Sisters in Islam (SIS) executive director Zainah Anwar said today her position with the non-government organisation is not in conflict with her role as a Suhakam commissioner since she was not party to discussions for the 100-day boycott by NGOs against the body.

Last Saturday, 32 NGOs said they had suspended all engagements with Suhakam for 100 days beginning April 24 to protest against the government's poor response to the body's numerous recommendations.

When questioned today about possible conflict due to her dual positions, Zainah told malaysiakini she had excluded herself from the discussions among NGOs to organise the boycott and left the decision to other members of SIS.

"I understand the frustrations of the NGOs and they have important roles to play in helping Suhakam. However, it cannot be the job of Suhakam alone to bring about changes," said Zainah in reference to her opinions of the boycott.

Besides SIS, other organisations involved in the boycott include the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), Hakam, Suaram, Amnesty International's Malaysian chapter and Jemaah Islah Malaysia (JIM).

In a related development, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang rapped the media today for their "distortion of the reasons for the 100-day disengagement by the NGOs".

"Completely omitted in the mainstream media reports was the fact that the target of the NGOs' anger was more the government than the commission as the government had shown no respect for Suhakam or recognition of the various Suhakam reports and recommendations," said Lim in a press statement.

"It is most unfortunate, unprofessional and dishonest that the mainstream media had chosen to distort the news to gloss over the real target of the NGOs' protest action, which is the government, and to deflect attention instead to Suhakam," he added.

Contempt

Several newspapers over the weekend had attributed the reason for the 100-day boycott to the NGOs' dissatisfaction with the commission and to protest against a perceived erosion of Suhakam's independence.

According to Lim, the real cause for the "crisis of credibility, legitimacy, authority and integrity" faced by Suhakam is the "contempt" shown to it by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad by ignoring several key reports produced by the commission, such as the annual report 2000, the Kesas Highway inquiry report and the Freedom of Assembly report.

"If it [intends for Suhakam to promote human rights], the government should make public its responses and positions on the three reports.

"The government should [also] give sensitive and responsible responses to the widespread objections to the lopsided, unrepresentative and dubious appointments to the second Suhakam [board of commissioners] and the 100-day "disengagement" protest action by the NGOs," said Lim.

The opposition leader had earlier expressed strong reservations over the appointment of Abu Talib Othman as the new Suhakam chairperson since the latter was involved in several controversies during his tenure as attorney-general in the 1980s.

Among others, Abu Talib was said to have uttered "irresponsible" statements to justify detention of 117 individuals under the Internal Security Act during the 1987 Operasi Lalang . Lim was among those detained during the operation.