VZCZCXRO3142
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHKL #1114/01 3580721
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 230721Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2163
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0552
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 2711
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 KUALA LUMPUR 001114 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2028 
TAGS: PTER PGOV PHUM KJUS KDEM
SUBJECT: PRESSURE MOUNTS AGAINST INTERNAL SECURITY ACT (ISA) 
 
REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 1026 - DPM NAJIB DISCUSSES ISA 
     ¶B. KUALA LUMPUR 990 - RAJA PETRA RELEASED 
     ¶C. KUALA LUMPUR 944 - MCA AND GERAKAN CRITICIZE UMNO 
     ¶D. KUALA LUMPUR 846 - UPDATE ON RAJA PETRA 
     ¶E. KUALA LUMPUR 834 - KOK RELEASED FROM ISA 
     ¶F. KUALA LUMPUR 810 - UPROAR OVER ISA 
     ¶G. KUALA LUMPUR 806 - JOURNALIST DETAINED UNDER ISA 
     ¶H. 07 KUALA LUMPUR 902 - BEYOND ISA 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Mark D. Clark, reason 1.4 (b, c and 
d). 
 
NOTE:  THIS CABLE TRANSMITS AN EDITED VERSION OF KUALA LUMPUR 
1102 SENT ON 12/18/08 IN MORE RESTRICTED CHANNELS.  END NOTE. 
 
 
¶1.  (S) Summary:  The Malaysian government's use of the 
Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for detention 
without trial and is central to the GOM's intelligence-driven 
CT effort, has come under increasing political pressure over 
the past three months.  The GOM's employment of the ISA in 
September to carry out three politically-motivated ISA 
detentions unrelated to terrorism sparked unprecedented 
public criticism.  At least eight component parties from the 
governing National Front (BN) coalition have since broken 
ranks with the leading United Malays National Organization 
(UMNO) and called for amending or abolishing the ISA.  The 
opposition party alliance led by Anwar Ibrahim has made the 
revocation of ISA one of its highest profile policy goals. 
In November, a High Court judge delivered a legal blow to the 
GOM's wide discretion in using the ISA in a ruling that freed 
blogger Raja Petra, and the GOM is appealing the decision. 
Prime Minister Abdullah, his deputy and successor Najib and 
Home Minister Syed Hamid have defended the ISA as essential 
to national security, while Najib told the Ambassador 
privately ISA should be retained but used more judiciously. 
The GOM released 17 ISA detainees, among them 10 previously 
linked to terrorist groups, including Yazid Sufaat, from 
November 5 to December 4. 
 
¶2.  (S) Comment:  The ISA is the cornerstone of Malaysia's CT 
effort and has allowed Special Branch to take successful 
preemptive action against suspected terrorists and their 
supporters.  Given the GOM's exclusive reliance on the ISA 
"crutch" and on Special Branch's role, police and prosecutors 
remain ill-prepared to investigate and bring to trial 
terrorist suspects (or prosecute other complex criminal 
conspiracies).  The ISA also is subject to misuse for 
political ends and is an important insurance policy for 
maintaining UMNO in power.  For both CT and political 
reasons, the GOM will not readily give up the ISA.  We doubt 
that the increased political pressure and seeming swing in 
public opinion against the ISA, due in part to its misuse in 
September, will result in the ISA's amendment or revocation 
in the near future, absent the Opposition coming to power. 
These developments, however, reinforce the conclusion (ref H) 
that Malaysia cannot take for granted the availability of the 
ISA as a CT tool in the long run.  It remains in the U.S. 
interest to encourage and assist Malaysia to develop an 
approach centered on prosecutions and convictions before an 
independent judiciary to combat terrorism. 
 
¶3.  (C) Comment continued:  It is unclear to what extent 
outside political pressures played a direct role in the GOM's 
latest release of ISA detainees.  The decisions may have more 
to do with Syed Hamid's personal exercise of authority as 
Home Minister.  Syed Hamid has taken a more proactive role as 
Home Minister, compared to PM Abdullah who held the position 
through March 2008 and tended not to become involved in 
details.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
¶4.  (C) The Malaysian government's use of the Internal 
Security Act (ISA), central to the GOM's intelligence-driven 
counterterrorism efforts, has come under increasing political 
pressure since the September ISA arrests of three persons 
based on political rather security considerations.  The 
September 12 ISA detentions of an ethnic Chinese journalist, 
an ethnic Chinese Opposition MP (Teresa Kok), and a prominent 
blogger (Raja Petra Kamaruddin) served the ruling UMNO 
party's immediate political purpose of sending a warning to 
opposition politicians and those considering defecting from 
BN, as some UMNO politicians have told us.  This came at a 
time when Anwar Ibrahim was publicly threatening to bring 
down the BN government via parliamentary crossovers by 
September 16.  The arrests, however, also sparked 
unprecedented public criticism of the ISA, including from 
UMNO's ethnic minority partners within BN.  The Malaysian 
Chinese Association (MCA), the key ethnic Chinese BN 
component party, reportedly threatened to leave BN unless the 
GOM released the Chinese journalist; the GOM complied within 
less than 24 hours (ref F).  Authorities freed MP Teresa Kok 
after seven days.  Home Minister Syed Hamid ordered a 
two-year ISA detention period for Raja Petra, who was freed 
on appeal in November in a surprise court ruling (see below). 
 
