PENANG (Malaysia): A video clip of a naked female in a locker room, forced to perform repeated squats in front of a woman in police uniform and arms akimbo, has sparked an uproar in Malaysia that may not easily die down. For one thing, the controversy comes at a time when Malaysia is preparing to play host to the 10-nation Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) summit next week. The grouping includes Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Burma.

The clip appears to be the strongest evidence yet of degrading treatment and abuse in police custody since images of the black eye inflicted on former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim flashed around the world in 1998. Last week, opposition member of parliament Teresa Kok brought the issue to public attention when she showed the clip to fellow parliamentarians and reporters at the parliament lobby in Kuala Lumpur.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” she told IPS. “I believe there is a lot of abuse going on in the police stations. When I first saw the clip, my first reaction was to believe that the earlier allegations (of degrading treatment) made by three women from China were true.”

Government leaders too expressed outrage at the degrading treatment meted out to the woman, apparently ethnic Chinese, further removing any lingering doubts as to the clip’s authenticity. The clip then received wide publicity in the mainstream press. The 70-second video was circulated among Malaysians who have hand-phones that allow video clips to be screened. They were later posted on Internet websites, reaching an even larger audience—making the affair impossible for mainstream media to ignore.

The clip was a — disgusting movie of one human being, having forsaken all sense of decency, treating another human being (over whom she had control) in a degrading, humiliating and wanton manner,” said Yeo Yang Poh, the chair of the Malaysian Bar Council, in a strong statement. All Malaysians should view the video clip, and ask themselves how they have allowed things to come to this stage, and in what disastrous direction they are heading, he said.

“This rare piece of material confirms what Malaysians have heard and believed all these years about the inhumane and degrading treatment of persons in custody,” he added.—Dawn/IPS News Service