Does Harapan want to discover what happened to Amri, Koh?

Enforced disappearance is frequently used as a strategy to spread terror within society. The feeling of insecurity and fear it generates is not limited to the close relatives of the disappeared but also affects communities and society as a whole.

– Amnesty International

COMMENT | By now everyone should be wondering if the Pakatan Harapan establishment really wants to discover what happened to activist Amri Che Mat and pastor Raymond Koh.

While much has been made of the ethnic composition of this task force, the real issue here is not the lack of diversity, but rather that all the men who were chosen are part of the Malay establishment who know “how things work”.

If they had chosen independent Malay investigators, the kind of people who are really interested and have a history of impartiality, it would not matter if this was solely a 'Malay affair'.

In the same month of Harapan’s historic win, I wanted the new government to discover who kidnapped Amri and Koh. Two points from this article need to considered in the light of the appointment of this task force.

"Who had the power (if this allegation is true) to order a tactical squad to kidnap Malaysians for whatever reason? Who had the authority to issue such commands and who felt secure enough that their crime would go unsanctioned by the former Umno state? Who had the political influence to concoct such a manoeuvre which bypasses the traditional state security apparatus and mete out whatever fate that befell these people?

"Whoever these people were, they were confident that the narratives of the state security apparatus would shield them from whatever repercussions of the former Umno state and – here is the important part – may very well shield them from the sanctions of the Harapan regime...