Several human rights groups urged the government to suspend the controversial People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) from conducting raids pending a full public inquiry on the conduct of its officers.

This comes in the wake of a Tuesday night raid on scores of Indian national camped outside the Indian High Commission where unnecessary violence was allegedly used.

Leading the rights groups today was Tenaganita, which filed a petition of complaint to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) at its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

Tenaganita claimed that there were sufficient evidence implicating the baton-wielding Rela officers of using violence when conducting raids on both locals and migrants, an accusation that the Home Ministry has vehemently denied.

"Rela officers continue to use their power to act violently as they know they will be protected and not made accountable for their violent behaviour," said Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez.

In a controversial move last March, the government had empowered the semi-trained and unsupervised volunteer crops to help the police and immigration officers in the crackdown against illegal migrants.

Last month, there were allegations that Rela was involved in the deaths of two migrant workers whose corpses were found in an area raided by the volunteer crops in an open market in Selayang, north of Kuala Lumpur. This was denied by the authorities.

In handing over the petition to Suhakam commissioner Dr Abdul Monir Yaakob, Tenaganita made the following demands:

  1. To immediately conduct an investigation into the Feb 28 Rela raid in front of the Indian High Commission.

  2. Urge Suhakam to visit the 61 workers who are detained following the raid and seek their release as they have committed no offences.

  3. Conduct an open inquiry on Rela and its conduct.

  4. Investigate malpractices in the migrant workers recruitment industry.

Speaking to reporters later, commissioner Abdul Monir said Suhakam's immediate priority was to visit the 61 Indian nationals who were being held at the Lenggeng detention camp in Negeri Sembilan

He added that the other matters would be discussed at a Suhakam meeting on Monday.

Rela denies violence

The 61 Indian nationals were among those who were allegedly beaten before being rounded up by Rela officers and taken to the Lenggeng detention camp.

Several others who managed to escape during the raid are presently taking refuge inside the Indian High Commission (photos).

When met by malaysiakini last night, they showed bruises on their bodies allegedly sustained from beatings by ratan batons.

According to Tenaganita, another individual whom they had sent to Hospital Kuala Lumpur was found to have sustained fractures in both of his wrists.

The group of Indian nationals, who were complaining of being shortchanged by their Malaysian employers, were seeking help from the Indian High Commission to look into their plight.

They had camped outside the Indian mission as they had no money and depended on well-wishers for food and water.

Federal Territory Rela director Mohd Aminuddin Mohd Yusoff said that the Tuesday raid was conducted following public complaints of the group's presence but denied accusations that force was used during the raid.

Conduct not proper

Joining the chorus for the suspension of Rela raids today was rights groups Hakam and Suaram.

Hakam coordinator K Shan told Abdul Monir that the Rela raids did not conform to the human rights provisions in the federal constitution nor their actions could be accepted as proper.

"There must be a study of the systemic problems of violations of human rights by certain authorities," he said.

Meanwhile, Suaram coordinator Chang Lih Kang reminded Abdul Monir that there had been many cases of alleged abuse by Rela during their raids.

"Even the inspector general of police admitted that many district police chiefs nationwide are ill-trained on the aspects of human rights. One could expect even more abuses of power and corruption among Rela personnel if they are continued to be deployed by the government in raids on undocumented migrant workers," he said.