Maidin Bacha's letter criticises both the timing and content of Amnesty International's recent statement that the human rights of anti-war protesters have been violated in a number of countries including Belgium, Egypt, the UK, the US, Germany, Spain, Sudan, Turkey and Yemen.

The reason the protests in Malaysia - which resulted in the use of tear gas - were not included in the letter I sent as coordinator of Amnesty International Malaysia are two-fold.

First, the letter (and the malaysiakini news feature Rights of protesters violated, says AI ) was based o­n information contained in a report, ' Iraq in the shadow of war: backlash against human rights' , which was published o­n March 30.

The report, which was published the day after the protests in Malaysia, could not have included the local protests as it would already have been written and printed. The report was produced by AI's International Secretariat based in London, UK, which is the centre for AI's research.

Over the last 40 years Amnesty International has established a reputation for impartial and accurate research in the field of human rights.

Second, Amnesty International has a strict policy prohibiting members and staff from working o­n individual cases in their own countries (such as the violation of the rights of protesters). This policy is to protect AI from real or perceived bias and also to protect our staff and membership.

Malaysian members and staff of AI can and do, however, work o­n changing legislation in Malaysia and o­n individual cases in other countries in the world, just as our membership in other parts of the world work o­n cases in Malaysia.

Amnesty International's motivation is simple - we work towards the reduction and elimination of human rights violations in all countries of the world. This policy does not always make us popular but it does make us consistent and impartial.

We do not favour certain countries, governments or governmental systems, nor do we have an official policy opposing armed conflict. We consider that armed conflict should be a last resort and that if it does occur that people's human rights (both civilians and those in the armed forces) are respected in line with internationally agreed standards.

If you read the report referred to above you will find that criticism is levelled at a number of countries with very different stances o­n the current armed conflict in Iraq. Here's more information on Amnesty International's work o­n the Iraq crisis.

If you read our material o­n Malaysia you will find that we have expressed concerns about freedom of expression and association o­n many occasions.

If you too would like to join the global campaign for human rights, we encourage you to become a member.