Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) today reiterated its call o­n the Home Ministry to release the six reformasi activists held under the Internal Security Act to avoid further risk of physical harm in the future.

The party - which is yet to be registered - was responding to a report that about 30 security personnel had allegedly assaulted detainees Tian Chua and Hishamuddin Rais at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Perak o­n Friday.

The report added that Hishamuddin, a malaysiakini columnist who has been under detention since June 2001, was also put in solitary confinement for an hour.

"We consider this attack o­n the two as a criminal act of violence and torture and call for their immediate release," said PSM pro tem secretary-general S Arutchelvan.

"We also call upon Suhakam (Human Rights Organisation of Malaysia) to conduct an independent investigation into the incident," he added in a press statement.

No rationale

According to the PSM leader, there was no rationale why such a large group of security officers equipped with heavy anti-riot gear were required to seize a computer which had been allegedly used by Tian Chua.

"This action seems to reflect that there are other motives besides getting back the computer. The manner with which the two were assaulted, humiliated and tortured...is an indication that the whole incident has got endorsement from top officials of the government because the attack was done against prominent political and social activists," he said.

In addition, Arutchelvan said the he was also shocked at the reported treatment of the detainees' lawyer Cheah Kah Peng (photo) when he tried to gain access to his clients after the incident.

"(The) lawyer...was denied entry into the camp and he was also harassed, verbally abused, had his life threatened, spat at and intimidated by police officers. If the authorities have nothing to hide, why then deny the entry of the lawyer?" he asked.

Arutchelvan claimed several developments over the past year have established that the government no longer had any grounds to detain the ISA activists.

He pointed out that not o­nly had the Federal Court found the 60 days of detention of the activists unlawful last September, the ISA review committee had also twice recommended for their release.

He added that calls for the activists' release had also been made by Suhakam and various prominent international human rights groups.

"PSM is concerned that the recent incidents will be used by the government to extend their detention period.

We see that the government has lost all grounds to detain them further (and therefore) will use whatever desperate excuse to detain the six," he said.

Routine inspection

It was reported that the decision to storm the dormitories was prompted by two arguments between the detainees and camp officials last week.

In the earlier incident, Hishammudin was said to have found his plants destroyed by camp authorities last Monday which was allegedly done in retaliation to his objection to another detainee Dr Badrul Amin Bahron attending court last week due to poor health.

The second agreement was said to have been sparked off when Tian Chua brought a computer into his room to work o­n his doctoral thesis without prior approval from the camp commandant.

However, the Keadilan vice-president claimed that he had later sought and obtained approval.

Yesterday, camp commandant Abdul Basir Mohamad denied that any of the detainees were assaulted or handcuffed.

He said the disputed inspection of the dormitory was in fact a "routine block search".

"If it is true that 30 officers had beaten them up, both would have been dead by now," he added.

Tian Chua and Hishamuddin were among six reformasi activists arrested in April 2001 for allegedly planning to topple the government through militant means, a charge which they have denied. They were then sent to Kamunting Detention Centre, Perak, in June that year for a two-year detention.

All, except for Keadilan Youth chief Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, are supposed to be released next month when their two-year detention order expires. However, the government has the right to extend their detention.

Mohd Ezam is serving another two years at the Kajang Prison for breaching the Official Secrets Act by leaking confidential documents relating to a graft probe to the media.