¶5.  (C) Comment:  Unlike his predecessor Mahathir, PM 
Abdullah refrained from using the ISA for political purposes 
until December 2007 when police detained five leaders of the 
ethnic Indian activist group HINDRAF that organized large 
street protests.  The public viewed the GOM's September 2008 
ISA arrests as more transparently political, in part because 
of the lack of public order concerns.  End Comment. 
 
¶6.  (C) Political pressure against the ISA did not dissipate 
following the release of the first two of the three recent 
ISA detainees.  At least eight component parties from the 
governing BN coalition of 14 parties have since broken ranks 
with UMNO and called for amending or reviewing the grounds 
for the ISA, while several have supported the law's 
abolition.  In late September MCA, BN's second largest party, 
called for "a comprehensive review of the ISA so that it will 
apply strictly to cases relating to terrorism and subversive 
elements," and also argued for the introduction of "checks 
and balances in the use of ISA."  The leader of the Gerakan 
party, Koh Tsu Koon, called on the GOM to "abolish the ISA 
once and for all," and rely on the judicial system instead. 
The leader of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) also 
initially called for ISA to be abolished, and on December 1 
said PPP would withdraw from BN unless if the ISA were not 
amended before the next election.  In response, Prime 
Minister Abdullah called PPP's bluff and said the small 
party, which holds no seats in Parliament, could leave BN if 
it wished.  BN MPs so far have not backed up their criticism 
of ISA with action.  In response to a petition circulated in 
Parliament for the review or repeal of ISA, only one BN MP 
signed his name. 
 
¶7.  (C) The opposition party alliance (Pakatan Rakyat, or 
Pakatan) led by Anwar Ibrahim has vocally condemned ISA as 
undemocratic and unjust, and made the abolishment of ISA one 
of its highest profile policy goals.  A number of senior 
officials from Pakatan's three parties, Anwar's Peoples 
Justice Party (PKR), the Democratic Action Party (DAP), and 
the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS) were detained under ISA 
during the era of former Prime Minister Mahathir.  Not 
surprisingly, the three parties have vowed to revoke ISA if 
they come to power.  "Abolish ISA" was the most prominent 
theme at PKR's annual party conference on November 29, which 
Polcouns observed.  The keynote event concluded with a focus 
on ISA and featured large screens that scrolled through the 
list of all 60-plus ISA detainees with the several thousand 
attendees reciting the detainees' names as they appeared. 
Well-known blogger Raja Petra, released from ISA detention 
only days before, mounted the stage as the surprise guest of 
the grand finale. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) On November 7, a High Court judge delivered an 
unanticipated legal blow to the GOM's wide discretion in 
using the ISA in a habeas corpus ruling that freed blogger 
Raja Petra.  The Embassy obtained the full text of the 
judge's 22-page ruling.  ISA Section 8.B states "there shall 
be no judicial review in any court" of the Home Minister's 
exercise of "discretionary powers in accordance with this 
Act," except for compliance with procedural requirements. 
The judge ruled, however, that the Home Minister decisions 
could not be "unfettered and arbitrary," allowing for the 
court to consider whether the Minister's ISA detention order 
was "in accordance with the Act," and its focus on threats to 
national security, including the national economy; threats to 
maintenance of essential services; and threats to the public 
emanating from a "substantial body of persons" who intend to 
change the government through unlawful means. In the case of 
Raja Petra, the judge concluded that the grounds for his 
detention did not fall within the purview of the ISA.  The 
government has appealed the ruling and as of mid-December the 
appeal remains pending. 
 
¶9.  (C) Many civil society groups took the opportunity over 
the past three months to highlight their standing opposition 
to the ISA, as well as other emergency ordinances that allow 
for detention without trial.  Both conservative and liberal 
Muslim NGOs called on the GOM to abolish the ISA, as did the 
inter-faith Consultative Forum that groups the leaders of all 
major religions except Islam.  The National Human Rights 
Commission (SUHAKAM) chairman Abu Talib restated the 
commission's existing position, namely "detention without 
trial is against human rights principles; that's why we 
advised the Government years ago to repeal the ISA." 
 
