Rights watchdog Suaram's annual report on human rights will be, for the first time, presented to the cabinet for discussion on Wednesday.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz today said he would raised the matter at the cabinet's weekly meeting for it to plan its next course of action.

He added that it would be "meaningless" for the government to ignore the report.

"We should engage everybody who has got interest in matters which are of concern to the country. I will certainly mention this (report) to the cabinet on Wednesday," said the minister, who oversees parliamentary affairs.

Nazri was speaking to reporters after jointly launching the 242-page Suaram report on the state of human rights in 2003 at the Parliament's lobby.

The minister said the cabinet will determine whether to raise the issues contained in the report in Parliament and on the corrective actions to be taken.

He added that a proposal to establish a special parliamentary select committee to deal with human rights will also be studied further.

Nazri later quipped that the Suaram report, which is adorned with a blue cover, gave the impression that Barisan Nasional leaders were violating human rights.

This is the first time that Suaram has managed to present its annual report on the country's civil and political rights to a government minister. The organisation has been compiling an annual human rights report since 1997.

The report's executive summary was released last December in conjunction with the World Human Rights Day.

ISA defended

Nazri also commended Suaram's commitment and efforts towards human rights and vowed that the organisation will not be persecuted for its work.

"Nobody wants to do this job but it needs to be done. This present administration allows space for all to do their work," he said.

Despite stressing that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's government was more accommodating on human rights , Nazri however defended the use of the Internal Security Act (ISA), which was criticised in the Suaram report.

"I am not going to be apologetic for the ISA. The Act has served us well. We have to act before the big fire. What we should be concerned about is not the Act, but the abuse of the Act," he said.

The minister proposed to have an open forum with the opposition to discuss the ISA, which allows for detention without trial.

Also present at the launch were Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department M Kayveas, parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang and Suaram executive director Cynthia Gabriel.

Positive indication

Lim said the presence of two government ministers provided a positive indication for what he termed as the "process of trying to mainstream human rights".

He also reiterated the need for a select committee on human rights.

The opposition leader said the human rights condition in Malaysia would come into international focus, especially following the case of human rights lawyer P Uthayakumar.

"I had raised the case of Uthayakumar with Abdullah on May 11 and he undertook to refer the case to the inspector-general of police, and it is most regrettable that the case took a turn for the worse so swiftly," he said.

The lawyer left the country two weeks ago after he was allegedly assaulted and threatened at gunpoint last month. He believes that the police were behind the attack.

"The Police Royal Commission of Inquiry should address and resolve urgently and satisfactorily for the good name of the country, the reputation of the police as well as the safety and security of Uthayakumar."

On a different matter, Lim, who is also DAP chairperson, said his party will hold a dialogue with the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), whose annual report will not be debated in Parliament.

Dreadful abuses

Meanwhile, Suaram's Gabriel expressed hope that this would be the beginning of a "strengthened and protracted engagement" between human rights advocates and parliamentarians.

She said the compilation of human rights cases in the report could serve as a basic reference for parliamentarians in future debates in the House.

"This report is not for leisure reading. It documents the dreadful human rights abuses in Malaysia and bears witness to the enduring struggle by many for change, justice, accountability, and above all for our freedoms," she added.