The ISA, effective since 1960, was originally intended to deter Communist insurgency. Tunku Abdul Rahman, prime minister at the time of Malaysia's formation, pledged that "the immense powers given to the government under the ISA would never be used to stifle legitimate opposition and silence lawful dissent," according to Asia Watch.

However, many charge that the ISA is being used exactly for these purposes in Sabah. Washington, D.C. director of Asia Watch Mike Jendrzejczyk says, "We believe that these arrests are in violation of international rights prohibiting arbitrary arrest and protecting the right to freedom of expression."

"Asia Watch has urged the Malaysian government to free the ISA detainees and to review the law as a step towards repealing it," he says.

In 1989, the ISA was amended by the Malaysian parliament, prohibiting courts from hearing habeas corpus petitions by ISA prisoners. Consequently, Kitingan can be held in jail indefinitely.

Mahathir, who doubles as the home affairs minister, is in charge of administering the ISA. Asia Watch reports that he "has acknowledged that the [amendment] was intended to strengthen the hand of the executive personnel, lest they become too 'wary' of detaining people under the ISA."

People familiar with the Kitingans and their recent arrests say they believe the two brothers were trying to improve Sabah through reforms.

"This guy is a crusader. He does everything for the people of Sabah," says Abelmann. "Unfortunately, in his position of advocating states' rights, he goes a little overboard...He's extremely motivated for his cause."

Abelmann lived with the Kitingans in 1989-90 as a worker in the People Development Program of the Yayasan Sabah Foundation, headed by Jeffrey Kitingan.

Kitingan was concerned about Sabah's control over its own resources and its own destiny, says Abelmann. "What you have here is a wealthy state with lots of natural resources that has become a poor state. The rate of development hasn't been what it should based on Sabah's natural resources."

Unger, who was one of Kitingan's professors at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, says he concurs with Abelmann's opinion. Unger says of his former pupil, "He was a good student [who] had more first-hand knowledge. He had good academic preparation, [but] was very lively and interested in the topic, not a bookish type at all. That doesn't mean that he didn't read and think about his country."

Unger, who was instrumental in the founding of the South East Asia Treaty Organization, says "Jeffrey was looking for an extension of democratic principles in a country with limited experience of democracy. He [attempted to] improve the rural situation by introducing new crops and... irrigation improvements." Unger says he served as an unofficial advisor to Kitingan.

The anonymous source, who is also familiar with the Kitingans, described the pre-Kitingan governments as being "extremely corrupt." Under Joseph, Sabah had its first modern government in which party politics were "not based on religion or ethnicity," says the source, who is familiar with Sabahan politics.

"You can't be a politician there without corruption...bribes...payoffs...this is the way that politics are run out there," he says.

"The Kitingans, to me, run a clean government," the source says. "Why weren't previous governments who were scandalously corrupt brought up on charges? The corruption was incredible."

What is to Come?