officials in immigration detention centers (IDC), which continued to be administered by theImmigration Department and supplemented by RELA.On April 20, following the beating of a Pakistani detainee by immigration officials atLenggeng IDC, the other detainees requested to speak with the camp commandant regardingalleged abuses. When the promised meeting did not occur, the detainees set fire to two buildings. On May 15, a Malaysian Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) commissioner confirmed he found evidence of torture at the Lenggeng IDC following an April visit to thefacility. Witnesses alleged immigration officers and RELA volunteers routinely beat detaineesas a form of punishment, including striking the soles of their feet, using electrical shock, burning them with cigarettes, and intimidating other prisoners into participating in the beatings.In September authorities released Sanjeev Kumar, who was detained under the ISA in July2007. Local NGOs alleged that authorities tortured him during interrogations lasting 15 hoursand denied sufficient medical treatment after he complained about injuries he allegedlysustained under torture. A SUHAKAM commissioner confirmed that Sanjeev Kumar, whoseleft arm and leg were paralyzed, did not receive proper medical treatment. As a result of the beatings, Sanjeev remained partially paralyzed and wheelchair-bound.On August 6, two police officers from Perak State allegedly abused a 10-year-old boy whilequestioning him for theft. The police officers allegedly choked him, slapped him, and melted plastic over him with the intent to burn his genitals. Neither the boy's parents nor a legalrepresentative was present during his interrogation. Perak's police chief stated a policeinvestigation into the allegations was ongoing at year's end.On July 28, authorities charged a police officer with the rape of a student while in the PutraHeights police station in Kuala Lumpur.Criminal law prescribes caning as an additional punishment to imprisonment for thoseconvicted of some nonviolent crimes, such as narcotics possession, criminal breach of trust,and alien smuggling. The law prescribes up to six strokes of the cane for both illegalimmigrants and their employers. Judges routinely included caning in sentences of thoseconvicted of such crimes as kidnapping, rape, and robbery. Some state Shari'a laws also prescribed caning, carried out with a half-inch thick wooden cane that commonly causedwelts and at times scarring. The law exempts men older than 50 and women from caning.Male children 10 years of age and older may be given up to 10 strokes of a "light cane."Prison and Detention Center ConditionsPrison overcrowding, concentrated in facilities near major cities, remained a serious problem.In July the Home Ministry reported that the prisoner population at the country's 29 prisonswas 28 percent above capacity. Local and international NGOs estimated most of the country's16 IDCs were at or beyond capacity, with some detainees held for a year or more. NGOs and international organizations involved with migrant workers and refugees madecredible allegations of inadequate food, water, medical care, poor sanitation, and prisoner abuse in the IDCs. According to the home affairs minister, all detention centers had their ownstandard operating procedures that were in line with international quality standards. An NGOwith access to the IDCs claimed that overcrowding, deficient sanitation, and lack of medicalscreening and treatment facilitated the spread of disease. During the year the governmentallowed local NGOs with mobile medical clinics into the IDCs.The government does not permit prison visits by the International Committee of the RedCross. The authorities generally did not permit NGOs and the media to monitor prisonconditions. The government approved visits by SUHAKAM officials on a case-by-case basis.
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