SUMMARY OF DETENTIONS AND RELEASES UNDER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 001119 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MTS, INR, S/CT DOJ/OPDAT FOR BERMAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PGOV PHUM KJUS KDEM MY SUBJECT: SUMMARY OF DETENTIONS AND RELEASES UNDER MALAYSIA'S INTERNAL SECURITY ACT REF: A. KL 1114 - PRESSURE MOUNTS AGAINST ISA ¶B. KL 1111 - 2008 CT REPORT ¶C. KL 834 - KOK RELEASED FROM ISA ¶D. KL 810 - UPROAR OVER ISA ¶E. KL 806 - JOURNALIST DETAINED UNDER ISA ¶F. 07 KL 1710 - HINDRAF LEADERS DETAINED UNDER ISA ¶G. 07 KL 1497 - MALAYSIA'S ISA DETAINEES 2007 ¶H. 07 KL 902 - BEYOND ISA KUALA LUMP 00001119 001.2 OF 003 Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The Malaysian government currently holds 46 individuals under the Internal Security Act (ISA),which allows for detention without trial for terrorists and other persons deemed threats to national security, according to figures from a local NGO that reports reliably on ISA detentions. The number of ISA detainees has declined from 85 in 2007 and 93 in 2006. Following the release in 2008 of 19 persons held for terrorism-related reasons, 29 persons with suspected terrorist links remain in ISA detention. Authorities arrested nine persons under ISA in 2008, but none for terrorist-related activities. This report lists the names and suspected offenses of persons currently held under ISA; those released from ISA during 2008; and those newly detained under ISA in 2008. This cable supplements ref A report on mounting political pressure against the ISA. End Summary. ISA Detentions Cut in Half Since 2006 -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Abolish ISA Movement (GMI),an NGO coalition that has consistently and accurately recorded persons detained under ISA, provided the Embassy with its data on ISA detainees reportedly accurate as of December 16. According to GMI, the Malaysian government currently holds 46 persons under ISA. This represents a significant decline in the total number of ISA detainees, dropping from 85 in December 2007 and from 93 held in 2006. Of those currently under ISA detention, 29 persons (roughly two-thirds) are held for suspected links to terrorist groups, namely Jemaah Islamiya (JI) and Darul Islam (DI). This represents a decrease from 58 terrorist suspects held in 2006. The remainder currently in ISA detention consist of document forgers (10 persons); ethnic Indian rights activists (5) from the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF),who are considered political 
prisoners by the human rights community; and two Malaysians allegedly acting as foreign agents. Current Detainees -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The name, suspected offense and original arrest date of the current 46 ISA detainees are provided below. We have indicated the reported nationality of those who are not Malaysian citizens (ID = Indonesian, RP = Philippines). 1) Suhaimi bin Mokhtar JI 12/29/01 2) Abdullah bin Daud JI 2002 3) Mat Sah bin Mohd Satray JI 04/18/02 4) Shamsuddin bin Sulaiman JI 04/07/02 5) Zaini bin Zakaria JI 12/02 6) Zainun Rasyhid (ID) JI 12/02 7) Wan Amin bin Wan Hamat JI 2003 8) Mohd Khider bin Kadran JI 2004 9) Sufian bin Salih (RP) JI 2004 10) Hasim bin Talib (RP) JI 2004 11) Mahfudl Saifuddin (ID) JI 2005 12) Mulyadi (ID) JI 2005 13) Mohd Arasad Patangari DI 2006 14) Adzmi Pindalun DI 2006 15) Idris Bin Lanama DI 2006 16) Ahamad Ghafar Shahril(ID) DI 2006 17) Jeknal Adil (RP) DI 2006 18) Binsali Omar (RP) DI 2006 KUALA LUMP 00001119 002.2 OF 003 19) A Artas Bin A Burhanuddin DI 2006 20) Mohd Nasri Bin Dollah DI 2006 21) Francis Indanan DI 2006 22) Husin Bin Alih (RP) DI 2006 23) Yusoff Bin Mohd Salam (RP) DI 2006 24) Abdul Jamal Bin Azahari(RP)DI 2006 25) Pakana Bin Selama (ID) DI 2006 26) Ng How Chuang aka John Forgery 2006 27) Ng Keat Seng Forgery 2006 28) Mohd Azuan Bin Ariffin Foreign Agent 2006 29) Zulkifli Bin Abu Bakar Foreign Agent 2007 30) Amir Hussain (Myanmar) Forgery 2007 31) Mohd Amir Bin