An opposition party today trained its guns on Suhakam as conflicting statements emerged from the country's human rights watchdog on the lifting of the ban on public rallies.

DAP has set its sights particularly on Suhakam deputy chairperson Harun Hashim for justifying the opposition to the lifting of the 25-year ban on public rallies, announced two weeks ago by Election Commission chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman.

"Harun has done democracy and human rights a grave disservice...," lamented DAP leader Lim Kit Siang today at a press conference in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

"It is simply outrageous that the deputy Suhakam chairperson should violate the Suhakam charter to lead the pack to question and oppose the lifting of the 25-year ban on public rallies using the most spurious of grounds," he said.

Lim accused Harun for fraudulently arguing that public rallies were the cause of the May 13, 1969 racial riots.

On Saturday, Harun was quoted by Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia as saying: "Even in 1969 (when public rallies were allowed), there were killings. We don't want history to repeat itself."

Rallies allowed after 1969

Lim said that the opposition will lodge a formal protest with Suhakam tomorrow against Harun for distorting history by putting the blame for the May 13 riots on public rallies.

According to him, if that was the case, public rallies would have been banned immediately after 1969. However, Lim said public rallies were allowed for the next seven years including during the 1974 general election.

"When public rallies were 'temporarily' banned in July 1978 by the police, it was not because they posed a security threat to the country, but because of the impending 30th anniversary of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) armed struggle, with the police expecting intensification of urban guerrilla attacks following a spate of assassination of former Special Branch Chinese officers, preceded by the assassination of the Inspector-General of Police, Abdul Rahman Hashim in Kuala Lumpur," said the veteran politician.

"But the 30th CPM armed struggle anniversary came and went without any incident, though the 'temporary' ban on public rallies went on for 25 years, even after the peace accords reached by the CPM and the government in Haadyai in December 1989," he added.

The DAP leader, who became parliamentary opposition leader in 1975, also took two Malay dailies - Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia - to task for carrying editorials falsely claiming that public rallies had been banned since the 1969 riots.

Contradictory stands

However in contrast to Harun, another Suhakam commissioner Hamdan Mohd Adnan ( photo ) has issued a statement in support of mass election rallies as they are part and parcel of the democratic electoral process.

The conflicting remarks between the two rights commissioners drew a further rebuke from DAP.

"Suhakam should end its wishy-washy stand and resolve the two conflicting statements ... with a clear-cut position which is fully in keeping with its statutory objective to protect and promote human rights," complained Lim.

The EC's announcement on the lifting of the ban on public rallies elicited mixed reactions from both sides of the political fence.

Politicians from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, especially those from Umno , have expressed their disapproval to such rallies, citing security concerns.

Meanwhile, opposition parties welcomed the lifting of the ban but are skeptical that the police - which is empowered to issue permits for the rallies - would be even-handed in their decision.

According to Lim, the security factor should not be used to stymie open-air rallies.

"It must be stressed that every responsible person and political party wants public rallies to be trouble-free, as no one wants any public rally to degenerate into disturbances and chaos. This was testified by the smooth conduct of open-air public rallies in the 19 years when they were allowed in the country, including four general elections," said Lim.