The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) will look into streamlining procedures for the next-of-kin to obtain copies of relevant documents in cases of custodial death.

Commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan said a four-member team was formed during the commission's meeting in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

The group, which he helms, includes former High Court Judge KC Vohrah and medical practitioners Dr Mohammad Hirman Ritom Abdullah and Dr Raj Abdul Karim.

Hamdan said it was necessary to streamline the procedures to reduce the level of stress felt by the families, as well as to ensure that a certain level of transparency is achieved.

"There is no reason why the families should not be shown documents such as the post-mortem reports," he said when contacted today.

"On Aug 2, we will meet with the police, health ministry and other relevant authorities to deal with this issue."

He cited the case of G Francis Udayappan as a factor in prompting the commission's decision to act on the matter.

Francis' family had pleaded with Suhakam last Thursday to help them as they have been unable to claim his body, which has been at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre for more than a month.

The VCD vendor had gone missing on April 16 after allegedly escaping from the Brickfields district police headquarters. On May 23, a body believed to be his was found in the Klang River.

Although his mother made a positive identification, two DNA tests have not established a match between the body and blood samples provided by both his parents.

Francis's family had been accompanied to Suhakam by the relatives of R Mageswaran, who died after apparently hanging himself in the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters on June 17.

Both families have yet to receive the post-mortem reports.