Convinced that the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) would not act on its complaints regarding the Petaling Jaya Selatan tragedy, Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia today said it will turn to the United Nations instead.
Its pro-tem secretary general P Uthayakumar said Prim has tried in vain for a year to get the commission to investigate last Marchs incident, which left six people dead and scores others injured.
The opposition party, had claimed from the onset that the incident, better known as the Kampung Medan tragedy, was a pre-planned racial attack and not a clash as claimed by several quarters.
In view of this, Prim urged Suhakam and the police to conduct a probe and identify the perpetrators.
However, Uthayakumar said Prim has now lost hope in Suhakam and will raise the matter in the international arena.
He added all information pertaining to the incident, copies of Prims numerous memorandums to Suhakam, the Home Affairs Ministry and the Prime Ministers Department, will be submitted to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.
No choice
Copies of the documents will also be sent to a number of world leaders including United States President George W Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
We want an international body to investigate the tragedy and come up with recommendations for the Malaysian government, Uthayakumar told malaysiakini .
We have no choice. We have exhausted all the avenues here, he lamented.
Uthayakumar said Prim would drop the issue if three of its requirements are satisfied, namely [revealing] the truth behind the tragedy, an assurance from the government that it would not recur and adequate compensation for the victims.
The victims were predominantly Indian Malaysians from poor backgrounds. Many of those injured and killed were the sole breadwinners of their families.
The families of the six who were killed were given RM10,000 each by the government. Their funeral expenses were undertaken by Indian-based political party MIC, which also promised them low-cost houses.
As for the others, they were given between RM2,000 to RM3,000 each. In addition, other non-governmental organisations have also provided financial assistance.
Lawsuit against Suhakam
Earlier today, Prim submitted a protest memorandum to Suhakam, questioning its inertia regarding the tragedy while acting promptly on other complaints.
The memorandum was received by Suhakam secretary Kamarudin Mohamed Baria at the commissions headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
Uthayakumar said three weeks ago they requested for a meeting with all the Suhakam commissioners but the commission turned this down in a letter two days ago.
According to him, Kamaruddin said the commissioners did not want to meet the Prim delegation.
In its memorandum, Prim called on Suhakams outgoing chairperson Musa Hitam and the other 12 commissioners to resign with immediate effect to preserve the dignity and the honour of the human rights cause .
Meanwhile, Uthayakumar also said that one of the tragedys victims would file a lawsuit against Suhakam in a week or two for failing to act on the issue.
