The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) will send a reminder to the police to reiterate their intention to meet the Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees nabbed over the past two weeks, said commissioner Anuar Zainal Abidin today.

Police failed to respond to Suhakam's earlier letter on April 13 which urged for access to the detainees as soon as possible. This prompted Anuar to complain last Friday that the police were taking too long to respond to Suhakam's 'request' ([#1] Slow police response to ISA visit irks Suhakam [/#], April 20).

"We are going to remind them. The letter is not to request, but to tell them that we are coming," he stressed.

According to Anuar, section 4(2)(D) of the Suhakam Act states that it is empowered to "visit places of detention in accordance with procedures as prescribed by the laws relating to the places of detention and to make necessary recommendations".

He said that Suhakam wanted to know how the ISA detainees were treated and what the reasons for their detention were.

The commission will also try to persuade the police to allow the detainees to meet their families.

"It is important for the families (of the detainees) to see them," he said.

Anuar said that at the very least, Suhakam needs to know where the ISA detainees are being held.

No date has been proposed for the visit, but Anuar gave his assurance that it will be as soon as possible.

Ninth arrest

Following the initial arrests, Suhakam had called for the immediate release of the detainees, incurring criticism from the government, including the prime minister who rebuked the commission and told them that "they are not responsible for the security of this country" ([#2] Rights commission calls for immediate release of detainees [/#], April 11).

Early this morning, Keadilan Lokman Noor Adam was arrested under the ISA in Shah Alam, Selangor, bringing the total number of reformasi activists detained over the past two weeks to nine.

The others are Keadilan vice-president Chua Tian Chang, supreme council member Dr Badrul Amin Baharom, party Youth leaders Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor, N Gobalakrishnan, Abdul Ghani Haroon and Saari Sungib, Free Anwar Campaign (Freeanwar.com) webmaster Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin and social activist-cum- malaysiakini columnist Hishamuddin Rais.

According to a witness who was with Lokman early the morning, the plainclothes police officers did not identify themselves when the arrest was made.

"They only said: 'Lokman follow us'," the witness told Suhakam.

At about noon today, the public relations officer of the federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman, Asst Supt Zakaria Pagan confirmed that Lokman is held under Section 73 (1) of the Act, which allows for his detention for 60 days.

Lokman's wife, Noor Farahin Ahmad, 27, told Suhakam that she was informed by her husband's friend about the arrest at 3am today and that police only confirmed it to her at 1pm when she went to Bukit Aman police headquarters with families of the other ISA detainees.

"I hope I will be able to see my husband immediately and find out about his condition," she told Anuar when asked what she requested from Suhakam.

She said that her husband had been arrested under the ISA before in 1998 at the height of reformasi protests and detained in Bukit Aman for 59 days.

"I managed to see him on the 29th day," she said.

UN rapporteur

Meanwhile, Keadilan supreme council member Irene Fernandez said her party will invite the United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson to send a special rapporteur of arbitrary detention to investigate the arrest of people under the ISA.

PAS Youth chief Mahfuz Omar, who also accompanied Noor Farahin to Suhakam's office, said the opposition Barisan Alternatif coalition is urging the human rights commission to set up a public inquiry to look into detention under the ISA.

He said there is no security reason for the government to detain the people under the ISA and claimed that the government is abusing the controversial security law to take action against the opposition.