More than 1,000 Kedah PKR Indians will hold a peaceful assembly at the United Nation's Malaysian office in Kuala Lumpur this month.

forum on kulim indian massacre 030309 kalaivanar b They also plan to hand over a memorandum to the world body on the killing spree of Indian Malaysians by the police for the past 20 years.

Jerai PKR division leader B Kalaivanar, who will lead the gathering, said a copy of the memorandum will also be presented to the King at Istana Negara.

This was decided during a four-hour forum on the 'Six People Killed Brutally By The Police In Kulim' at a leading hotel in Sungai Petani last night.

"We have not decided on the date although we plan to do it by this month," said Kalaivanar.

Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) commissioner N Siva Subramaniam was the chief guest at the function organised by the Kalaivanar-chaired PKR Kedah Indian Community Development Committee (KICDC).

forum on kulim indian massacre 030309 01 Kalaivanar said he was sad to learn that some 760 Indian Malaysians had been killed either in custody or in police shootouts over the past 20 years "without any justifications and valid reasons."

"The police have always claimed that they have shot dead crime suspects in self-defence. But the police have never produced any ballistic evidence to prove their claims.

"It is actually a turkey shoot like in the wild wild west," said Kalaivanar, who is vying to be a PKR candidate to contest the coming Bukit Selambau state by-election in Kedah.

'Treated worse than animals'

The PKR politician is also seeking answers on the high number of custodial deaths involving Indians. He had received at least 20 custodial death reports nationwide from affected families.

"Why must it always be Indians?" asked Kalaivanar.

"We want to tell to the world about the Barisan Nasional government's human rights record and how Indians are being systematically killed in the name of self-defence by the police.

"The international community should know about the Malaysian government's gross violation of human rights," he told Malaysiakini after the forum.

forum on kulim indian massacre 030309 latha m KICDC women leader M Latha said: "It's a shame that Indian Malaysians were being treated worse than animals by the police.

"The world should know about this," she said, adding that bus loads of PKR supporters will be ferried to UN office on that day.

"We hope other human rights movements will support us" she added.

The memorandum's list will include the fatal shooting of an eight-month pregnant Selvamalar several years ago as well as the death of 22-year-old police detainee Kugan Ananthan in January.

'The right to live'

The memorandum will also highlight the latest episode in which six men were shot dead in Kampung Kamunting, Karangan, some 15km from the Kulim industrial town on Feb 17.

Those killed were contract worker R Elangovan, 38, LS Santana, 34, contractor R Pannir, 28, crane driver S Vadivelan, 29, carpenter S Gurusamy, 50 and lorry attendant R Dilip Kumar, 20.

Police alleged that the six were involved in several armed robberies in Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor.

forum on kulim indian massacre 030309 sivasubramaniam Meanwhile, Siva will recommend to Suhakam during its meeting on March 16 to set up an inquiry team to thoroughly investigate the Kulim case.

"We are concerned about the constant violation of the fundamental human right – the right to live," he said.

He insisted that Suhakam does not condone criminals or crimes but merely wanted to uphold the principle that every human life should be respected and preserved.

After the Bandar Mahkota Cheras incident in Selangor, Suhakam had recommended that "police should restrain from using force and minimize damage and injuries to human lives and properties."

"Obviously Suhakam’s advice was not adhered in Kulim," said Kalaivanar.