It may be 20 years ago but to those incarcerated under the ISA during Ops Lalang (Operation Weeding), memories of the difficult event are still fresh.

Some of them re-lived their days of horror in a public forum in Kuala Lumpur today.

The Internal Security Act - which allows detention without trial - is an affront to humanity, said former detainee Khalid Samad.

"This right can only be refused him when he is found guilty of a crime through due process which among others allows him the right of defence in an open court. The ISA, by its very nature, guarantees abuse and the miscarriage of justice," he told the forum.

Two decades after the Ops Lalang sweep, detainees still speak bitterly of having being detained without trial - some for over two years - under the ISA.

Ordered by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the mass arrest of 106 opposition politicians, trade unionists, activists and Chinese educationists is now widely described as having severely curtailed the nation's civil liberties and judicial independence.

'Mr ISA' in the dock

In a theatrical tit-for-tat, 'Mr ISA' in the form of a black cardboard was put in the dock in a forum held in the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall this morning.

Judging the proceedings were detainees and the lawyers who represented them. The attending public members acted as jurors. The forum was organised by Suaram.

Also speaking at the forum were former ISA detainees, Mohd Yusof Husin and former DAP MPs Dr Kua Kia Soong and Lau Teck Gee.

PKR vice-president and former ISA detainee lawyer Sivarasa Rasiah and lawyer Ngeow Yin Ngee gave a legal breakdown of the Act.

Khalid spoke on how he felt after being arrested at the Subang International Airport, after which he was questioned in the Petaling Jaya police station.

"We were then brought to a place in a Black Maria (police truck), if I remember correctly. I could not see where the place was but judging by the time it took, it was probably in Kuala Lumpur.

"On arrival we were all given our 'prison clothes' and brought to our detention cells but only after 'special designer' dark glasses were put over our eyes preventing us from seeing the surrounding area. The cells were small rooms with a built-in toilet and a brick-and-cement platform with a plywood top used as a bed.

"I was placed in this cell with no interaction with anyone besides the 'jailer' who would open the 'window' of the steel plate to put in the nasi bungkus. Not a word was spoken.

During this period I could hear the other detainees being brought out of their cells to meet their IOs (investigating officers).

"I was however left for five days on my own and no IO appeared. I was beginning to think that after having placed me there, if they were then to forget all about me, throw away the keys, no one would be the wiser," he said.

Khalid also spoke of the feeling of helplessness during his detention.

Reverse psychology

"I was not physically tortured. The basic facilities, including sleeping on the bare plywood 'bed' without a mattress, pillows or a blanket for the first few days is to my mind, not worth complaining about.

"I have roughed it out before. I suppose the most difficult part for me to accept was the total helplessness which I felt, being put at the mercy of the IOs who would act as judge, jury or executioner," he said.

"They could paint you yellow, red or green or any colour they chose and you would have no avenue to challenge their judgement.

"Alternatively, they could report you as being completely harmless and of no threat to anybody but you would still be detained if the powers-that-be decide to do so anyway," he said.

Khalid added that during the period of detention in Kamunting, the favourite phrase of the rehabilitation officers were "the detention order is for two years, it can be less, it can be more", "your two-year detention can be further extended for another two years", "it's up to you, we don't want to keep you here longer than necessary" and "the knife is in your hand, the cucumber is in your hand - whether to cut, slice or slash it's up to you."

"This reverse psychology aimed at making us blame ourselves for our detention was both an insult to our intelligence...

"Emergency laws, the category presumably within which is the ISA, should only be revived for the use only when the country is in a state of emergency. The country must be at war or in another form of emergency before an emergency law can be used," he said.

"Even then, all must be done to ensure that the principles of justice are observed at all times by ensuring an independent," he added.

After the question-and-answer session and an open discussion, the jurors not surprisingly found 'Mr ISA' guilty.

Watch the 10-minute video here