Tag Archives: INTERNAL SECURITY ACT

After a 16 year-old teen was arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for planning to attack two mosques in Singapore, activists are questioning if the use of ISA on a minor was an abuse of power.

In the absence of trial and evidence such a heinous incident took place, we can safely dismiss yesterday’s announcement as “fabrications of a PAP government”.

A member of a Philippines based militant group, Abdul Majid Kunji Mohamad, will no longer require the supervision of security forces here in Singapore, says a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued today.

Six radicalised Bangladeshi workers in Singapore who were detained under the Internal Security Act have been prosecuted under the Terrorism Act (Supression of Financing). They were charged in Court on Friday (27 May 2016) for providing and collecting property for terrorist purposes.

The Ministry of Home Affairs announced that 3 Singaporeans have been arrested and detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for taking part in armed conflicts overseas. Meanwhile, a fourth man, a new citizen from China was also arrested for wanting to fight with the Kurdish militia group against the Islamic State terror group. The first two Singaporeans detained were 27 year old Mohammad Razif Yahya and 53 year old Amiruddin Sawir. They had taken up arms and participated in Yemen's sectarian conflict by taking up sentry duties at the religious madrasah they were studying at. They were to fire at any incursions by the Shiite Houthis. Razif was trained as a sniper in Yemen while Amiruddin was armed with an AK-47 and participated in a fire-fight.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced today that 27 Bangladeshi construction workers were arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after they were found out to be planning armed jihad overseas and in their homeland. This is the first reported instance of foreigners being arrested for wanting to prepare attacks overseas. The men were arrested between 16 Nov 2015 and 1 Dec 2015 last year.

There has been a noticeable silence from liberals in the wake of the Paris massacre. We do not hear the usual cry to abolish the Internal Security Act and the concomitant State power to detain without trial, to abandon capital punishment and to champion freedom of expression. Where have all the liberals gone? Gone to try quiet places with heads turned away from the nasty reality that there are bad people willing and capable of doing bad things. Really bad. And no amount of high flown rhetoric or rational debate will stay their hand.

The ISA is an unjust law. Prisoners are not charged and tried in open court. There is no judicial review for ISA cases. Release of ISA prisoners depend on the whims and fancies of the executive who may or may not rely on the reports of the ISD.

In 1978, I saw Dad handcuffed and led into our home by a team of officers from the Internal Security Department. I was 8 years old. And the entire episode unfolded before me like an extremely bad B-grade movie that did not seem to have a proper beginning or an ending. The sketchy storyline went like this for an 8 year old. Dad was involved in “political discussions” with a group of lawyers who took a pro-Communist stand. He had to be punished for having an opinion that was not aligned to our government’s stand.

Dear Editor, I attended Ho Kwon Ping's inaugural IPS lecture, where Ho spoke of the future of Singapore, the PAP and the ISA. Ho was a former detainee under the ISA in 1977 who succeeded in life despite his detention. Surely he would have some enlightening advice for aspiring human rights activists in Singapore. I was wrong.