A non-governmental organisation which has been at the forefront of monitoring the police and acting upon claims of police misconduct had their application to be registered as a society rejected.

According to Police Watch and Human Rights Committee chairperson RN Rajah, the Registrar of Societies (ROS) rejected their application without providing any reason.

The rejection was made via a letter dated July 21, which the committee received today.

"We should be given a reason as to why they are not keen on registering us as a society as we can then look at it and find a way to rectify whatever the problem may be," said Rajah when contacted.

The committee, which registered itself as an enterprise in 1999, has 30 active members and about 10 lawyers acting as its legal panel.

In his letter, ROS Kaswuri Keman warned that any society not registered under Section 7 of the Societies Act 1966 is deemed an unlawful society under Section 41 of the Act.

However, in accordance with Section 18 of the Act, the committee is allowed an appeal within 30 days from the date of rejection.

"We're not an illegal group as we are legally registered, but just not as a society. Therefore we'll keep on going with our work and do all we can to move forward. We are also seeking the prime minister's cooperation on this," said Rajah.

Letter to PM

The committee sent an appeal letter to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today, urging him to stand by his word that non-government organisations 'are the eyes and ears' of the government.

"We act as the middle-person between the public and the authorities, both the police and the government when members of the public come to us with reports against the police," said Rajah.

In the letter, the committee claimed that its existence "benefitted the people of Malaysia as it has stood up for and defended on a voluntary/pro bono basic cases on abuse of power, deaths in custody, fatal shooting of innocent civilians, torture and ill-treatment of suspects by the police".

It asserted that attaining society status would help enhance the committee's efforts towards "building a caring, sharing and civil society".

Apart from this, the committee quoted Article 10 of the Federal Constitution that provides for "all citizens to have the right to form associations".

Also mentioned were the recommendations made to the premier by the committee and its numerous appeal letters to him, which led to the formation of the Special Royal Police Commission.

Among the more recent cases of alleged police brutality handled by the committee were those concerning G Francis Udayappan , R Magesvaran , R Ravindran , Ho Kwai See and N Nagendran .

The committee also urged the premier to help it ensure that justice will continue to be upheld for the victims and their families.

"The non-registration of our society would be perceived by the Malaysian people as a gross violation of human rights," the letter added.