Malaysian state moves to evict notorious detention camp

Agence France-Presse - 10/8/2008 5:58 AM GMT

Malaysia's opposition said Wednesday it was taking steps to shut down a notorious detention camp where dozens of people are being held under draconian internal security laws.

The Kamunting Detention Camp is located in northern Perak state, which since March general elections has been governed by the opposition alliance led by Anwar Ibrahim.

The opposition has joined civil society groups in demanding the government revoke the Internal Security Act (ISA) and free all 63 detainees currently being held in Kamunting.

The ISA, a relic of the British colonial era when it was used to fight a communist insurgency, allows for renewable two-year periods of detention without trial.

Malaysia's government says it is a vital tool to fight terrorism, but rights groups say the law has been improperly used to silence government critics, and that detainees are mentally and physically tortured.

Anwar is one of many opposition leaders who have endured a period under detention, and the issue has flared again in recent weeks during a political crisis that saw more arrested including top blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin.

A. Sivanesan, a member of Perak's state cabinet, said authorities were investigating how they could take control of the 240-acre (100-hectare) Kamunting site, which is located in Perak but owned by the federal government.

"We want the ruling government to remove the camp from the state. The opposition alliance is dead against the ISA," he told AFP. "We are also looking at how we can acquire the land legally."

"We want to use the land for other purposes. We can put up a hospital, religious schools or develop an industrial area for the benefit of the people," he said.

Sivanesan said one option could be to dramatically increase the 26,000-ringgit (7,500-dollar) annual land tax that the federal government currently pays on the site.

Perak is one of five Malaysian states now in opposition hands after the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition was hammered in March polls that also saw it lose its two-thirds majority in parliament.

http://news.my.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1716976