KP Karmegam, an official from the prisons department’s control and prevention unit, said he believed the officers were under immense stress as they were handling a disproportionately large number of inmates on the day chaos broke out at the prison.
“One block would have (contained) about 500 to 600 inmates, and only one or two officers would be on patrol. Maybe it’s due to stress,” Karmegam said at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia’s (Suhakam) public inquiry into alleged human rights abuse at Taiping prison.
He said tensions began on Jan 16 during a briefing on dress code regulations for the inmates at Hall B of the prison. The inmates had been transferred from the Batu Gajah correctional facility.
“The prison officials explained that colourful clothing was not permitted, which caused outrage among some of the inmates,” he said.
Karmegam said an officer named Rizal tried to control the situation, but tensions quickly escalated, prompting him to raise his voice and make rude gestures at the inmates.
Recognising the severity of the situation, Karmegam told Rizal to leave the hall before the situation worsened.
Later, Rizal apparently apologised to the inmates. Karmegam said the apology “seemed sincere”.
Inmates were polite during negotiations
The following day, Karmegam was informed that the inmates would be moved to Block E, and he was ordered to handle negotiations with them. Despite their aversion to the less favourable conditions in Block E, he said, the inmates spoke politely during the conversation.
“‘Can you explain our views to the management?’ they said to me. The inmates did not provoke me, they spoke very nicely,” he said.
He said that later, an inspector named Mustakim came into the hall with 30 to 40 officers to relocate them to block E.
“He (Mustakim) asked the 95 inmates to sit quietly, and put their hands on their heads. Though the inmates followed his instructions, Mustakim suddenly raised his voice at an inmates, asking him, ‘Why are you not complying with the orders? Why do you not want to move?’,” he said.
Force was used without provocation
Karmegam said that fearing the situation would escalate, he separated several older inmates from the main group. Moments later, several officers started becoming physically violent with the inmates and beat them up.
“More or less, 10 (prison officers) used force against the inmates.
“I panicked, sir, I did not know who to side with. It felt like I was caught in the middle of the conflict and I did not know what to do,” he said when asked why he did not step in.
He later admitted that his inaction could partially be attributed to the fact that those involved were higher-ranking officers.
He said that although both inmates and officers suffered from injuries, the injuries on the detainees were more serious.
Karmegam also agreed that there might be a disciplinary problem among some of the prison officers.
Earlier this year, there were claims that 60 prison wardens had assaulted more than 100 inmates at Taiping prison, resulting in the death of one inmate and injuries to many others.
Suhakam is conducting a series of public inquiries into alleged human rights abuse in the prison. The third session is set to conclude tomorrow, and the fourth session will take place from July 23 to 25.