The Home Ministry's apology to the Indian government over the Palm Court incident has been greeted as a timely gesture but some critics say the government has yet to address key concerns about police heavy-handedness.

In separate statements today, labour rights organisation Tenaganita and DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang criticised the government's choice of words in describing the experiences of a group of Indian IT professionals as an "inconvenience" rather than a violation of their rights.

Late night apology

Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez said by its choice of words, the Home Ministry had "trivialised" and "reduced the whole dehumanising experience, physical abuse and disrespect shown to the IT professionals".

"This reflects that the ministry condones this form of treatment and arrogance of the police force. The police know very well that they would deface the passports by scratching o­n the photographs, but were also very conscious that they could get away with any form of action taken," she said.

"The government, in particular the Home Ministry, has constantly denied cases and events of violations and omissions by the police force. The police have come to believe that they need not be accountable for their actions, particularly where foreign workers are concerned."

Fernandez was referring to an incident o­n Mar 9 when police arrested over 150 Indian professionals and held them for over 10 hours while their travel documents were being verified.

Many of those detained complained of abuse at the hands of the police, as well as that their documents were defaced during the 'verification' process. A group later lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).

In a statement issued late last night, Home Ministry secretary-general Aseh Che Mat said the police have apologised while the ministry "expresses deep regret over the inconvenience experienced by those detained".

The apology came just a day after the special federal police team set up to investigate the allegations of police mistreatment submitted its report to the ministry, as instructed by acting Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

'Partially satisfied

'

DAP chairperson Lim also questioned the manner in which the apology was made, saying that the government should not be referring to "inconvenience" but to the "gross human rights violations and the humiliation suffered by the IT professionals".

Lim pointed out several inconsistencies between Aseh's statement yesterday and that made by Kuala Lumpur deputy police chief Ahmad Bahrin Idrus last Tuesday.

"Aseh said from the 'thorough investigation' by the police, o­nly 36 people had been handcuffed and there were no incidents of physical abuse against those detained. This is an increase from (Ahmad's) earlier admission that o­nly 12 Indian professionals had been handcuffed after the police's 'initial investigation'."

"The 'thorough investigation' by the police is as suspect as its 'initial investigation'. From my personal interviews with the Indian professionals, it was clear that more than 36 of them had been handcuffed," said Lim, referring to his meeting with over a hundred Indian nationals last Wednesday at Palm Court.

The DAP leader said the investigation by the police also missed a crucial element - that of testimony by those detained.

"The claim that there were no incidents of physical abuse against those detained could be easily proven false if all the Indian IT professionals mistreated in the incident had been called to give individual testimony - which has not been done," he said.

However, Lim indicated he was partially satisfied by Abdullah's decision to apologise over the incident.

"A new start has been made since the intervention of (Abdullah) last Friday, expressing regret over the incident, and injecting a proper seriousness and sensitivity into ministerial and government responses," he said.

Police need 'wisdom'

Earlier, Suhakam head assistant secretary of the investigative department Mohd Nasir Abdul Hadi said steps have been taken to address the complaint lodged by the Indian nationals at the commission's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur last Thursday.

"We contacted the police and immigration departments for their explanations earlier this week and we will act accordingly when they give us their response," he said during a press conference today.

In addition, Suhakam commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan (photo), who was also present, said the episode showed the need for police to have more "wisdom" when dealing with immigration cases.

"When we visited a Sabah immigration camp (recently), we found people who said they were locals but were locked up as well (as illegals)," he said.

In a somewhat belated response, Keadilan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali issued a joint letter to the Indian High Commissioner in Malaysia, Veena Sikri, protesting the police action.

"We strongly protest the arbitrary arrests and manhandling by the Malaysian police of the Indian nationals, all of whom possessed regular papers...," their letter said.

"We sincerely hope that this incident will not damage the good relations that have long existed between the peoples and the governments of India and Malaysia."