Several alleged Islamic militants held under a draconian security law complained Saturday to a junior cabinet minister of past torture by police and other abuses.
But Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar defended the police, saying they were only employing "tactics" to get information and their actions could not be compared to abuses meted out to Iraqi prisoners by US troops
He also said the detainees could lodge complaints with the state-backed National Human Rights Commission or the Royal Commission of Police.
"We will investigate but there is no evidence right now. Some said they were abused but others were not. I cannot question how the police investigate," he told reporters.
The complaints were made during Noh's two-hour visit to the Kamunting detention centre in central Perak state for prisoners held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows indefinite detention without trial.
For the first time since the camp was opened late 1973, the media was allowed access and follow Noh as he talked with detainees from the militant groups Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Kumpulan Mujahiddeen Malaysia (KMM) to probe allegations that they had been subjected to Iraq-style abuses at the camp.
Most of the detainees told the deputy minister that the abuses did not take place at Kamunting but rather under police custody during the initial 60-day interrogation before they were transferred to the camp.
The detainees said they were in the dark as to why their two-year detention orders had been extended despite having fully co-operated.
"This is not rehabilitation but torture," said a detainee who cried during the talks.
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