A day after Malaysia was rapped for its abysmal human rights record , a migrant claimed that he had been punished although his case is still on appeal.

Mohd Ibrahim, 27, was reportedly whipped at the Kajang Prison on Nov 26, 2009 – one day before Hari Raya Haji.

Last January, the Indonesian was arrested on charges of falsifying passports. In September, he was sentenced to five years in jail under the 1963 Immigration Act.

Despite filing an appeal against the conviction and the sentence in October, Mohd Ibrahim recently revealed to his lawyer Renuka Bala that he had already been whipped.

"This is absolutely against procedure. The prison has to be held responsible," she said.

According to Renuka, Ibrahim suffered three strokes of the cane but only informed her last Monday. She has since notified the Bar and members of the press about the incident.

Kajang prison authorities could not be contacted for comment.

Today, the High Court fixed Mohd Ibrahim's appeal mention for Feb 22.

'Cruel and degrading'

This latest allegation of whipping while on appeal comes in the wake of other cases involving death, disease and torture in detention.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has repeatedly called for the Malaysian government to do away with caning as a punishment for immigration offences.

Last July, the organisation issued a statement saying that “caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, prohibited under international human rights law.”

Amnesty said that over 47,000 migrants have been whipped since amendments made to the Immigration Act in 2002 legalised corporal punishment.

To date, Malaysia has not ratified the Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees.