KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today urged the government to release findings of a special task force who were responsible to look into the alleged enforced disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat.
Suhakam, in pointing out how today, August 30, is also International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, said the task force’s report should be revealed at least to the families of those involved to offer them some form of closure.
“Suhakam expresses its deepest concern and sympathies to the families of the victims and their loved ones for the grief, anxiety, and sadness arising from the enforced disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat.
“Suhakam notes that the government had established a task force in 2019 to look into Suhakam’s findings from the public inquiry, and calls for the report of the task force to be made public so there may be some closure for those seeking answers to what had occurred,” the Commission said in a statement today.
Koh who has been missing since 2017, was last seen leaving his home to buy food where he is said to have been abducted later that day. His disappearance was preceded by accusations of him attempting to proselytise Muslims into Christianity.
A public inquiry held by Suhakam in 2019 concluded that Koh was indeed a victim of an enforced disappearance, with his abduction supposedly carried out by the Royal Malaysian Police’s Special Branch operatives although this remains to be proven.
Meanwhile Amri, also an activist, has been missing since 2016 also under questionable circumstances, amid accusations of him being a proponent of the Shia Islamic teachings.
The same Suhakam public inquiry also deduced that Amri was also a victim of enforced disappearance.
Additionally, Suhakam today also called on the government to look in possibly acceding to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED).
Suhakam also urged for them to revisit its decision in relation to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court after the Pakatan Harapan government decided against ratifying it in 2019.
“Suhakam hopes that the nation, will one day soon, ensure that adequate legal recognition and remedies are available for victims of enforced disappearances in the country; thereby demonstrating the government’s commitment to not allow such an unthinkable act to take place, at any time, upon anyone in the country,” said their statement.
