Six opposition members of parliament (MPs) will lead a delegation to hand over a memorandum on human rights to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) this Saturday, Keadilan deputy president Dr Chandra Muzaffar said today.

Chandra told malaysiakini that despite the Internal Security Act (ISA) arrests of seven reformasi activists over the past two days, the handing over of the memorandum will proceed.

It will be led by six Barisan Alternatif (BA) MPs including Keadilan president and wife of jailed former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, he added.

Police said yesterday the ISA arrests were to stop the reformasi movement from toppling the government using militant tactics including the use of bombs and grenade launchers and the staging of mass street demonstrations.

The seven reformasi activists had planned to be part of the delegation to hand over the memorandum on human rights to Suhakam on Saturday.

The event, known as the 'Black 14' gathering, is to mark the second anniversary of Anwar's sentencing for abuse of power. While a small delegation will be handing the memorandum over to Suhakam, the organisers have encouraged the public to attend the event as a show of support.

The seven arrested so far are Saari Sungib, organiser of the Saturday's event, Keadilan vice-president Tian Chua, the party's Youth leaders, Ezam Mohd Nor, N Gobalakrishnan and Abdul Ghani Harun, Free Anwar Campaign (Freeanwar.com) webmaster Raja Petra Kamaruddin and former student leader and malaysiakini columnist Hishammuddin Rais.

Ten points

Chandra said the proposal for the BA MPs to head the 'Black 14' delegation was reached at an informal Keadilan meeting on Tuesday night attended by party leaders.

"This proposal was then forwarded to other BA parties and in principle, it was agreed that each party will send two representatives. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have also agreed to send their representatives," he said.

Apart from Wan Azizah, the others in the delegation will be Keadilan's Abdul Rahman Yusof, PAS' Kamaruddin Jaafar and Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad, DAP's Teresa Kok and Lim Hock Seng and Parti Rakyat Malaysia's (PRM) Dr Syed Husin Ali and Dr Sanusi Osman.

Suhakam has agreed to receive the 'Black 14', memorandum at its headquarters in Menara Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. The commission has also called for the immediate release of the seven ISA detainees.

Prior to his arrest, Saari Sungib had said the memorandum touched on 10 points including freedom of speech, assembly and the press. It also calls for the independence of the judiciary, the abolishment of draconian laws, an effective police force and the abolishment of cronyism, nepotism and corruption.

The 'Black 14' memorandum would be accompanied by supplementary memorandums from human rights organisation Suaram, environmental action group SOS Sungai Selangor, the Independent Media Activists Group (Kami) and various student bodies, he said.