‘Hold more talks on IPCMC’

PETALING JAYA: The Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (Caged) wants the government to hold more engagement on the proposed Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) Bill before it is made into a law.

“It is not too late for the government to hold proper engagement with stakeholders and the public because the objective is to find the right solution to the right problem, not to bulldoze the Bill, ” the group said in a statement.

Caged said further engagement should be held before the IPCMC Bill is tabled for the second reading and passed by Parliament later this year.

“Our biggest criticism is that the Bill was tabled in Parliament before all stakeholders were engaged, ” it said.

The call by Caged came after a briefing and discussion on the Bill with members of civil society, Bar Council and non-governmental organisations by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong at his office on Tuesday.

Following the meeting, Liew said there was still room for the Bill to be amended before it is passed.

Among one of the proposals raised with Liew was to take away the power of the Prime Minister from the IPCMC, and to give it to the commission.

Another proposal was for the amendment of clause 47 in the Bill to include the term “operation”.

Clause 47 notes that the police must refer to the IPCMC any incident resulting in grievous hurt or death to any person under police detention or custody.

The Bill was tabled for the first reading on July 18 to replace the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission.

It is expected to be tabled just before the tabling of Budget 2020 on Oct 11.

The IPCMC aims to improve the police force in terms of integrity and effective management while acting as an independent body to look into police complaints and misconduct.