Kamunting Detention Center

Infobox Prison
prison_name = Kamunting Detention Center (KEMTA)


location = Kamunting,Perak Malaysia
coordinates = coord|4|54|33|N|100|44|13|W|type:landmark|display=inline
status = "Active"
classification = "Maximum Security"
capacity =
opened =
closed =
managed_by = Kementerian Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (Ministry of Home Affairs)
director = Syed Hamid Albar

Kamunting Detention Centre ("Malay": Kem Tahanan Perlindungan Kamunting) is a prison camp located in Kamunting, near the town of Taiping, Perak, in Malaysia. The prison is used by the government to detain and interrogate persons arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA). The detention is also known as Malaysia's Supermax prison or Maximum security prison. It is alleged that this is the site where the Malaysian authorities would hold up political prisoners, usually from the opposition, and conduct torture against detainees. [cite web|publisher=Human Rights Watch|title=Malaysia: ISA Detainees Beaten and Humiliated|url=http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/09/28/malays11788.htm|date=September 27, 2005|accessdate=2008-02-26] Among notable events which prompted widespread use of the ISA were Operation Lalang in 1987 and the years during the Reformasi movement, beginning 1999. The centre has also been used to detain other groups of people declared by the government to be a threat to national security such as terrorists and cults. Some notable groups detained in Kamunting includes the Al-Arqam cult and the Al-Ma'unah terrorist group.

Notable Ex-Detainees

* Anwar Ibrahim - Former Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister.
* Lim Kit Siang - Opposition Leader
* Jeffrey Kitingan - Sabah politician
* Karpal Singh - Opposition Leader

Recent Detainees

In December 2007, one of the Hindu Rights Action Force (HINDRAF) member and leader, M. Manoharan, was arrested under the ISA and detained in Kamunting. As of February 2008, he has yet been released despite being successfully elected as a state assemblyman for Selangor in the 2008 general election.

Latest edition to the Kamunting Detention Center is Raja Petra Kamaruddincite web|work=Malaysia Today|accessdate=2008-09-26|author=Reme Ahmad|date=2008-09-25|url=http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/13091/84/|title=No escape from this Malaysian Alcatraz - A Singaporean's insight to the Kamunting detention camp] who is the editor of Malaysia Today, a website critical of the Malaysian government. He is being held after the Home Minister signed detention papers to hold him for insulting Islam. No details of the nature of this insult have been given and the ISA arrest means that there is no need for any legal case to be made against him. His detention started on Monday 22nd of September 2008.

References