Lawyers: Fatal police shootings up 17-fold

In recent years, the spike represents the number of ‘unjustifiable and unlawful shootings’ of persons, say legal reform advocates Lawyers for Liberty. The number of fatal shootings by the police have risen 17-fold since 2001, said human rights and legal reform advocates Lawyers for Liberty. This conclusion was reached based on the testimony of a police officer from the federal police headquarters Bukit Aman at P Uthayakumar's sedition trial today, who revealed there were a shocking 82 cases of fatal police shootings in 2008 and 88 in 2009. azlanThe group argued that the latest statistics were a sharp contrast to the far lower number of fatal police shootings recorded in 2001, which amounted to five. “With these statistics, we can only come to the unmistakable conclusion that the police are trigger-happy and will shoot at the slightest opportunity in breach of the laws, regulations and the Inspector-General of Police Standing Orders (IGSO),” said Lawyers for Liberty in a statement. The group said that in recent years, the spike represents the number of “unjustifiable and unlawful shootings” of persons. “(The victims were) apparently fleeing from the police or plainclothes police personnel when confronted, even for minor offences, or that they 'attacked' and the police only shot in self-defence even though there is no evidence to make such claims," reads the statement. “In all these cases, senior police and government officials as usual blindly defended the police force and refused to look into the possibility that the police personnel may have been too quick or had unjustifiably discharged firearms causing deaths or serious injuries.” Inquiry needed Citing the recent shooting of three youths in Shah Alam, the group said that then-acting Selangor police chief A Thaiveegan had made the “incredible claim” that they were “seasoned criminals” and were part of a criminal gang known as Geng Minyak. azlan“The police alleged that the suspects rushed at the police with machetes and that the police shot in self-defence when it was more probable that they were killed in cold blood by the police,” said the statement. Lawyers for Liberty were referring to the shooting of Mohd Shamil Hafiz Shafie, 16, Mohd Khairul Nizam Tuah, 20, and Mohd Hanafi Omar, 22, by the police on Nov 20 in Shah Alam. The victim's families have claimed that the bullet wounds suggest that they were shot execution-style. The group also queried the outcome of the Home Ministry's special panel formed in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of teenager Aminulrasyid Amzah. The panel said that several recommendations had been made and the IGSO would be improved. “Apparently nothing has been done and it looks like being just another public relations stunt,” Lawyers for Liberty said. The group added that a Royal Commission of Inquiry must be formed to investigate the uptrend in fatal police shootings, prosecution of unjustifiable shootings and the formation of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).