Eight more detainees held under the Internal Security Act (ISA) have allegedly been subjected to assault at the Kamunting detention camp in Perak.

According to the wives of five detainees, the men were handcuffed, beaten up and had their hair and beards shaved off last week.

At a press conference over the weekend, they alleged that the incident took place a day after 12 other detainees at the camp were similarly assaulted during a 'spot check' last Wednesday.

The eight were named as Yazid Sufaat, Ahmad Yani Ismail, Abdul Samad Shukri Mohamad, Abdullah Minyak Silam, Abdul Murad Sudin, Mohd Faiq Hafidh, Zid Saharani Mohd Esa and Mohd Khider Kadran.

Five police reports were lodged last Saturday at the Taiping police station by the wives, over the alleged incident and subsequent denial of medical treatment to those injured.

The press conference was held on Saturday night, during an anti-ISA campaign launch at the PAS headquarters in Gombak, Selangor.

The wives present said they had each been allowed a 45-minute visit each with their husbands last Saturday.

'No resistance'

They were told that about 50 prison security personnel equipped with batons and shields entered the detainees' dormitory during the asar prayer-hour (about 4pm) last Thursday.

"The detainees did not resist because the first batch was said to have resisted and caused a commotion. Our husbands remained silent," claimed Suri Hanim Mohamed, wife of Ahmad Yani.

She said the detainees were then handcuffed and asked to bend over ( demonstrated in photo ) and walk to a prayer hall, where they were beaten up.

Some were hit on the back or on their joints with a baton, or had their fingers and toes stepped on, while one was held in head-lock by security personnel. Another was allegedly beaten up by four personnel at the same time.

"The personnel also subjected them to verbal abuse, calling them babi (pig, deemed an insult by Muslims)," said Suri.

The detainees' beard and hair were also allegedly shaved off, and Yazid was said to have been stripped naked.

"When the detainees told the prison personnel that the beard is sunnah (Tradition of the Prophet), the personnel responded as saying sunnah itu tahi kucing ( sunnah is cat excrement)," Suri said.

She said the detainees were unable to offer any resistance because they were handcuffed.

"When I saw my husband, he was bleeding from the mouth and had bruises on his body. Another detainee could not walk," she said, sounding furious.

She claimed that the camp authorities would not allow the eight to get medical treatment, and put them in solitary confinement instead. Their request to meet with their lawyers was also rejected.

Asked what might have led to the alleged incident, Suri said: "You have to ask them (camp authorities), for God's sake. They are treating our husbands like animals."

She also expressed concern for the 12 detainees involved in the Dec 8 incident, as their families have not been allowed to visit them and no one has details of their condition.

The internal security ministry has claimed the incident occurred after the detainees prevented some 70 officers from conducting a spot check which later found "weapons". The detainees were then said to have retaliated.

Commenting on the "weapons" claim, Suri countered that all visitors go through a body search and walk under a scanner before they are allowed to meet those in custody.

"The so-called weapons are foldable knives and scissors provided by the camp, so that the detainees can make handicraft like pencil cases and jewellery boxes," she explained.

The jewellery boxes ( photo ) made by the ISA detainees were sold during the anti-ISA campaign launch.

"All such items have been destroyed by the camp authorities," Suri claimed.

Suhakam visit

According to additional information obtained by the Abolish ISA Movement (AIM), camp personnel also spat on the detainees. At one juncture, a knife was pointed at Yazid's head while he was being escorted to solitary confinement.

"(We are) of the opinion that the heavy-handedness of the prison security personnel is unwarranted and unscrupulous... this is definitely abuse of power," said AIM secretary Chang Lih Kang in a statement.

"The torture and degrading treatment at the Kamunting camp is no different from that at the notorious police remand centres," he added.

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioners Prof Hamdan Adnan ( right ) and S Siva Subramaniam ( left ) visited the camp last Saturday for about five hours.

Hamdan also said the "weapons" involved were items provided by the camp authorities for handicraft purpose, but added that 13 handphones had been found.

He also reportedly said female visitors are not subjected to body searches during visits.

However, lawyer Edmund Bon who represents the detainees, rebutted this, saying a complaint had been lodged with Suhakam on Aug 30 that the body searches by female prison wardens "were so extreme and thorough that they amounted to intrusion of privacy".

"The detainees' wives have to remove or lift headscarfs, and are patted down to their underwear or intimate body parts during such searches," he said when contacted today.