The parliamentary caucus on human rights is upset with the report that three women from China were arrested and abused while in police custody.

Calling it an 'embarrassing' incident, its chairperson and Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said a fair investigation must be carried out.

"If we read the report, a breach (of human rights) obviously happened and as Malaysians, it is embarrassing because the police has been entrusted by the government and the public to look into the safety of the country," he told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

He said the caucus will write to the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters to inform them that the caucus will conduct follow-ups on the case.

"We want them to know that we are aware of this matter. We want to be informed of the progress of the investigations

"We want a fair investigation and we are quite prepared to give them some time. We want to see action taken against those who have encroached the rights of our tourists," he said.

"Initially, I was quite sceptical to ask the police to investigate a mistake done by themselves. However, we are going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they are professionals," he added.

Don't discriminate

Mohd Nazri said the authorities must not discriminate against women tourists from China and even the Cabinet had agreed to this when the matter was raised at its weekly meet.

Yu Xuezhen, 35, was travelling in a car with four friends - another woman Chinese national Gu Xiuhua and three Malaysian men - to a party when they were stopped at a police roadblock in Sungai Buloh on Nov 3.

Yu and Gu, 40, were handcuffed and taken to the Sungai Buloh police station because the officers claimed they possessed fake passports.

The next day they were transferred to the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters where they were detained for four nights and allegedly subjected to abusive treatment.

At the station, they met another Chinese national, Wu Xiaohua, 34, who was also detained on suspicion of holding a false passport.

All three were released on Nov 7 after the Immigration Department confirmed that their passports were genuine.

They subsequently lodged a police report over the incident and are contemplating filing a civil suit .

Commenting further, Mohd Nazri said women tourists often face difficulties with the authorities. "There is a stigma. That is not fair."

Opposition leader and caucus member Lim Kit Siang, who was also present, said all parties concerned 'must do all they can to redeem themselves'.

Extending the caucus' apology to the Chinese nationals, who were also present, over the incident, he said the police top brass should have a dialogue with the caucus to ensure that such mistakes do not recur.