'RCI should recommend punishment for the guilty'

The Association for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham) wants the government to include identifying the culprits and recommending their punishment in the Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry's (RCI) scope.

The RCI has recently been set up to examine claims that immigrants were illegally granted citizenship for votes.

The RCI is also lacking in making recommendations on how to deal with the problem if indeed there are citizens who did not qualify for their citizenship, said Proham chairperson Simon Sipaun (right) and Proham secretary-general Denison Jayasooria in a joint-statement today.

"Proham therefore calls on the federal government to add two additional terms of reference, namely to make appropriate recommendations pertaining to effective solutions on the presence of large number of illegal immigrants in Sabah, including reviewing standard operating procedures and regulations in order to ensure such occurrences do not recur.

"This is in addition to identifying and recommending appropriate action on those responsible if the RCI investigations reveal discrepancies," they said.

However, the duo also lauded the commission's composition which they described as made up of "credible individuals with legal, administrative, academic and contextual expertise" but noted that there was a lack of gender representation.

"Proham acknowledges the comprehensive terms of reference which is very fully focused on determining the issues pertaining to immigration, issuance of the IC and determining the population issues.

"This is right and these facts must be investigated and determined in an objective and rational way so as to restore public confidence through independent verification and release of all data into the public domain," they said.