Ten years into its existence, the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) is confident it can create history by seeing its annual report debated in Parliament for the first time.

NONE "I'm confident they will discuss it this time," chairperson Hasmy Agam told Malaysiakini after a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

He revealed that he had met with Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, who is now trying to allocate a slot for debate during the next sitting of Parliament.

"The response (from Nazri) was positive," said Hasmy.

"The law requires us to submit our annual report in (time for the) first sitting. Although we hope the report will be discussed (during) the first sitting, any subsequent sitting will also be fine."

The last sitting ended on April 7 and the next will convene in June.

Suhakam, established under the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia Act 1999, has been submitting its annual human rights report to Parliament since 2002. The 2010 report was submitted on March 21.

However, the government has refused to table the report for debate despite the urging of Suhakam itself and civil society groups.

The annual report tracks progress towards human rights protection on a series of fronts, as well as recommendations to overcome violation of rights.

Some quarters have criticised Suhakam and dubbed it a ‘toothless tiger’ for not doing enough to pressure the government into having the report debated or adopting its recommendations.

Hasmy responded to the negative perception at the press conference, stressing that Suhakam is not the only stakeholder in the matter.

He said NGOs and the media also play an important role in pushing the government to listen to Suhakam's recommendations.

Hasmy pledged that the commissioners will do their best to press on to ensure the recommendations are adopted by the authorities.