Amnesty International has just released its annual global country-by-country review of human rights abuses. The content is mostly predictable  it is without critical judicial safeguards, and allows for indefinite detention without trial of any Malaysian citizen.

The only way to counter this subjective yardstick of 'terrorism', by which states condemn the violence of their opponents and condone that of their allies, is to stand up and defend universal, objective standards of human rights and international law.

It is clear then that since Sept 11 it politically easier for leaders, including Mahathir, to be supportive of human rights for some and not for others. On the one hand there is support for the human rights of the Palestinians and the detainees in Camp X-ray but for their own citizens, a different set of standards applies.

Mahathir has condemned the inhumane treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay but allows a law which has facilitated the ill-treatment of peaceful political dissenters in his own country.

Amnesty International will continue to pressure Malaysia and other governments to apply universal standards of human rights. Until this is done, the use of 'terrorism' and 'security' threatens to undermine critical human rights safeguards and smacks of political expediency.

DEVADASS GNANPRAGASAM is the Asia Pacific Development Officer in Amnesty International's Hong Kong office.