Malaysia has made progress in respecting civil liberties following the creation of a human rights watchdog, but the agency must be given enforcement powers, its outgoing chief said Wednesday.

Musa Hitam, a former deputy premier who was appointed the first chief of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) two years ago, said the body had sought legal amendments for it to function more effectively.

He also admitted that the body had met with little success over controversial issues such as the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows detention without trial, and on freedom of assembly and speech.

"I rated our performance B++. I think we have been successful because the acronym Suhakam has become a household word within two years," Musa told AFP in an interview on the last day of his two-year term.

"We have managed to sensitise those in power with the need to care for the human rights aspects in their jobs.

"But rather than being a purely recommending agency, Suhakam should also be given some leeway to be an enforcement agency - not 100 percent but there should be some enforcement element."

The 13-member Suhakam board had submitted recommendations to the government to amend the 1999 Suhakam Act on this matter, he added.

And in August last year, Suhakam issued a report seeking greater freedoms of expression, including a British-style "Speakers' Corner" and a relaxing of police control on rallies.

Legal suit

A Suhakam inquiry into a November 2000 anti-government protest found police used excessive force against supporters of jailed ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

But Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has dismissed the reports, saying they ignored national security concerns.

Musa, however, said the fact that government agencies, including the police, were aware of the reports would make them "more careful and orderly in their future conduct."

On a legal suit filed against Suhakam last week for failing to conduct a public inquiry into attacks on minority Indians that left six dead more than a year ago, Musa said it was not a human rights case.

He said the violence that broke out March last year in a poor area west of Kuala Lumpur, in which five Indians and an Indonesian were killed, was criminal in nature and police were already investigating the matter.

"After very careful, in-depth discussions, we had arrived at a simple opinion that from the human rights point of view, there was no case," he added.

Musa later Wednesday handed the mantle over to his successor, former attorney-general Abu Talib Othman.

Abu was appointed along with five new Suhakam commissioners and the reappointment of seven others, all hand-picked by Mahathir, for a two-year term.