The IGP  should ask  the 145 OCPDs to submit  10 proposals each on  how the police can be more human rights-sensitive to draft  a 100-point Police Human Rights Code of Conduct to demonstrate new police commitment on upholding human rights

________________________________

Media Statement
by Lim Kit Siang  
________________________________

(Parliament, Saturday): The media have reported positive responses to the speech by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Mohd  Bakri Omar, on Wednesday and the three-day human rights seminar at the Police College in Cheras for the 145 police district chiefs in the country.

For instance, Shah Alam OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Wahab Embong has said the police looked forward to change to meet the needs of society and do not resist change. (Star 3.3.06)

Subang Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Muhammad Fuad Talib  called for a paradigm shift in the mindset of the policemen. He said: “Changes are inevitable and we  have to follow the tide, for the betterment of society.”

Brickfields OCPD ACP Mohd Dzuraidi Ibrahim believed that the seminar would strengthen the service level of the force to meet the public’s expectations.

Sentul OCPD  Assistant Commissioner A. Thaiveegan said the police had had their eyes opened to the finer points of issues.  He said: "It has allowed us to fine-tune our understanding of human rights issues in policing." (New Straits Times 2.3.06)

These are all very  positive signs that some ten  months after the submission of the Royal Police Commission Report and its 125 recommendations, the message of the Commission on the need for comprehensive reform and radical transformation of the Malaysian Police is beginning to sink in at  all police levels.  

Bakri  won plaudits for his uncharacteristically blunt and forthright speech, not only in publicly berating the Kajang OCPD Assistant Commissioner Mohd Noor Hakim Kassim for the Police Botakgate - "Why do we concentrate on things that are remeh-temeh (trivial) when there are more important things to do?”  on the Kajang police shaving bald 10 men for gambling during Chinese New Year – but also in  the general warning to the 145 OCPDs:

"We have been teaching you about human rights all along ... you cannot say we have not been teaching you. If this (three-day seminar) is not enough, then we can make it longer.   After that, if you still do not understand (about human rights), then you might as well look for another job. We don’t want stupid officers."

I do not know whether the 145 OCPDs at the three-day human rights seminar had been asked to endorse the Royal Police Commission Report with regard to its strategic objective for the  transformation of PDRM – “To transform the Royal Malaysia Police as a world class, twenty-first century organization that is efficient, clean and trustworthy, dedicated to serving the people and the nation with integrity and respect for human rights.”

Furthermore, whether the 145 OCPDs  had endorsed the rationales behind the new strategic objective for the police as recommended by the Royal Police Commission, viz:

• Need for pervasive and profound change if PDRM is to emerge as an efficient, accountable and trustworthy organization. Change needs to embrace rules and regulations, institutions, work processes, management of human resources, training and the working and living environment of police personnel. Most importantly, there has to be a change in mindsets and values in every member of PDRM.
   
• Transformation of a state-centric police force, perceiving itself as serving the state rather than the people (though the two need not be contradictory), opaque and not used to be fully accountable and answerable to institutions outside the government to a people-centric police service which must continue to uphold the law, maintain law and order and combat crime, but must pursue these ends in compliance with human rights, and becoming  more transparent and accountable, especially to independent bodies established by the government and to the people.

It is a reflection of the obstinacy and power of the opposition and resistance to change by certain quarters in  the police that the strategic reformulation of the vision, mission and value system of the Malaysian police as proposed by the Royal Police Commission some 10 months ago has  yet to be  fully and publicly accepted by the entire PDRM.

It is most regrettable that there are irresponsible political forces, some reaching as high as the Cabinet, egging on such police opposition and resistance when they should be encouraging the police to accept reform.

The entire PDRM should be involved in the reform process, as the Royal Police Commission has rightly pointed out that its  success is predicated on a change in mindsets and values in every member of PDRM.

To make the three-day human rights course for OCPDs fully meaningful, the  IGP  should ask  the 145 OCPDs to submit  10 proposals each on  how the police can be more human rights-sensitive in order to choose the best to draft  a 100-point Police Human Rights Code of Conduct to demonstrate new police commitment on upholding human rights. This will be an important first step for the PDRM to internalize its  new strategic objective to transform from a  state-centric police force into a people-centric police service.                

                     
(04/03/2006)