Police denied using intimidation tactics such as physical abuse or verbal threats to extract confessions from a crime suspect, a senior officer told a national human rights conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

City deputy criminal investigation chief Supt Ramli Mat Arshad said the police did not employ such tactics because the law on the treatment of suspects in police custody was clear.

"In my 30 or 40 years in the police force, I've not seen that happen. We don't do things like that. We always adhere to the law," he replied to a question from a participant.

During a question-and-answer session at the conference, a law lecturer from the International Islamic University had asked if the police had "some unwritten rules or understanding" with regards the treatment of detained suspects.

She said several of her students, who were police officers themselves, told her after a lesson on Section 117 of the Criminal Procedure Code which deals with cautioned statement, that in reality, the situation did not go according to the law.

Ramli denied the existence of any "unwritten rules" within the police force.

"Maybe they are not even police officers," he quipped.

'Right to lawyer' unclear

The two-day conference, organised by the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) to mark its fourth anniversary as well as the Malaysian Human Rights Day yesterday, saw about 120 participants, including human rights activists, lawyers, judges and academicians.

Earlier in his speech, Ramli stated that although the federal constitution guarantees a suspect the right to counsel, it was, however, silent on the time and manner in which that right was to be granted.

"Neither does it give (the detainee) the right to dictate the time at which he (or she) can see his lawyer."

He said the constitution also does not compel the police to allow a lawyer to visit the detainee at an "inconvenient" time or when such a visit would interfere with the interest of justice.

In the absence of any specific direction to that effect, he said the police are entitled to refuse the request for a visit by the detainee's counsel.

On another matter, Suhakam chairperson Abu Talib Othman said some improvements could be seen now in terms of how police handle suspects.

"They treat detainees better now. We believe these positive changes were brought about by discussions (with Suhakam) and human rights training for police officers.

"In fact, they have recently set up a human rights desk (in Bukit Aman) and have extended their fullest cooperation to us so far," he said.

No more complaints

Abu Talib, himself a former attorney-general, said: "We no longer receive complaints of police brutality. This shows that things with the police have improved somewhat."

Yesterday, de facto law minister Dr Rais Yatim said the government was studying the recommendations made by Suhakam in its annual report on a wide range of preventive detention and security laws.

In April, Suhakam released a review report on the Internal Security Act (ISA), stating that Malaysia has witnessed a gradual erosion of important safeguards against the abuse of the law.

It also called on the government to replace the ISA with a more comprehensive security law which clearly defines the notion of national security.