VZCZCXRO0306
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHKL #1804/01 2690958
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 260958Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7604
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 001804 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KCRM KWMN MY
SUBJECT: MALAYSIA'S NEW POLICE CHIEF CALLS FOR ANTI-TIP LAW 
 
REF: A. STATE 144327 
 
     ¶B. KUALA LUMPUR 1661 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  Malaysia's new Inspector General of Police 
(IGP) Musa Hassan, during a September 21 conference hosted by 
the police and the NGO Tenaganita, called for the creation of 
comprehensive legislation to combat trafficking in persons 
(TIP) and for the establishment of government run shelters 
for TIP victims.  Musa admitted that previous efforts to 
address trafficking issues had been uncoordinated and 
inefficient and that greater cooperation was needed among the 
various law enforcement agencies.  Musa also called for the 
creation of an interagency task force to coordinate 
intelligence necessary to effectively combat this crime. 
Facing political backlash for previous reports, Malaysia's 
Human Rights Commission stated they will no longer provide 
updated statistics on TIP.  The Ministry of Women's, Family 
and Community Development has requested assistance in 
providing TIP victim identification training at proposed 
workshop for police to be held in November.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Just two weeks after becoming Malaysia's top cop, 
Inspector General of Police Musa Hassan delivered the keynote 
address at the "National Conference to Stop Trafficking in 
Persons - A Transborder Crime in the Region" held in Kuala 
Lumpur on September 21. The Royal Malaysian Police (RMP), the 
Malaysia Crime Prevention Foundation  and Malaysia's largest 
non-governmental organization for migrant laborers, 
Tenaganita, jointly sponsored the conference.  In his speech, 
Musa called for comprehensive anti-TIP legislation and for 
the construction of shelters for trafficking victims.  The 
IGP described the excellent relationship the RMP shared with 
Tenaganita and his appreciation that the police could now 
place trafficking victims in Tenaganita's shelter that opened 
in June 2006. 
 
¶3.  (U) Musa admitted that previous efforts to tackle 
trafficking have been uncoordinated and inefficient, and he 
recognized that there was very little empirical evidence 
available to truly understand the scope of the problem in 
Malaysia.  The IGP called for all law enforcement agencies to 
share more information and intelligence and cited the need 
for uniform databases to track all aspects of TIP 
investigations.  Musa stated that the GOM was making efforts 
to enhance its laws to properly address TIP but that there 
remained a need for an interdepartmental task force. Citing 
the RMP's past efforts to address trafficking, Musa announced 
that between June 2004 and September 2006, the RMP identified 
and repatriated 365 foreign victims of trafficking. Between 
June 2003 and June 2006, the RMP had arrested and charged 143 
pimps under the penal code; another 126 had been detained 
under the Restricted Residence Act and 18 others under 
Emergency Ordinance 1969. 
 
¶4.  (U)  The RMP's Deputy Director of Criminal 
Investigations, Syed Ismail Syed Azizan, also addressed the 
conference and reiterated the need for comprehensive anti-TIP 
legislation.  Ismail described current laws as a piecemeal 
approach to dealing with TIP.  He called for legislation that 
would address not just criminal issues, but also victim 
protection, shelters, repatriation, and prevention of 
re-trafficking.  Ismail acknowledged that low level police 
corruption was known to assist traffickers, but that under 
Musa's new leadership, an anti-trafficking unit was being 
established within the vice squad (D-7), and that this unit 
would be staffed with experienced male and female officers 
who could properly understand the criminal activity involved 
and who would have the authority to address the corruption 
issues at lower levels.  Ismail admitted that unless there 
were shelters built for victims, police would not be able to 
properly address the issue of trafficking. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Malaysia's government established and funded Human 
Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) also spoke at the conference.  In 
a side note, SUHAKAM members advised us they would no longer 
be compiling statistics on trafficking in persons.  Due to 
the political sensitivities and unspecified pressures, 
SUHAKAM's management decided not to go through the yearly 
battle of compiling TIP statistics from other government 
agencies. 
 
¶6.  (U) Conspicuously absent from the conference was the 
Ministry of Women's, Family and Community Development 
(MWFCD).  Tenaganita had extended an invitation to the MWFCD 
to participate in the conference, and despite participation 
from the RMP, the Immigration Department and the Attorney 
General's office, MWFCD went completely unrepresented. 
Notwithstanding their absence from the RMP-Tenaganita 
conference, MWFCD officials reiterated to us their desire to 
host a workshop on trafficking and proposed a three day 
workshop aimed at police and immigration officials in 
 
KUALA LUMP 00001804  002 OF 002 
 
 
identifying TIP victims.  The ministry tentatively suggested 
this conference be held November 15-17 and requested 
assistance from the USG in providing at least one expert 
trainer who can help in victim identification.  (Comment:  We 
are in contact with DOJ/ICITAP in Jakarta regarding provision 
of such a trainer.  End Comment) 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Comment:  The remarks by IGP Musa Hassan, 
Malaysia's top law enforcement official, provided strong 
rhetorical support for the drafting of a TIP law, raised 
public awareness of this crime and spurred a multi-page 
article on trafficking in the September 22 edition of a major 
Malaysian daily, New Straits Times.  Police seem keen to 
identify actual victims, but time and again during the 
conference one could observe the difficulty the law 
enforcement agencies faced in differentiating people 
smuggling from trafficking.  We hope that the pending 
DOJ/ICITAP police training project will provide a means for 
the U.S. to assist in the area of victim identification. 
LAFLEUR