A public inquiry may be held into allegations of abuse by detainees being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), human rights commissioner Hamdan Adnan said today.

"I will bring up this matter to my sub-committee and after that, with all the other commissioners," he told reporters today after receiving another memorandum from the Anti-ISA Movement (AIM) at the commission's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

The memorandum was submitted by AIM chairperson Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh and his secretary Yap Swee Seng. It outlined additional allegations of human rights abuses suffered by detainees.

Last week, AIM had complained that detainees were being moved in and out of the Kamunting detention centre in Perak to police remand centres in Kuala Lumpur, where they could be subjected to further interrogation.

Hamdan also expressed hope that the media would give fair coverage to the plight of ISA detainees and that it would "see through any sandiwara (play-acting) so that what happened in Iraq will not happen here".

Noh's visit dismissed

On Saturday, Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar made an unprecedented visit to Kamunting to inquire into these allegations of torture. He also issued an invitation for media representatives to cover the visit.

However, AIM has described the visit as a 'mere public relations exercise' and further said that media reports did not reveal the true conditions affecting the detainees.

"AIM is very disappointed that the whole event has been turned into a public relations exercise in a desperate attempt to prove to the nation and the world that ISA detainees are not tortured," Yap said in a statement distributed today.

He said the media had not been allowed to move freely about the camp or to interview detainees privately, as Special Branch personnel had constantly monitored them. Journalists were also unable to meet certain detainees who had complained of abuse.

One detainee was quoted in press reports as saying that he had been verbally and mentally tortured at the detention centre.

Noh was quoted in press reports as saying that he was satisfied that abuses have not occurred at the Kamunting detention centre.

However, he said he would look into allegations that abuse had taken place at police remand centres (PRCs) where detainees are initially held for interrogation before being transferred to Kamunting if an ISA detention order is issued on them.

Hamdan noted that Suhakam itself has faced problems when requesting access to PRCs.

"We hope that the statement by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak that (Suhakam is) the most qualified (body) to look into human rights abuses will help us probe into these matters," he said.

Najib, whose portfolio includes supervision of Suhakam, had commented last week that Malaysia's human rights record should not be unduly criticised by foreign groups, as the country has its own watchdog. This followed a scathing report issued by Human Rights Watch.

Sexual harassment complaint

In another development, wives of detainees suspected of being members of the Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia and the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist groups complained of sexual harassment by prison officials.

Norlaila Othman, a spokesperson, today reiterated an earlier complaint that a prison warder had made advances towards one of the women and had been sending her mobile phone text messages.

Hamdan said prison officials have told him that the prison warder concerned has been transferred to Jelebu in Negri Sembilan.

The commissioner also noted this may not be a sufficient deterrent, since the woman concerned lives in Banting, only a short distance away.

"This should not have happened. The warder should have been sent further away to Tawau or Perlis instead or have appropriate action taken against him," Hamdan said.

Norlaila said, however, that the wives' support group had ascertained that the prison warder involved was still stationed at Kamunting.

"We have tried lodging police reports, but the wife of the detainee claimed that Special Branch officers told her not to blow up the issue," Norlaila added.