AlJazeera News: Justice sought over Malaysia massacre

Source: AlJazeera English News, 2nd July

 

http://www.youtube.com/aljazeeraenglish#play/search/0/QJV4pwpQkkE

 

A delegation of Malaysian lawyers is trying to convince the UK government to re-open an investigation into the 1948 killing of 24 Malaysian men by the British military in the village of Batang Kali.

The families of the victims say the killings were in cold blood and all these years later are still pushing for a public inquiry.

Al Jazeera’s Laura Kyle reports.

AlJazeera News: Malaysia lawyers pursue UK over fighters’ death

Source: AlJazeera English News on 2nd July

 http://www.youtube.com/aljazeeraenglish#play/search/1/yfk7bJnyQmk

Twenty-four men were killed in the Malaysian village of Batang Kali by British soldiers in 1948, when colonial forces were fighting communist fighters.

This week, a group of Malaysian lawyers have travelled to London to try to convince the government to investigate the shootings.

Laura Kyle reports from the scene of the incident, north of Kuala Lumpur.

Campaigning Lawyers Give a Guarded Welcome to Government Shift on Massacre Inquiry

Source: http://www.bindmans.com/index.php?id=513

Lawyers in Malaysia and a UK based legal team led by Bindmans have responded to a government offer to reconsider its position on a public inquiry into the unexplained killing of 24 unarmed villagers by British troops in 1948 Colonial Malaya. The shift was prompted by a letter before claim sent on behalf of one of the massacre’s survivors, 78 year old Mrs Tham Yong. Her fiancé was one of these killed by the troops. The government has said it will be reconsidering its position on an inquiry, but not when a decision will be made nor whether reparations, which Mrs Tham’s solicitors say are required under international law, should be paid. 

Speaking on behalf of the Action Committee Condemning the Batang Kali Massacre, campaigning Malaysian lawyer Ngee Meng Quek commented:

“There is an absolute urgency on this matter as most of the witnesses may not be able to wait for justice to be restored. For example, one of the eye witnesses, Wong Kum Sooi, who was 11 at time of killings, passed away on last Friday. He was the eldest son of Huang Ren and nephew to Huang De-Feng, both of whom were killed by the British Army on 12 December 1948 at Batang Kali. Justice delayed is none other than justice denied. In the circumstances, the Committee urges the Secretaries of State involved to agree to the request of the surviving families for an inquiry consistent with international humanitarian standards.”

 

John Halford of Bindmans, who acts for Mrs Yong, along with fellow partner Stephen Grosz, said:

Malaysia Massacre Fight Goes On (BBC Report)

Wong Kum Sui died last week before the review was announced

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8025383.stm

By Robin Brant
BBC Malaysia correspondent

The UK government is to review evidence about a massacre of unarmed Malaysian villagers by British troops in 1948.

At the time, Britain was war weary. But in thick, humid jungle at the end of a peninsula near the equator in South-East Asia, British soldiers still faced fierce fighting.

What was then called Malaya was a crucial source of tin and rubber for Britain’s crumbling empire.

It was on the rubber estates where an uprising was under way.

Some of the ethnic Chinese were angry at increasing unemployment.

They also resented the way they were being treated by the government of a country where they had led a resistance against the Japanese occupying forces.

An insurgency was born.

They were allied to communists in China who were on the brink of victory in a civil war.

They focused their attacks on tin mines and rubber plantations; the engine of the Malayan economy.

“ Even though we said we were not communists and we had no weapons – they killed one of the young men in cold blood in front of my eyes ”
Tham Yong Campaigner

Batang Kali Massacre: Call for Speedy Resolution

 

Source: the Sun (Malaysia), 

 29 Apr 2009 http://www.thesundaily.com/articlePrint.cfm?id=32904

KUALA LUMPUR (April 29, 2009): Survivors and descendants of 24 tappers killed by the British Army in Batang Kali in 1948 are urging the British government for a speedy resolution to the massacre issue.

Lawyer Quek Ngee Meng, representating the Action Committee Condemning the Batang Kali Massacre, told a press conference today that the British Secretary of State had informed them on April 24 that it was reconsidering its earlier decision not to hold an inquiry and requested for a few months to decide.

“This request was not accepted by the oldest survivor Tham Yong and the committee. Justice delayed is justice denied,” he said.

Lawyer Firoz Hussein, who was also present, said that the committee was only seeking justice for the 24 killed.