The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) will be handing in its first annual report for the year 2000 to the Speaker of the Parliament Tun Mohamed Zahir Ismail at 10.30am tomorrow.

Suhakam chairperson Musa Hitam will be accompanied by his fellow commissioners for the event, a Suhakam official told malaysiakini today adding that copies of the report would be made available to the public.

The report is written in English and encompasses the formation of Suhakam in April 2000 and its activities until the end of 2000. A Bahasa Malaysia version will be produced later.

Suhakam was created through the Human Rights Commission Act tabled in Parliament in 1999.

It consists of 13 commissioners who are Musa Hitam, Harun Hashim (deputy chairperson), Anuar Zainal Abidin, Mehrun Siraj, Zainah Anwar, Chiam Heng Keng, Mahadev Shankar, Hamdan Adnan, Simon Sipaun, Lee Lam Thye, K Pathmanaban, Mohammad Hirman Ritom Abdullah and Dr Salleh Mohd Nor.

The commission is divided into four working groups which include education, law reform, treaties and international instruments, and complaints and inquiries.

Suhakam was initially located within the compound of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Wisma Putra but relocated its office at the end of last year to its present headquarters in Menara Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur.

Under fire

The commission concluded an inquiry on March 27 into alleged police brutality during the Nov 5 100,000 People's Gathering at the Kesas highway in Klang. The inquiry was chaired by former Chief Justice of Malaya Anuar Zainal Abidin who is assisted by Simon Sipaun and Mehrun Siraj ([#1] Police smashed cars, inquiry told [/#], March 27).

Since its inception, the commission has come under fire several times from the government, non-governmental organisations, reform movements and politicians.

The government recently rapped Suhakam, claiming that it had 'overstepped its boundaries' when the commission released a statement condemning the arrests last week of seven Keadilan and reformasi leaders under the Internal Security Act.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Dr Rais Yatim told reporters last Saturday that Suhakam should not comment on the arrests and that the commission had failed to understand the process of the law and was partial towards reformasi groups.

However, in a Jan 19 article in [#2] Umno Online [/#] - Umno's official website - Rais had called for ways to empower Suhakam, lamenting particularly the difficulty the commission faced in calling police witnesses ([#3] Musa to meet Rais on ways to empower Suhakam [/#], 7 Feb).

Yesterday, commission chairperson Musa Hitam, responding to Rais' criticisms, said that Suhakam had taken into consideration all legal aspects when commenting on the ISA arrests, was impartial and that he would soon call upon Rais to seek further explanation on the former's comments.