¶10.  (C) As questions over the ISA have mounted, Prime 
Minister Abdullah, his deputy and successor Najib, and other 
senior UMNO leaders defended the ISA as essential to national 
security.  In the wake of public criticism over the September 
ISA arrests, Home Minister Syed Hamid, who has authority 
under the ISA to approve detention orders, defended the Act 
as essential and stated clearly that "we have no plans to do 
away with ISA."  In early December, Syed Hamid waved off 
criticisms, arguing that the ISA "has never been abused or 
used for politics."  He also commented that, "Malaysians 
sometimes don't know how lucky we are in that we have not 
experienced what is happening in Mumbai (the terrorist 
attack) and Bangkok (political unrest) now."  He said the 
fact that there have been no post 9/11 terrors attacks in 
Malaysia was in part due to the ISA.  On December 15, Syed 
Hamid again publicly defended use of the ISA, stating, "More 
apt, faster and better to use the ISA... detention under the 
act is early action to prevent the security of the country 
from being adversely affected." 
 
¶11.  (C) DPM Najib, who is anticipated to become Prime 
Minister in late March 2009, told the Ambassador privately on 
November 11 that the government continued to need the ISA, 
"even though there are civil liberty concerns," but should 
reserve ISA only for those who pose "serious threats, like 
terrorists" (ref A).  On December 8, PM Abdullah publicly 
rejected calls for amendments to the ISA. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) In early December, local and international press 
reported that the GOM had released 17 ISA detainees from 
November 5 through December 4.  Of those released, 10 had 
been held for suspected links to Al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah, 
and/or the Darul Islam terrorist groups.  The released 
terrorist suspects included Yazid Sufaat, who played an 
important role in Al Qaeda's anthrax development program, 
according to the 9/11 Commission.  The remaining seven 
persons released consisted of suspected foreign agents (2 
persons), southern Thailand separatists (2), document forgers 
(2), and prominent blogger Raja Petra, according to an NGO 
that consistently and accurately monitors ISA detentions. 
In his public remarks, Syed Hamid said those recently 
released ISA detainees had been rehabilitated and no longer 
posed a security threat to Malaysia. 
 
¶13.  (S) Note:  Authorities had detained the terrorist 
suspects for periods between two and (in the case of Yazid 
Sufaat) seven years, for an average detention period of four 
years for the ten individuals.  Special Branch relies on a 
process for rehabilitating ISA detainees, and eventually 
releasing them under restricted and monitored conditions when 
judged necessary.  The GOM has never attempted to prosecute 
any terrorist suspects, including those held under the ISA. 
This is due in large part to the fact that the GOM pursues 
almost exclusively an intelligence approach to CT, as opposed 
to a law enforcement approach that would involve criminal 
investigations, collection of legally admissible evidence, 
and development of cases for prosecution in the courts.  In 
2007, Malaysia amended anti-terrorism provisions in its penal 
code and criminal procedures code, but authorities have not 
yet utilized these provisions.  Malaysia also has a poor 
track record of prosecuting other complex criminal 
conspiracies, including drug trafficking cases, preferring 
instead to utilize the ISA and other emergency ordinances to 
detain suspects without trial.  End Note. 
 
¶14.  (S) A well-known journalist contacted us in early 
December and said that officers of the Police Special Branch 
had complained to him that Home Minister Syed Hamid had 
ordered the recent releases of terrorist suspects without 
adequate consultation and in some cases against the 
recommendation of Special Branch.  Australian and British 
diplomats, speaking with Polcouns December 16, stated that 
Syed Hamid, who is a lawyer by training, personally reviewed 
the dossiers of ISA detainees and was inclined to approve 
releases absent compelling justification from the Special 
Branch. 
 
¶15.  (C) The Thai embassy contacted Poloff on December 15 to 
express concern over the release of two ISA detainees (Abdul 
Rahman bin Ahmad and Mat Tarmizi bin Shamsudin, who 
apparently are dual-citizens of Malaysia and Thailand) who 
had been held for their connection to the insurgency in 
southern Thailand.  The Thai diplomat said Bangkok considered 
Abdul Rahman in particular to be a major player in the 
insurgency.  He noted that those released are required to 
remain in Malaysia and check in periodically with the police. 
 The Thai diplomat said he believed the GOM released the 
detainees in order to diffuse criticism of the ISA.  We 
learned that the Thai embassy also has contacted other 
Western embassies (UK, France, Australia) to express concern 
over the recent ISA releases. 

KEITH