The Kamunting Detention Centre (KEMTA; ms, Kem Tahanan Perlindungan Kamunting) is a prison camp in Kamunting, Larut, Matang and Selama District,

Perak Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand's ...

, Malaysia.Tempat Tahanan Perlindungan
prison.gov.my The prison is used by the government to detain and interrogate persons arrested under the Internal Security Act (ISA). The detention is also known as Malaysia's Supermax prison or Maximum security prison. It is alleged that this is the site where the Malaysian authorities would hold up political prisoners. Among notable events which prompted widespread use of the ISA were Operation Lalang in 1987 and the years during the Reformasi movement, beginning 1999. The centre has also been used to detain other groups of people declared by the government to be a threat to national security such as terrorists and cults. Some notable groups detained in Kamunting includes the

Al-Arqam Al-Arqam is a Malaysian-based Islamic religious sect, founded by Ashaari Mohammad. The sect was banned by the Malaysian federal government on 21 October 1994. More than 5 Al-Arqam members including Ashaari Mohammad (leader of movement) were ar ...

cult and the Al-Ma'unah terrorist group.

Population statistics

Notable ex-detainees

* James Wong - Federal opposition leader from Sarawak in 1974 *

Anwar Ibrahim Anwar bin Ibrahim ( ms, انور بن ابراهيم, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 12 ...

- Malaysia's former Deputy Prime Minister. * Lim Kit Siang - Opposition leader *

Jeffrey Kitingan Jeffrey Gapari Kitingan (born 22 October 1948) is Malaysian politician. He served as the Deputy Chief Minister II of Sabah from 2020 to 2023 and State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries since 2020 (also served in the same position for a b ...

- Deputy Chief Minister of Sabah * Karpal Singh - Opposition leader *

Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj Dr. Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj (Tamil: மைக்கல் ஜெயகுமார்) (born 28 March 1955) is a Malaysian politician and currently as the chairperson of Socialist Party of Malaysia. He served in the Parliament of Malaysia a ...

- Parti Sosialis Malaysia leader * Lim Guan Eng - former Finance Minister * Mohamad Sabu - former

Defence Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

* Teresa Kok - former Primary Industry Minister * Tuang Pik King - Civil rights activist

References

{{reflist Prisons in Malaysia Buildings and structures in Perak 1973 establishments in Malaysia Politics of Malaysia Terrorism in Malaysia Islamism in Malaysia Communism in Malaysia Larut, Matang and Selama District