Mohd Hanafiah JI 2007 32) Zulkifli Bin Marzuki JI 2007 33) Ahmad Kamil Bin Mohd Hanafiah JI 2007 34) Mohd Nasir Bin Ismail aka Hassan JI 2007 35) Shadul Islam Forgery 05/14/08 36) Tan Choon Chin Forgery 2007 37) Sundaraj Vijay (India) Forgery 2007 38) San Khaing (Myanmar) Forgery 2007 39) P. Uthayakumar HINDRAF 12/13/07 40) M. Manoharan Malayalam HINDRAF 12/13/07 41) R. Kenghadharan Ramasamy HINDRAF 12/13/07 42) V. Ganabati Rao Veraman HINDRAF 12/13/07 43) T. Vasanthakumar Khrishnan HINDRAF 12/13/07 44) Abdul Sathar Mohammad Sarjoon Forgery NA 45) Mahamad Nakhrakhel Forgery NA 46) Muhammad Zahid Haji Zahir Shah Forgery NA Releases in 2008 -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In keeping with the overall decrease in ISA detainees, releases (32 persons) outstripped new ISA arrests (9 persons). Those released include B.S.A. Tahir, who was held for his connection to the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation network. Below is the list, in reverse chronological order, of ISA detainees released during 2008. The list includes name, suspected offense, year of arrest, and date of release, and also indicates the nationality of non-Malaysians if known. The two released Thai separatists reportedly are dual Malaysia-Thai nationals. 1) Mavalavan Muthuramalingam Foreign Agent 2007 12/04/08 2) Mohd Faizol Bin Shamsudin Foreign Agent 2007 12/04/08 3) Mat Tarmizi Bin Shamsudin S.Thai Separatist 2005 12/04/08 4) Abdul Rahman Bin Ahmad S.Thai Separatist 2005 12/04/08 5) Abdul Murad Bin Sudin JI 10/16/02 12/02/08 6) Yazid Bin Suffat JI 09/12/01 11/24/08 7) Sulaiman Suramin JI 2003 11/24/08 8) Faycal Mamdouh Forgery 05/08 11/11/08 9) Muhd Shuaib Hazrat Bilal(Pakistan)Forgery 05/08 11/11/08 10) Shaykinar Bin Guat (RP) DI 2006 11/11/08 11) Argadi Bin Andoyok (RP) DI 2006 11/11/08 12) Kasem Dayama (Thailand) DI 2006 11/11/08 13) Raja Petra Kamaruddin Racial tension 09/12/08 11/07/08 14) Zakaria Samad (ID) JI 2004 11/05/08 15) Ahmad Zakaria (ID) JI 2004 11/05/08 16) Terhamid Dahlan (ID) JI 2004 11/05/08 17) Ariffin (ID) JI 2005 KUALA LUMP 00001119 003.2 OF 003 11/05/08 18) Lian Kok Heng Foreign Agent 2007 09/03/08 19) Sanjeev Kumar Khrishnan Foreign Agent 2007 09/03/08 20) Tan Hoon Cheng Racial tension 09/12/08 09/13/08 21) Teressa Kok Racial tension 09/12/08 09/13/08 22) Jaki Bin Hamid (ID) DI 2006 08/15/08 23) Shahrial aka Syahrial bin Sirin (ID) JI 01/02/02 08/15/08 24) Abdullah Minyak bin Silam (ID) JI 01/14/02 08/15/08 25) Zainuddin Suharmo (ID) DI 2006 08/15/08 26) Jaki Bin Hamid (ID) DI 2006 08/15/08 27) BSA Tahir (Sri Lanka) Nuke Prolif. 2004 06/23/08 28) Kandaraju Raman Immigrant smuggler 2005 05/08 29) Masran bin Arshad JI 2002 05/17/08 30) Nik Abdul Rahman bin Mustapha JI 10/16/02 05/17/08 31) Mohidin bin Shari JI 12/02 05/17/08 32) Azman Hashim JI 2003 05/17/08 Arrests in 2008 -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In 2008, Malaysia made only nine new arrests under the ISA's detention without trial provisions, and none of these were related to terrorism. (Note: Police arrested a tenth individual, Cheng Lee Wei, under a separate ISA provision in 2008, and released him within 24 hours; we have not included Cheng in this count. End Note.) The three ISA arrests in September were widely viewed as politically motivated, rather than security related, and resulted in increased public pressure to amend or abolish the ISA (ref A). In the case of blogger Raja Petra, a court ordered his release after ruling in favor of his habeas corpus application. The following list provides the name, suspected offense, date of arrest and release date. 1) Shadul Islam Forgery 05/14/08 N/A 2) Abdul Sathar Mohammad Sarjoon Forgery NA N/A 3) Faycal Mamdouh Forgery 05/22/08 11/11/08 4) Mahamad Nakhrakhel Forgery NA N/A 5) Muhammad Shuaib Hazrat Bilal Forgery NA 11/11/08 6) Muhammad Zahid Haji Zahir Shah Forgery NA N/A 7) Raja Petra Kamaruddin Racial tension 09/12/08 11/07/08 8) Tan Hoon Cheng Racial tension 09/12/08 09/13/08 9) Teressa Kok Racial tension 09/12/08 09/19/08 KEITH