Armed police and bulldozers again attack villagers

To the Prime Minister of Malaysia/ Minister of Housing and Local Government/ Malaysian Ambassador

I/We condemn the brutal actions of the State Government of Selangor, under Chief Minister Mohamed Khir Toyo, which on 20 November and 30 November 2006, brutally demolished houses at Kampung Berembang, where 500 people lived for more than 30 years.

This inhuman act goes against fundamental human rights and the basic right to shelter. We also learned that the state government used the police force and local government enforcement officers to brutally arrest and assault local people and social activists who tried to defend the residents.

It is obvious this inhuman act undermines the fundamental rights of people, and was taken despite the Prime Minister’s department instructions to halt the planned demolition, given that a relevant legal case is at the courts. The representative of the Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), Dato Siva Subramaniam, who was in Kampung Berembang village, on 20 November, also instructed local government authorities to stop the demolition.

We are alarmed by this vicious attack, and by the inability of the government of Malaysia to stop the demolition. If the government instructed the state government to halt the demolition, the order was wilfully ignored.

This incident at Kampung Berembang clearly shows the Malaysian government’s lack of credibility when it claims to defend the rights of working and poor people. This undermines the democratic and human rights of workers and people, in general.

We strongly condemn this brutality, and urge the Malaysian government to:

• Investigate this abuse of power in Selangor state by the police force, the local authorities, the developer of Kampung Berembang, and the Chief Minister of Selangor. We call for an investigation over these brutal and inhuman actions in Kampung Brembang, which are against fundamental human and democratic rights
• Stop police the brutality against social activists and working people. Drop the police charges against social activists and residents of Kampung Berembang, who were merely acting to defend the fundamental right of all people to housing
• Compensate, in full, the cost of all the damage done by the state government to the people of Kampung Berembang by the brutal house demolitions
• Provide Kampung Berembang residents with proper housing and basic utilities, until decent houses are built. All disputes should be settled by proper negotiations, not by inhuman and uncivilised acts.

The Malaysian government promotes Malaysia as a democratic and harmonious country through the ‘Visit Malaysia 2007’ campaign, yet we witness these brutal actions in Kampung Berembang. We call on the Malaysian government to act fast, to end the demolishing attempts, and to condemn the actions of the Chief Minister of Selangor.

We will step up the campaign against these brutal actions if the Malaysian government fails to take action against the Selangor state government and for as long as the rights of Kampung Berembang residents are under attack.

Yours Sincerely,