The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) will soon be visiting police remand centres (PRC) to investigate claims that Internal Security Act detainees are being abused.

Contacted today, Suhakam commissioner Hamdan Adnan said his officers from his Complaints and Investigation Sub-Committee had already written to the police seeking their cooperation to arrange the visits.

"Under the Suhakam Act, we have the mandate to visit the PRCs as they are considered places of detention. It shouldn't be a problem as the law provides for it.

"The allegations need to be investigated and we have to find out if the PRCs conform to international human rights standards," Hamdan said.

The move was prompted by several allegations made by human rights groups and detainees that the most serious cases of police abuse occurred during periods spent in the PRCs during the initial 60-day detention period of the ISA.

Visit by minister

In an attempt to stymy criticisms by international human rights groups in comparing the treatment of ISA detainees to that of Abu Ghraib prisoners in Iraq, Deputy Internal Security Minister Noh Omar paid a visit to the Kamunting Detention Centre in Taiping, Perak last Saturday.

Noh declared that his visit had shown that no abuse had taken place at Kamunting but he would look into the alleged abuses of detainees during their detention period in the PRCs.

Hamdan also hoped that the findings of the forthcoming Suhakam visits to the PRCs would be made public.

Asked if Suhakam would initiate an inquiry into the ISA itself, he said the commission would hopefully conduct one but the prospects remain uncertain.

"So far we have published reports on a review of the ISA and the conditions of detention in Kamunting and our visit to the PRCs would also provide another aspect of the ISA," Hamdan said.

When contacted, Anti-ISA Movement (AIM) spokesperson Yap Swee Seng lauded the move by Hamdan to visit the PRCs.

"No one knows what the detention cells look like and it is important that Suhakam looks into the matter. According to many of the former detainees, these cells have no proper lighting, ventilation and bedding and their toilets are dirty.

"They should be open to scrutiny by bodies like Suhakam as to whether they measure up to the required standards or not," Yap said.