Two years have passed since the Petaling Jaya Selatan clashes erupted but no inquiry or royal commission have commenced despite various call to do so, said Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim) today.

The incident, better known as the Kampung Medan tragedy, left six people dead and scores others injured from March 8 and 23, 2001.

"Despite dozens of calls by various parties and despite a time period of two years having passed, Suhakam (the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia) is yet to commence a public inquiry and the government is yet to hold a royal commission of inquiry," said Prim pro tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar in a statement.

He called upon the government to declare the incident as a national tragedy and to take serious measures to provide the necessary assistance to the victims.

Following the tragedy, there were allegations that the violence was premeditated and the police did not act swiftly enough to contain it. However, the authorities have denied these allegations.

"We o­nce again call upon Suhakam and the government to commence an urgent and immediate public inquiry or royal commission of inquiry into this tragedy with the view to establish the cause thereto take appropriate criminal action against the perpetrators.

"(Suhakam and the government should also) propose measures to avoid such a tragedy in the future and to establish and entrench the principle that Malaysia is a peaceful and civil society and is against crime and violence," said Uthayakumar, who is also a lawyer.

Empty promises

He also claimed the authorities did not pay the promised amount of compensation to victims of the incident.

"We are most upset and appalled by the fact that despite the numerous promises of aid, assistance, better living conditions, free housing etc. for the victims of Kampung Medan, very little has been forthcoming and the promises made remain empty promises.

"Almost all the victims, some of whom were severely injured, have not been compensated but in fact been misrepresented, misled and cheated by the authorities concerned," he said.

On April 17, 2001, o­ne of the victims, V Subramaniam, and others injured filed a RM50 million lawsuit against Suhakam for allegedly failing to launch a public inquiry into the tragedy.

They also claimed the commission had acted in bad faith when it failed to condemn the violence and to carry out its duties as well as its responsibility from the viewpoint of the Federal Constitution in defending human rights in Malaysia.

However, the Kuala Lumpur High Court o­n Feb 17 struck out the lawsuit following an application by Suhakam that the plaintiffs had no legal standing to sue the commission.

No right

In the 35-page affidavit filed by Suhakam last May, its secretary Kamaruddin Mohd Baria contended that the plaintiffs have no legal ground because the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999 did not give them the right to sue the commission.

He added that there were compelling reasons why the suit should be struck out, o­ne of it being Suhakam having full discretion o­n whether to hold an inquiry and the manner in which it is to be conducted.

The commission also maintained that its investigators had visited the site of the incident but ruled out an open inquiry due to racial sensitivities.

Besides Suhakam, the suit named former chairperson Musa Hitam, vice-chairperson Harun Hashim, commissioner Prof Mohd Hamdan Adnan and former commissioners Anuar Zainal Abidin and Prof Mehrun Siraj as defendants.

Contacted this afternoon, the plaintiffs' lawyer M Manoharan said an appeal had been filed.

"I filed an appeal o­n March 17 to the Court of Appeal seeking the grounds for the judge's decision," he said.

He added that the appeal was filed because it involved a human rights issue and is of public interest.