The video can be viewed here:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5ab_1172940415
Malaysia defends caning after video hits
Internet
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia defended on Friday its practice
of caning criminals after a disturbing video of a prison-yard
caning session burst onto the Internet, reigniting criticism from
lawyers and human rights advocates.
In the video, a naked man is shown strapped to an upright wooden
frame, his rear exposed to a uniformed official who lifts a
meter-long ratan stick above his head before bringing it down on
the prisoner's buttocks, tearing the flesh with each strike.
The video, in which the moaning and shaking prisoner is struck six
times, has spread quickly across the Internet, capturing headlines
in the Web sites of some European newspapers and forcing the
Malaysian government on to the defensive.
"The government at this stage has no plans to abolish the cane as
part of punishment," Deputy Internal Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow
told Reuters by telephone.
He said the video was an official recording that had been leaked
onto the Internet. The video had been produced for deterrent
purposes, with excerpts shown during anti-narcotic education
sessions to would-be drug dealers, he added.
"This video was taken officially by us for a demonstration purpose,
but it is not supposed to have the victim's face identified.
Somehow somebody must have taped (copied) it."
Malaysia is not alone in caning criminals, which critics
say breaches human rights norms, including the U.N. Convention
Against Torture. Neighbouring Singapore also wields the ratan stick
and caused a U.S. outcry 13 years ago when it caned an American
teenager, Michael Fay, four times for vandalism.
But Malaysia's Bar Council, which represents about 12,000 lawyers,
recently called for a ban on caning, saying the "cruel" practice
was rising in Malaysia, especially on illegal immigrants after
hasty hearings arranged at crammed detention centres.
"They have started imposing the caning sentence in a more rigorous
way and it can affect anyone who comes in (to Malaysia) without a
passport or papers, so it happens to asylum-seekers and refugees,"
said Latheefa Koya, of the council's Legal Aid Centre.
The government denied use of the cane was widespread against
illegal immigrants and Deputy Internal Security Minister Fu said it
was reserved mainly for the traffickers of illegal immigrants in
addition to drug-traffickers and violent criminals.
Fu said the government also faced calls from victims of crime for
the use of the cane to be maintained or even increased for some
serious crimes "in view of the crime rate in Malaysia".
Crime is seen as a major electoral issue in the run-up to a
possible early general election, expected early next year.
"We respect the view of the Bar Council but there are many other
views from the people and also from the victims of crimes that
there should be an increase (in caning)," Fu said.