Moganambal Govindasamy has been missing since September 2019 where she was last seen with her husband, a relative and a friend. Her husband had been shot by the police alongside 2 other men in what the police say was in defence after shots were fired towards them. A location was last sent from her phone to her sister at 1.38am. Her sister also mentioned that a police officer informed them that she has been arrested. While the family insist Moganambal was with the rest of the men in the car, the Selangor police insist that she was not there and have classified her case as a missing person. Was she also shot or has she been arrested?
This month will also see the 4th anniversary of the mysterious abduction of Pastor Raymond Koh who was last seen on 13th February which coincidentally was the date that Kim Jong-Nam was assassinated after being exposed to VX nerve agent in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. One case has made significant progress and the other – dead silence from the authorities and his whereabouts remain still unknown. Pastor Raymond Koh was stopped by a few vehicles in Petaling Jaya and taken away forcefully too. Pastor Raymond Koh is still classified as a missing person.
5 years have passed since the abduction of Amri Che Mat in November 2016 in Perlis. The modus operandi of his abduction was similar to that of Pastor Raymond Koh – 5 cars blocking his vehicle and he was escorted away by a few vehicles. His SUV was found in another location at a construction site in Perlis. His wife stated that a police officer claimed that Bukit Aman Special Branch were responsible behind her husband’s disappearance. Amri Che Mat is classified as a missing person. Comm (Rt) Datuk Awaludin Jadid, the former principal assistant director of Special Branch’s Social Extremism Division (E2) had also spoken openly in 2016 on Amri Che Mat and on Christianity in the country.
Joshua Helmi and his wife Ruth Sitepu were also last seen in October 2016 in Malaysia before their disappearance. On January 27th 2021, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi stated that Jakarta will raise with Putrajaya the case of Ruth Sitepu, who went missing with her husband Pastor Joshua Hilmi in 2016. The Indonesian Foreign Minister has spoken on the urgency and the importance to locate the whereabouts of Ruth who went missing in Malaysia, what is the stand of the Minister of Home Affairs or even Foreign Affairs and even by the Prime Minister?
There are striking similarities between the case of Pastor Raymond Koh, Amri Che Mat and Joshua Helmi as all 3 come from religious activist backgrounds with no previous criminal records.
2021 marks the 12th year that Indira Gandhi has not seen her daughter, taken away as a baby by her rogue husband Riduan.
This is despite in 2016, the court had instructed the then Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to execute a warrant of committal against Riduan as he was found guilty of contempt when he absconded the child instead of handing her over to her mother.
While we are embracing for tougher days ahead with possible tightening of the Movement Control Order, the authorities must not neglect their duties to uphold the rule of law and in this case, to reunite a daughter with her mother whom she has not seen for over a decade.
SUHAKAM, Citizens Against Enforced Disappearance (CAGED), SUARAM, ENGAGE and other NGOs have been pursuing public inquiries on these enforced disappearances and also has been the voice of Indira Gandhi who yearns to be reunited with her daughter.
It is important that every Malaysian call out for justice for these cases apart from lawmakers. We must question the Government and the authorities on the progress of these cases – a child to be reunited with her mother, families seeking answers on their abducted and missing fathers and mothers. It has happened to them, and what guarantee do we have that it will not happen to us one day or to our loved ones?
I call on the Perikatan Nasional Government, the Inspector General of Police and the Home Ministry to uphold rule of law in the nation and to put the lives of these Malaysians who were victims of enforced disappearance and for justice for a mother pining to be reunited with her daughter ahead before their personal beliefs without fear of favour.
The Government of Malaysia cannot be seen as using Government agencies to execute enforced disappearances based on their personal belief, ideology or assumption. The Government must do its utmost to protect every single person under the Malaysian sun as enshrined in the supreme law of the land – the Federal Constitution.
It is time for Malaysia to ratify and accede to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED) so as not to be seen as a nation that does nothing to prevent enforced disappearances in its own backyard.