A few days ago the Malaysian government lodged a formal complaint that the US was meddling in our internal affairs. The US State Department had stated they would oppose any politically motivated investigation or prosecution of Anwar. Foreign Minister Rais Yatim has responded quickly by stating that ‘they must understand our rule of law set-up and they must respect our system of law’.

However, many of us Malaysians cannot recognise this ‘rule of law’ that Rais is talking about. What we have continued to witness instead is a ‘rule of law’ that has been systematically eroded, undermined or ignored by the Barisan Nasional government over the years.

How can we believe in the ‘rule of law’ when we have a police force that continues to act as a tool of the government and has continued to defy reforms proposed by a royal commission set up by the government? The royal police commission had identified a range of problems with the police in their report in 2005.

These include a lack of clear codes of practice and procedures when carrying out their investigations as well as lack of understanding and respect for international human rights standards on policing.

This has been reflected not only in police investigations against high profile opposition politicians and activists but also the ill-treatment and torture in police-lockups, the deaths in custody, the police brutality in peaceful public demonstrations, the intimidation and torture by ‘special branch’ intelligence officers and recently in their threat of ‘using the army’ for public order policing.

How can we respect our system of law when there is none for some people? Men of those detained under the Internal Security Act have never seen evidence against them and will never have their day in court. Yes, we might claim that the US also is no better with the existence of Guantanamo, which I believe should be shut down immediately, but that is no justification for us to undermine the rule of law.

We should also not forget many other alleged criminals who are also detained under other preventive detention laws such as the Emergency Ordinance and the Dangerous Drugs Act. Do we just trust the police they are all criminals? Shouldn’t they be brought to trial so that they can defend against the accusations against them? Is this our ‘rule of law’ that Rais is talking about?

What about the judiciary? In April, the prime minister made a speech at a dinner organised by the Bar Council and the government. In it, he promised that there would be established a Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) made up of ‘primary stakeholders’ to shortlist nominees for judges.

It has now been reported that the proposed JAC, which de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim tabled before the cabinet, had been ‘put on hold’.

As Azmi Sharom has pointed out, if the prime minister and his cabinet were committed to the idea of a clean, fair and independent judiciary, why isn’t the proposal by Zaid being made open to the public for debate?

If we are to ever have trust again in the ‘rule of law’ in Malaysia we must start with a clear and transparent reform process of the police and judiciary.

All restrictive laws that continue to undermine fundamental human rights need to be abolished.

I find it hard to envision this happening under the current regime, which has consistently used both the institutions and laws to maintain power and control as well as to suppress the rights of its people.

So Rais, where is this ‘rule of law’ that you talk about? Or is the ‘rule of law’ for you, like your criticism of the ISA in your PhD thesis, just an ‘academic exercise’?