A social rights group and an opposition leader today welcomed Human Rights Commission of Malaysia's (Suhakam) call to replace the Internal Security Act with a new law which spells out the offences deemed to be threatening national security.

Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) said it was "very pleased" that Suhakam had made an all-encompassing proposal .

"It's a great step forward for human rights in the country. The recommendations were based o­n extensive research and were consistent with international human rights standard," said Suaram coordinator Eric Paulsen when contacted.

Acceptable today

He said Suhakam was right in suggesting that an anti-subversion law be enacted and subjected to rigorous requirements, adding that it also made the right comparison between the ISA and security laws passed in other countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

"There are strict provisions in those laws, unlike the ISA. We are not totally happy with them but they are at least acceptable today. ISA just goes against every human rights principle.

"Suaram hopes the government will adopt Suhakam's recommendations instead of reacting coldly to them as it did with previous reports and recommendations," he added.

Yesterday, Suhakam in a landmark review report o­n the ISA said the act should be repealed and replaced by a new security legislation which will strike a balance between the interests of human rights and national security.

Suhakam said the new law should include provisions such as a maximum detention period of o­nly 24 hours, application for a high court order to extend detention and the requirement to either release or charge a detainee at the end of a detention.

Fundamental objections

Meanwhile, DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang ( left ) said Suhakam, and in particular its law reform working group, deserved commendation for the "solid work entailed in its report".

"The report hit the nail o­n its head when it pinpointed two fundamental objections to the ISA, namely infringement of human rights principles and abuse of power which subjects citizens and non-citizens to arbitrary detention and inhuman or degrading treatment," he said in a statement.

He said the ISA review report is the "most authoritative and weighty review of the act".

However, Lim said the report had failed to call a spade a spade when it did not discuss how the ISA has curbed the healthy growth of a vibrant democracy by throttling dissents.

He added o­ne such instance was the infamous 1987 Operasi Lalang which witnessed the arrest of over 100 opposition politicians, trade unionists, educationists and activists including Lim himself.

"The failure to make any reference to Operasi Lalang highlights this major weakness of the Suhakam report," he said.

Lim stressed that the Cabinet should be open-minded and weigh Suhakam's recommendations seriously.

He said a consultation process involving a Cabinet committee, an all-party parliamentary working group and the public should begin immediately to discuss the recommendations to repeal the ISA and draft a new security law.

"This should lead to the publication of reports by the Cabinet committee and the parliamentary working group so that it is o­n the top agenda for debate when Parliament reconvenes in June," he said.