Yesterday marked 46 years of the Internal Security Act (ISA). Forty-six years of tyranny, torture, cruelty and oppression.

For 46 years, the ISA has been used by the Malaysian government to muzzle the voices of those who dared speak out on the many wrongdoings of the government of the day. People who dared to speak about omnipresent corruption from the highest echelons of government to the lowest levels, unfair elections, clampdown on rights of women, minorities, students and workers, poverty in the rural areas and many more other issues.

We have now moved into the 21st century and we still hold on to an archaic piece of legislation that does not even allow the detainees the right to question their detention.

Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor's (PSWS) own president, Irene Xavier, along with a few hundred were detained in 1987 under the infamous 'Operasi Lallang' (Operation Weed) for about a year. These people who were detained were not criminals but honest folks who dared to struggle for change for an oppressed community.

Is it wrong to struggle for a community who cannot get their grievances heard by the government of the day? Is it fair to arrest these people who spent their time struggling for change to improve the lives of people in our society? Is it fair to arrest them under obnoxious legislation such as the ISA?

To the families of those who had been arrested and for those being detained today, no words can aptly describe their suffering, their sacrifices, their undying love and dedication to their loved ones.

If Guantanamo Bay has been advised to be closed by Un Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should be doing the same for Kamunting Camp?

We, from PSWS, request that the government of Malaysia repeal this archaic piece of legislation once and for all. It is time to cut this deadweight from our legislation.

T he writer is secretary, Persatuan Sahabat Wanita, Selangor (PSWS).