Malaysia's new Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was urged Thursday to prove his commitment to human rights by allowing an activist facing a jail sentence to travel abroad.

The US-based Human Rights Watch said the case of Irene Fernandez, convicted last month of "maliciously publishing false news", was a test for the new premier, who took over from Dr Mahathir Mohamad last Friday.

Although the prosecution of Fernandez began under Mahathir's administration "her case is a test of how Abdullah's government will address free expression," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

"Mahathir's government harassed and sometimes jailed its critics, and restricted civil society groups and the media."

Fernandez's one-year jail sentence has been stayed pending an appeal, but a court has rejected her application for a passport to attend a human rights conference in the United States and a meeting on HIV/Aids in Canada.

The 57-year-old veteran campaigner was ordered jailed for issuing what Human Rights Watch called "a groundbreaking 1995 report that documented beatings, sexual abuse and inadequate food in detention camps for migrant workers."

Although Fernandez had been allowed to travel during the seven years it took to complete the trial, her latest application for a passport had been denied on the grounds that she would likely "tarnish the image of the country" if allowed to speak abroad, the statement said.

'Live up to rhetoric'

Pointing out that Abdullah had expressed a commitment to democracy in his first parliamentary address on Monday, Brad Adams, executive director of the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch, called on him to "live up to his rhetoric".

"He can signal the beginning of a new era of openness in Malaysia, or just continue with Mahathir's policies. Malaysia's image will be tarnished if Irene Fernandez is forced to stay at home."

The conference in Canada is being held by the International Council of Aids Service Organizations, of which Fernandez is a board member.

The meeting in the US is co-sponsored by the Carter Center, founded by former US President Jimmy Carter, and the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Malaysian government had come under heavy pressure to acquit Fernandez, whose Tenaganita organisation works to protect women and foreign workers. - AFP