Its senior programme officer, Mohammad Alshatri, questioned why these numbers were not made available publicly and were only disclosed during Parliament sittings.

Mohammad said the government was not painting the “whole picture of the statistics” and that official reports on custodial deaths were misleading and deviated from monitored cases.

“We urge the home affairs ministry to produce annual reports and statistics on deaths in custodial centres across Malaysia,” he said.

Citing statistics from Suaram’s latest human rights report, Mohammad said 11 of 19 custodial deaths went unreported this year.

He said incidents related to police abuse of power showed no sign of decreasing and cases of deaths in police custody were periodically reported.

Suaram’s documentation and monitoring coordinator, Kenneth Cheng, said deaths in custody would persist unless the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) bill 2019 was reinstated.

“The bill is meant to set up the IPCMC and address complaints against misconduct,” he said.

He said the current Independent Police Conduct Commission was flawed and lacked investigative and enforcement powers, and independence from the police force.