The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) came under fire today from an opposition leader who claimed the two-year-old commission was losing steam and momentum.

DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang said Suhakam should pull up its socks, recharge and rediscover a new sense of purpose to protect and promote human rights if it is not to be completely marginalised and made irrelevant by the Sept 11 terrorist attack syndrome.

Lim said many Malaysians hoped Sukaham would prove skeptics wrong and demonstrate that it could make a difference to protect and promote human rights in the country.

The past five months after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington could not be worse times for Suhakam, which seems to have lost all sense of direction.

During this time, Suhakam has been a mere onlooker to the catalogue of human rights breaches and violations, without its refreshing first-year verve, vim and vigour in dealing with any human rights infraction or complaint, said the veteran politician in a statement.

University issues

Suhakam, established by legislation in August 1999, acts as a quasi-governmental group to monitor reported human rights abuses in Malaysia.

Its first members were appointed in April 2000. The specified functions of the commission are to promote awareness of human rights issues and integrate human rights awareness into public education programmes.

The commission, headed by former deputy prime minister Musa Hitam, also plays an advisory role in assisting the government to formulate measures to address human rights abuses.

Lim also took Suhakam to task on several issues such as the re-arrest of Keadilan leader Dr Badrul Amin Bahron under the Internal Security Act recently.

Badrul has been sent back to the Kamunting Detention Camp in Perak three months after his conditional release on Nov 3.

Lim said the commission should look into the recent suspension of four Universiti Sains Malaysia final-year students and the penalising of two other students for legitimate student activities, he said.

Universiti Teknologi Malaysias last-minute withdrawal of premises approval for the holding of a Chinese cultural exhibition and performance by a group of students should also be taken up by Suhakam, he added.

Deliberate holding back

Lim also urged Suhakam to consider the undemocratic ban on political ceramah (public talks) by opposition parties and the misuse of public broadcasting facilities.

He said an example of this was the broadcast by government television station RTM of 90-second footage on Islamic extremism during prime-time news prior to the Indera Kayangan by-election

Another issues involving Suhakam, said Lim, was the erosion of freedom of expression, opinion and a free press the latest instance being the deliberate holding back of an Far Eastern Economic Review issue because of reports which upset the government.

Lim said Suhakam should also take up the issue of the denial of freedom of movement by the Sarawak state government in refusing to allow Tan Seng Hin, who was deported from the state, to be re-united with his family in Sarawak.