The Bar Council Legal Aid Centre today appealed to the police to extend cooperation to the families of the 45 reformasi supporters arrested in the city last Saturday at the "Black 14" event.

In a letter addressed to the public relations superintendent of Bukit Aman police headquarters, Benjamin Haji Hasbie, the centre urged the police to reveal information such as the police station in which those detained were held, as well as the name of the police investigating officer (IO).

"The families only want minimum information and do not intend to interfere with the police investigations," one of the lawyers of the centre, Saa'diah Din, said when contacted by malaysiakini this evening.

She added that it was important for the families and lawyers of those detained to know where the detainees were and the relevant IO's that should be contacted in case of emergencies.

"The families should not be kept in the dark as most of them lived outstation and could not afford to go to all the police stations in the city to look for the detainees," added Saa'diah, who is also one of the lawyers assigned to represent some of the detainees.

Meanwhile, attempts to reach Benjamin were unsuccessful. A staff in his office told malaysiakini that he was outstation and had not seen the letter yet.

In a related development, an international human rights organisation today demanded action to secure the release of those arrested in connection with the protest.

London-based "Article 19", an organisation named after Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has called for an independent inquiry into the conduct of public officials in connection with the demonstration, as well as reform of the law in Malaysia.

"We are seriously concerned for the safety of those detained, given the reports of assaults by police on demonstrators and detainees. It is also urgent that the authorities allow those in custody access to their lawyers, families and medical treatment," its executive director Andrew Puddephatt said in a letter addressed to deputy prime minister and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, as well as Human Rights Commission chairman Musa Hitam yesterday.

Article 19 was founded in 1986 to campaign for the promotion and protection of freedom of expression.