US human rights report: Serious problems remain in Malaysia

comments     YS Tong     Published     Updated

The government "generally respected the human rights of its citizens" though "some serious problems remained" throughout 2002, according to a latest report by the US Department of State.

Among these problems were the killing of suspects by police, the torture and abuse of detainees, and the continued use of the Internal Security Act (ISA) to arrest people without trial, the report said.

It said the appointment of Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah as Chief Justice from December 2000 to last month "appeared to have led to some improvements".

But many observers remained doubtful about the independence and impartiality of the judiciary, especially in high-profile cases, it added.

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