The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) is doing its best to resolve the complaints it receives and it would be unfair of the public to hastily accuse the body of inefficiency, said commissioner Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan today.

Earlier today, Suhakam released the number of complaints it received this year at a meeting with representatives from 14 government agencies.

Of the 173 complaints received as of October, 140 of them concerned government agencies and departments, 16 were related to the private sector, 10 to named civilians, and another seven were 'general remarks' which did not require any follow-up action.

Fifty cases, less than one-third, were resolved.

Mohd Hamdan said the main problem with most unresolved cases was that they came to the attention of the human rights body as the last resort.

"There is very little we could do for these cases. Many of the complaints are also not pertaining to human rights. We can't handle what is beyond our jurisdiction," said the commissioner when contacted.

"It is a misconception to assume, (based on) the figures (and) without understanding the nature of the complaints, that Suhakam is not doing its work," he added.

Of the 173 complaints, 39 are categorised as 'no follow-up actions' (NFA) cases and 84 are still under inquiry or other actions.

NFA cases

Among the NFA cases were a bank loan guarantor who turned to Suhakam for help when the borrower disappeared, and a debtor in trouble with a loan shark, Mohd Hamdan explained.

Another NFA case was DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang's complaint about his arrests when campaigning against Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's declaration that Malaysia was an Islamic state.

"We wrote to the police and inquired about what happened. They told us a different story. When it is a recurring or structural problem such as police response to gathering and assembly, it is difficult for us to do anything," Mohd Hamdan said.

He also said Suhakam sometimes took the trouble to handle cases not under its jurisdiction by providing the complainants with advice and referring them to other government agencies.

Contact with agencies

This morning, Suhakam met with government agencies which included Royal Malaysian Police, Home Ministry, Human Resources Ministry, Immigration Department, Prisons Department, National Registration Department, Social Welfare Department, and Attorney-General's Chambers.

The meeting was chaired by Mohd Hamdan who was accompanied by commissioners Dr Raj Abdul Karim and Dr Muhammad Hirman Ritom Abdullah.

Mohd Hamdan said the purpose of the session was to establish contact with the relevant agencies so that they could expedite the work process regarding future complaints.

He said Suhakam had proposed that it would compile such complaints and pass them on to the relevant agencies every two months.

Suhakam, established since 2000, has been criticised by civil groups to be inefficient in handling human rights issues in the country during its first two years under former prime minister Musa Hitam.

Soon after former attorney-general Abu Talib Othman was appointed as Suhakam chairperson this year, many non-governmental organisations had questioned his credentials and launched a 100-day boycott against the human rights watchdog.