The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) will meet police soon to raise issues reported by Saari Sungib, an Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee, over interrogation methods.

When contacted today, Suhakam complaints and inquiry working group chairperson Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan said the allegations will be brought up with the police during a scheduled meeting.

"There are numerous issues to be considered and we hope to get some response from the police," he said of Saari's request for Suhakam to verify the truth of his account.

He said such interrogation methods were probably employed as a way of extracting information from suspects.

"It depends o­n how we perceive the interrogation to be because there is more than o­ne way to skin a cat," he said.

"We can o­nly speculate as to the motive of using such methods... usually it is to frustrate or bore the detainee to death... but we do not know for sure."

Asked if there was any violation of Saari's human rights, Hamdan said the fact that he continues to be detained without trial is already a clear violation.

"But the extent of a psychological trauma, if any, needs to be ascertained through further tests by a professional," he said.

On Jan 31, Saari's wife Aliza Jaafar submitted a 158-page personal account by her husband to Suhakam providing insight into police interrogation methods during his initial 60-day detention under the ISA.

Proof sought

Saari's lawyer Latheefa Koya, when contacted, said the police should start probing into the allegations immediately.

"The fact is that, as claimed by Saari himself, the interrogation and the grounds for his detention are totally unrelated and necessitates an immediate investigation," she said.

Latheefa, who is o­ne of a team of lawyers representing ISA detainees, said the police should seriously consider confirming the allegations or prove Saari wrong.

"Either way, they have a duty to investigate the matter and clear their name," she added.

Attempts to obtain comments from federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman yesterday proved futile. Officers contacted said "only the Inspector-General of Police can say anything because it (the case) comes under the ISA and KMM (Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia)".

Saari had declared in his 60-chapter report that all the material contained in it was true as far as the police interrogation proceedings were concerned.

He has also asked the human rights body to address the violation of his rights for having to put up with a "totally unrelated" interrogation.

Saari was detained in April 2001 o­n charges of attempting to overthrow the government by militant means and is currently held at the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping, Perak under the two-year detention order.

'Notorious' revelations

His report gives an insight into police interrogation methods, including bits o­n the deviant Islamic cults, Al-Ma'unah and Al-Arqam, Bentong Kali (an alleged criminal gunned down by police in the early 1990s), Arab terrorists, high-class sex workers, Ecstasy pills, coup d'etat within the police force, and several political and religious personalities and their families.

Excerpts form Saari's report show how police claim to use minute state-of-the-art devices to track down 'errant' individuals including both ruling and opposition politicians, the country's VVIPs and their wives.

It also quoted Saari's interrogators as claiming to the existence of an 'unknown' secret police unit, not unlike Britain's

MI5 and the US Central Intelligence Agency, with wide-ranging powers to determine the choice of prime minister and cabinet ministers.

Other allegations include the feeding of 'inside' information to Saari o­n how police dealt with tough cases, including carrying out 'shoot-to-kill' orders, in several reportedly high-profile incidents.