Five members of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) including chairperson Musa Hitam will not be reappointed once their term ends on April 23, a highly placed government source said today.

Besides Musa, the other outgoing commissioners are Mehrun Siraj, Anuar Zainal Abidin, Mahadev Shanker and Dr Salleh Mohd Noor.

The four are also in the high-profile investigation and complaints working group.

The source who requested anonymity said letters of termination have been sent to Mehrun and Anuar. However, the letter to Salleh has yet to be delivered to him.

Musa and Mahadev have been asked to return but have turned down the offer. Meanwhile, Musa announced on Saturday that he will not seek another term as Suhakam chairperson.

Seven other commissioners are however reappointed to serve a second term in office.

They are deputy chairperson Harun Hashim, Zainah Anwar, Prof Chiam Heng Keng, Prof Hamdan Adnan, Simon Sipaun, Dr Mohammad Hirmam Ritom Abdullah and Lee Lam Thye.

When contacted, Mehrun said she had yet to receive the letter while a family source confirmed that Anuar had received his but added that he did not wish to comment on the matter.

Salleh, who is also the president of the Malaysian Nature Society, was not able to confirm his termination from Suhakam but said that he expects not to return to Suhakam.

When asked how he thought so, he replied: Its intuition, not wanting to elaborate on.

Critical reports

The Star on Saturday named three people who may be appointed as chairperson  former attorney-general Abu Talib Othman, former inspector-general of police Hanif Omar and current vice-chair Harun Hashim.

Among those likely to be picked as commissioners include former civil servant and corporate figure Ramon Navaratnam, ex-president of Malaysian Medical Association Dr RS McCoy and Malaysian Trades Union Congress president Zainal Rampak.

The human rights body was established through the Suhakam Act 1999 and began its operations proper on April 2000.

The commission has also come under fire for publishing several ground-breaking reports critical of the governments human rights record.

A Freedom of Assembly report was released in July last year stating that the police should ease up on the issuance of police permits and in general allow the public to assemble peacefully.

The commissions report on the Keadilan-sponsored 100,000 Peoples Gathering on Nov 5, 2000 also pointed fingers at the police as being responsible for human rights violations.

The government in turn has dismissed the body as being idealistic and western influenced.

Call for fresh batch

Meanwhile, Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysian (Prim) pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar today called for the terms of all the commissioners to be discontinued.

Other commissioners who are more sincere, independent, just and fair, and believe in the principle of human rights for all and justice for all should be appointed to give Suhakam a breath of fresh air and to give meaning to its slogan Human rights for all, said Uthayakumar said.

Prim has had a feud with Suhakam for its alleged refusal to carry out an open inquiry into the Petaling Jaya Selatan racial clashes which occurred in March last year.

The clashes took place in the economically depressed area of Kampung Medan and left six dead and scores injured.