Leong Kar Yen

Malaysia's Human Rights Commission releases its report on Human Rights and the Administration of Law and asks that the police cut down on 'road show remands' as they infringe on the rights of suspects.

A human rights organisation, which claims that five ISA detainees are being punished for having mounted a hunger strike earlier this year, has taken its concerns to Suhakam.

It was a tearful farewell for Sein Mar and her seven-year-old daughter after the Kuala Lumpur magistrate's court refuses to grant the former bail because she is a foreigner.

Police have yet to get positive identification of a body found yesterday, thought to be that of a detainee who had allegedly escaped from the Brickfields police station last month.

While P Uthayakumar has spoken at length about his assault in the media, he refuses to give his statement or provide descriptions of the suspects to the police because he has no faith in them. This, say the police, is hampering investigations.

They were touted as instant millionaires after selling their land to the government. But to date, many of them have yet to receive their money. Now they have a new problem - 'yellow rain' allegedly caused by a toxic waste incinerator located near their homes.

A freelance journalist and her seven-year-old daughter are now being housed in a safe location by the UN agency pending the police's decision on whether to charge the journalist for unlawful assembly.

Police also say that the seven-year-old daughter of the sole female protestor, journalist Sein Mar, is being detained in a police lock-up with her mother.

The 21 detainees, including a freelance journalist and her seven-year-old daughter, were protesting outside the Burmese embassy here against a national convention held in Rangoon.

Prominent human rights lawyer P Uthayakumar, who claims to have been assaulted and threatened at gunpoint by policemen, says he applied for the licence as he no longer feels safe.

Twenty-one Burmese asylum seekers, including a seven-year-old girl, were arrested by the police as they were staging a pro-democracy protest at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

Human rights must be openly discussed and carefully defined so that governments or terrorists do not abuse it. Sadly, as Dec 10 passes, the human rights discourse will again be forgotten as people and governments try to overcome an unseen enemy.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has set Dec 31 this year to hear a RM50 million lawsuit filed against Suhakam for failing to initiate an inquiry into last year's Petaling Jaya Selatan clashes.

The 'sister act' of the Internal Security Act, the Emergency Ordinance recently came into media prominence following a few controversial cases and has now caught the attention of Suhakam.

Police will investigate the mysterious death of man whose body was found floating in the Klang river two days after police said he escaped while under their custody.

An education activist remembers Operasi Lalang in October 1987 when more than 100 people were detained without trial for objecting to government policies. Following official warnings over the weekend, Dr Kua Kia Soong protests the misuse of the ISA.