The government has used the war on terrorism as an excuse for cracking down on human rights, the country's top independent rights group said today.

The charge was made by Suaram in its annual report.

"Malaysia in the year 2002 saw the executive usurp even more powers for itself by using the fallout from Sept 11 as a convenient excuse for denying basic human rights under the guise of conducting the 'war against terrorism'," the report said.

Indefinite detention

Malaysia has detained scores of alleged Islamic militants suspected of links to regional terrorist groups since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

They are being held under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows indefinite detention without trial, and no evidence has been presented against them.

Suaram said that "repressive laws were continuously invoked by the executive against attempts to assert our basic human rights and the rule of law."

Similar accusations against the government of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad were made recently by the London-based rights group Amnesty International.

Earlier today, Suaram presented copies of the report to the Malaysian Human Rights Commission. - AFP