Word: isas
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Kitingan's 1991 arrest was under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows the government's security officials to arrest anyone posing a security threat without a warrant, according to Asia Watch...
...ISA, effective since 1960, was originally intended to deter Communist insurgency. Tunku Abdul Rahman, prime minister at the time of Malaysia's formation, pledged that "the immense powers given to the government under the ISA would never be used to stifle legitimate opposition and silence lawful dissent," according to Asia Watch...
However, many charge that the ISA is being used exactly for these purposes in Sabah. Washington, D.C. director of Asia Watch Mike Jendrzejczyk says, "We believe that these arrests are in violation of international rights prohibiting arbitrary arrest and protecting the right to freedom of expression...
...Asia Watch has urged the Malaysian government to free the ISA detainees and to review the law as a step towards repealing it," he says...
...ISA was amended by the Malaysian parliament, prohibiting courts from hearing habeas corpus petitions by ISA prisoners. Consequently, Kitingan can be held in jail indefinitely...