Aliran Letter to the Editor
Stop arresting 'rumour-mongers' under ISA!
Aliran regards as totally unjustifed the recent spate of ISA arrests (so far 10 people have been arrested) of several so-called ‘rumour mongers’ for allegedly spreading via email unfounded rumours about potential terrorist attacks on certain places in the country.
We are completely opposed to any deliberate attempt by anyone to cause alarm and panic in our society, especially over so serious a matter as terrorist attacks. But the ISA arrests, non-transparent as always, are tantamount to terrorizing basically innocent people who may have erred with no intention to cause mischief.
As anyone who uses email knows, people send and receive all kinds of messages, jokes, news, greetings, quotes, words of wisdom, tales of sorrow, inspirational episodes, and, yes, even lies and items of disinformation. There is an email culture that leads people to share these messages with others without meaning ill intent or harm.
The rumours of terrorist attacks in question have probably been transmitted and spread in this manner. It is more than likely that some people, upon receiving those messages, ‘forwarded’ the rumours without malice.
It is a habit of many people to ‘play safe’ by informing friends and relatives to be cautious. We deplore this habit of mistaking rumours for reliable ‘information’.
But, regrettable though it may be, it is part of ‘Malaysian culture’ to think, ‘If there’s no truth, there’s still no harm in being careful.’
Is all this too much for the authorities to understand? Is it too much for them to accept that many citizens are easily unnerved by ‘rumours’ when they have been warned so frequently by the authorities themselves that all kinds of alleged militants and terrorists threaten our public security?
In this case, the so-called ‘rumour-mongering’ has not caused panic and has had no impact whatsoever on the public sense of security.
Hence, the sensible police approach would have been to alert the public to the existence of unfounded email rumours. The pro-active solution is for the authorities using the mass media they control to advise the public to ignore those and other rumours. That would have gone a long way in mollifying the public.
Instead the police have chosen the counter-productive method of using ISA which can only heighten uncertainty and suspicion among our usually poorly informed citizens.
The authorities may be extremely unhappy about how foreign media reports have recently, unjustifiably and irresponsibly linked Malaysia to international terrorist conspiracies. The authorities would be right to be unhappy about how some foreign governments’ travel advisories, stricter visa requirements and periodic announcements have made Malaysia seem less safe than it has always been.
Let the authorities prove the falsity of those ‘international rumours’. Let them safeguard our economic interests and national reputation by using the diplomatic and other means available to them.
But if the authorities cannot arrest ‘foreign rumour-mongers’ who operate on a much wider scale with far worse impact, then our police have even less justification for using the ISA upon our own typically ill-informed, misinformed or frightened citizens.
We should consistently reject unfounded rumours about our security. But these rumours are no worse than the huge amounts of false information, lies, fitnah and tohmah frequently spread to discredit the lawful opposition, NGOs and concerned individuals.
If the police want to use ISA to deal with rumours and false information of that kind, how many people would the police have to arrest? Who would the police have to arrest?
Or is it the case that ISA is being used again to intimidate an already insecure populace for political gain by those in power?
Is it the case, moreover, that the authorities will now use these ISA arrests of alleged ‘rumour-mongers’ as the excuse to increase the police surveillance of the Internet? Will the arrests become the pretext for controlling and shutting down the different dissenting websites which provide uncensored news and alternative views?
As always, after arresting citizens under ISA, the police act mysteriously. They do not bother or they fail miserably to produce evidence of the detainees’ guilt.
If the police have a case against the alleged ‘rumour-mongering’ detainees, let the authorities charge the detainees in court. Let the public know and understand what crimes and what issues are involved.
Above all, let those who are detained defend themselves as citizens who have a right to a fair trial in an open court.
Aliran urgently calls upon the authorities to release immediately and unconditionally all those detained under the ISA.
Aliran Executive Committee
This statement was sent to the local media including The Star, New Straits Times, and The Sun.
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