A first-hand account of life in detention in Singapore’s draconian Internal Security Act (ISA)

A narrative about injustice Part 7: “Do you want us to bring your children in?”. Signing false confessions

This is Zulfikar’s 7th article in the series

I came awake with the Gurkha officers around me. Chang was in the opposite chair. He told the officers to send me back to the cell.

“No, I’m ok. I’m ok” I told him. “We carry on.”

I was desperate. I had to get the interrogation period over as quickly as possible. Let’s get it done. Whatever they wanted me to say. Get it done, so I can get out of detention and to my children. I needed to tell them to leave Singapore.

That was all I thought about. Get my children and my family out of Singapore where the ISD could not get them.

“Send him back to cell” I heard Chang say again. “Next time don’t interrogate him after dinner.”

“I’m ok. Let’s carry on.” My body was weak.

The Gurkha officers pulled me up. I was blindfolded again and led out of the cell.

I did not want to leave. I felt sick.

About an hour later, I was taken out of the cell again. The same procedures: face the wall, patted down, hand and ankle cuffs, chain, blindfolded. I was taken to the second level again. It was the Medical Officer’s room.

Dr John Tan was waiting for me. He checked my blood pressure.

“I don’t know” he said to the ISD warden attending.

“He was sweating a lot” the Gurkha medic reported. I was sent back to the cell.

The next morning, after the doctor visit, I was brought to the interrogation room again. Ong was waiting for me.

He went on with the interrogation. I told him the truth that I supported the revolution. Not ISIS. ISIS was just the group in the media two years earlier.

“You heard my boss yesterday” he snapped. “You think he was kidding?”

He referred to the threat to arrest my children. My heart crashed. I had wanted to maintain my position. Just tell them the truth.

He repeated the threat to arrest my children if I did not make false confessions. Chang had said repeatedly the night before, “We don’t care what you think. You tell us what we think.”

Tim and Roslan joined us. Tim went on with his demand for me to make those statements. I nodded.

Tim typed the statements into the computer and printed it out. I signed them.

Over the next 4 weeks, we would go through the same process. Tim would ask me questions and I was told to say the first thing that came to mind. I answered truthfully. He would then shout and demand I change it. I would try to maintain my position. But the end was inevitable. I would accept his demands.

The first week, he made several references to arresting my children.

“Do you want us to bring your children in?” Tim would ask.

Or “If we ask your children will they say the same thing?”

Everytime he brought them up, I would submit. Ong or Roslan would then ask more questions to “complete the picture”.

They needed a story. It had to be complete. I had to keep making up the story.

After the first few false statements, I realised it did not matter anymore. They had me sign statements saying I supported ISIS and I wanted to go to Syria. What difference did another statement make?

My thoughts were dominated by my fear for my family. Chang would visit regularly. After that first occasion, he did not shout anymore. But he continued with his threats.

“Your brother Zulkarnain is a steward right? He fly everywhere. You know we can stop him flying? We haven’t but we can.”

Or he would tell me “Your wife is from Malaysia. We can ban her from entering Singapore. We haven’t but we can.”

Chang insulted Shireen regularly. He would tell me about his meeting with my family.

“Your wife say you don’t support ISIS. You know I can take her on you know? I can take her on. But I don’t want. Because your children should think you are good man. I can take her on. What does she know? She’s only childcare teacher.”

He kept saying that he could take Shireen on and she was “only a childcare teacher”. He acted as though Shireen was not smart enough. I later told Tim that Shireen had a Masters degree. He was surprised and laughed.

Chang made regular threats on my family. Tim would sometimes echo it.

That however, was not their only tactic to force false confessions.

Originally published in Fikarsiyasah 27th April 2022

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