The standard of human rights in the country continued to slide this year, according to a local watchdog today which expressed concern over the situation.

"Human rights (in Malaysia) hasn't really improved, more and more detentions without trial and police shootings (took place) in 2003, this is very worrying," said Suaram director Dr Kua Kia Soong.

He was speaking at the launch of the human rights movement's executive summary on the country's civil and political rights in Kuala Lumpur. The 21-page summary is the excerpt from its 2003 annual report which is expected to be released early next year.

The summary was unveiled in conjunction with the World Human Rights Day today.

'Climate of fear'

Presenting the summary earlier, Suaram coordinator Eric Paulsen said the 'war against terrorism' continued to provide a climate of fear which the government uses to quell dissent and justify the detention of alleged 'Islamic extremists or terrorists'.

"The Malaysian state now justifies using such laws by pointing to the United States and Britain since they have now enacted laws allowing detention without trial.

"Nonetheless, the authorities have explain the many detainees who have nothing to do with terrorism but are being held without trial not only under the ISA (Internal Security Act) but also the Dangerous Drugs Preventive Act and Emergency Ordinance," he said.

He stressed that none of these detainees were charged in court despite the current Penal Code provisions being wide and all-encompassing.

He added that the government also did not release any white paper on the issue.

Another concern raised by Suaram was the inconsistencies and conflicting statements surrounding the ISA arrests.

Citing an example, he said Deputy Home Minister Zainal Abidin Zin in November said that Jemaah Islamiah (JI) or Kumpulan Mujahiddin Malayisa (KMM) had no links with international terror organisations.

Paulsen noted that this contradicted with the authorities' earlier claim that these groups were linked to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

Police and the media

On matters relating to the police, he said fatal shootings and custodial deaths have increased at an 'alarming rate' and the call for compulsory inquests in such cases have fallen on deaf ears.

According to him, there were at least nine deaths involving police detainees and 29 more killed in police shootouts this year.

Regarding freedom of speech and expression, Paulsen said the media and the unregulated Internet were targeted by authorities throughout the year.

"Criticism of the government and its policies, especially by opposition parties, was constantly threatened with criminal or legal sanctions," he added.

Among the incidents involving the media this year, was the police raid on malaysiakini, the conviction of Harakah editor-in-chief Zulkifli Sulong for publishing a seditious article and the recent sacking of New Straits Times group editor-in-chief Abdullah Ahmad.

On freedom of assembly and association, Paulsen said political parties were still not given the right to hold rallies despite the Election Commission proposing that the ban imposed in 1978 be lifted.

The summary also detailed the arrests of political leaders, namely from the oppositions, for holding "illegal assemblies" since their applications for a police permit were denied.

Suaram also found that the government attempted to control university students and prevent them from participating in opposition-related activities via scholarships or loans.

PAS, Suhakam rapped

The summary also took a swipe at opposition party PAS for violating human rights by imposing Hudud laws in the two states that it controls.

On matters pertaining to the judiciary, Suaram highlighted the denial of bail to sacked ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim pending his appeal at the Federal Court.

The summary also contained a review on the 'unsatisfying' performance of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

"The performance of Suhakam was still not satisfactory as civil society expected more from the commission in terms of raising human rights standards and practices in the country.

"The commission, in turn, had grouses about the lack of positive responses from the government especially in relation to several reports submitted to Parliament," said Paulsen.

He added that the first report in March on the detention conditions under the ISA 'clearly missed the point' but its second report in April on the ISA review was commendable.

"Suaram is rather unhappy with the first report because it should have focused on the violation of human rights under detention without trial, instead, the report focused on the 'improvements' in detention conditions and the 'rehabilitation' of detainees," he said.

Paulsen also reminded the commission to release three others reports which have yet to be made public. These are on the Bakun Dam project, the Kampung Medan incident and the mass expulsion of foreign workers last year.