A report on the use and impact of the Internal Security Act (ISA) sees no prospects for abolition of the national security legislation in the immediate future.

The report examines the ISA in light of international obligations and makes several recommendations toward justice for detainees.

It is the outcome of a year-long study conducted by the Joseph R Crowley Program in International Human Rights at Fordham School in New York.

It has been published as a 121-page book, 'Unjust Order: Malaysia's Internal Security Act'. The report was written by Nicole Fritz, who is a fellow of the programme, and Prof Martin Flaherty who led the study.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Param Cumaraswamy launched the book in Petaling Jaya today, at a ceremony organised by human rights group Suaram.

Present were five of the ISA detainees who were recently released and their family members, as well as diplomats and activists.

The co-authors said they could foresee increased use of the ISA after Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad leaves office in October, attributing this to "anticipated chaos in the post-Mahathir era".

They also described a possible scenario of PM-in-waiting Abdullah Ahmad Badawi - also currently Home Minister (in charge of the ISA) - actually initiating legal reform as being "sadly unlikely".

"If anything, a post-Mahathir era may compel the government to rely even more on the ISA, in an attempt to quell the tumult that may follow the departure of this charismatic leader," they said..

"(Mahathir is) popularly perceived as having almost single-handedly engineered Malaysia's impressive growth and secured relative peace and security."

Mission to Malaysia

The co-authors had led a fact-finding delegation to Malaysia last June. The group included South African judge Azhar Cachalia, a human rights lawyer and six second-year law students.

During the visit, the delegation conducted about 100 ISA-related interviews but none of these were with government officials, who did not respond despite repeated requests.

It found substantial evidence pointing to "pervasive state-driven or sponsored violations" of the rights of ISA detainees, including arbitrary arrest and detention, failure to provide adequate access to legal counsel and intolerable detention conditions.

The report noted the absence of "a genuine, deeply-rooted and wide-ranging" human rights culture in Malaysia, citing this as a factor that would limit the possibility of any immediate reform.

"It is Malaysian civil society - committed non-governmental organisations and other civic associations - that serve as the most genuine inculcators of a human rights culture and promise the best hope for change," the co-authors said in their report.

However, Fritz and Flaherty also found that scarce resources, restrictive laws, personal risks and a generally unsympathetic mainstream press often resulted in NGOs adopting an ad-hoc and short-term focus on the issues.

Recommendations in report

The report said the government must be made to present its information in court, so that there can be judicial review as to whether a security threat is involved.

This process can be held in camera in cases where the information, if made public, may be prejudicial to the national interest.

In addition, it suggested that government officials refrain from publicly speaking against the judiciary.

"The government should not only desist from actively compromising the independence of the judiciary, but also take greater steps to ensure its independence, as mandated under domestic and international law," the report said.

It further recommended that education be directed at the police, particularly the Special Branch, to avoid treatment that is cruel, inhuman and degrading, or which constitutes torture.

The report called for the repeal of laws regulating the composition and procedure of the ISA Advisory Board, recommending instead that members be drawn from the Federal Court, Court of Appeal or High Court.

"The findings (by the board) on representations (by detainees) shall be made public and be binding on both the Yang di Pertuan Agong and the Home Minister," it added.