981.
Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili
Minister of Energy, Green Technology and Water
Arrested in: 1991 under the ISA (as part of Operation Talkak)
Charged with: Conspiracy to effect the secession of the state of Sabah from Malaysia
Detained for: 59 days
Said Zahari (who passed away last week)
Arrested in: 1961 under the ISA (as part of Operation Coldstore)
Charged with: Being a communist sympathizer and agitator
Detained for: 17 years, partly in solitary confinement. He was never tried.
Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj
Pakatan Rakyat Member of Parliament for Sungai Siput
Arrested in: 2011 under the Emergency Ordinance (in the run-up to Bersih 2.0)
Charged with: Attempting to wage war against the King and revive Communism
Detained for: 28 days (in solitary confinement)
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Blogger and former opposition activist
Arrested in: 2001 and 2008 under the ISA
Charged with: 1st case – plotting to overthrow Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad; 2nd case – publishing articles which ‘insulted Islam’ and tarnished the country’s leadership
Detained for: 1st case – 52 days; 2nd case – 56 days
Irene Xavier
Leading member of the Women’s Aid Organization (WAO), and SUARAM activist
Arrested in: 1987 under the ISA (as part of Operation Lalang)
Charged with: Stoking racial tension
Detained for: 60 days (in solitary confinement). Irene testified that she was regularly beaten, humiliated and mentally abused.
Ali Abdul Jalil
Student activist (now living in exile in Sweden)
Arrested in: 2014 under the Sedition Act
Charged with: Insulting the royal family of Johor, and issuing seditious statements against the Sultan of Selangor in Facebook postings
Detained for: 22 days (during which he claims he was beaten and verbally abused)
Shamsudin Sulaiman
Former Assistant Accountant at the Ministry of Health
Arrested in: 2002 under the ISA
Charged with: Being a threat to the country through membership with “militant groups”
Detained for: 8 years and 3.5 months. He was never tried.
Khalid Abdul Samad
Arrested in: 1987 under the ISA (as part of Operation Lalang)
Charged with: Stoking racial tension
Detained for: 9 months
James Puthucheary
Founding member of Singapore’s People’s Action Party, lawyer and economist
Arrested in: 1951, 1956 and 1963 under the ISA (as part of Operation Coldstore)
Charged with: 1st case – student radicalism; 2nd case: organising trade union strikes; 3rd case: being a Communist sympathizer
Detained for: 1st case – 1.5 years; 2nd case – 3 years; 3rd case – six months (in solitary confinement). He was banned from entering Singapore until 1990.
Dr Chandra Muzaffar
Founder of Aliran, writer and activist
Arrested in 1987 under the ISA (as part of Operation Lalang)
Charged with: Stoking racial tension
Detained for: 2 months
Lim Kit Siang
Arrested in: 1969 and 1987 under the ISA (as part of Operation Lalang)
Charged with: 1st case – being a potential threat to national security (during the 13th May riots); 2nd case – stoking racial tension
Detained for: 1st case – 18 months; 2nd case – 18 months
Hishamuddin Rais
Film director, columnist, and political and social activist
Arrested in: 1994 and 2001 under the ISA, and 2013 under the Sedition Act
Charged with: 1st case – student activism; 2nd case – plotting to overthrow the government; 3rd case – inciting the public to topple the government
Detained for: 1st case – 2 years and 2 months; 2nd case – 2 weeks; 3rd case – 9 months (yet to be served).
Karpal Singh
Former Member of Parliament for Bukit Gelugor, and former DAP National Chairman
Arrested in: 1987 under the ISA (as part of Operation Lalang)
Charged with: Stoking racial tension
Detained for: 15 months
Dr Abdullah Daud
Lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Skudai
Arrested in: 2002 under the ISA
Charged with: Being a member of the militant group Jemaah Islamiah
Detained for: 7 years and 6 months
Tian Chua
Member of Parliament for Batu, and Vice President of PKR
Arrested in: 1999 and 2001 under the ISA
Charged with: (for both cases) Prominent involvement in the Reformasi movement
Detained for: 1st case – 3 days; 2nd case – 2 years
Mohamad Sabu
Arrested in: 1984 and 1987 under the ISA (as part of Operation Lalang)
Charged with: 1st case – involvement in an extremist group; 2nd case – stoking racial tensions
Detained for: 1st case – 2 years; 2nd case – 2 years
M. Manoharan
HINDRAF legal adviser, and former Assemblyman in the Selangor State Assembly
Arrested in: 2007 under the ISA
Charged with: Taking part in an illegal demonstration
Detained for: 2 years
Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan
Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Bingkor, and former Vice-President for PKR
Arrested in: 1991 under the ISA (as part of Operation Talkak)
Charged with: Conspiracy to effect the secession of the state of Sabah from Malaysia
Detained for: 2 years and 8 months (partly in solitary confinement)
Read Jeffrey’s harrowing account of his years as an ISA detainee in FMT’s exclusive piece: “Enlightened Jeffrey recalls ISA’s cruelty”
Dr Kua Kia Soong
Chairman of SUARAM, and former DAP Member of Parliament
Arrested in: 1987 under the ISA (as part of Operation Lalang)
Charged with: Stoking racial tensions
Detained for: 1 year and 3 months
Read Kua’s comment on Pakatan Harapan politicians’ decision to ‘forgive’ Tun Mahathir for his use of ISA in FMT’s exclusive article: “Who is PH to forgive Dr M on behalf of 10k ISA detainees?”