It was a Merdeka Day celebration with a difference - this one observed by the wives of those being detained by the government for being a threat to the nation.

Sixteen wives of Internal Security Act detainees, on the 47th anniversary of the nation's independence, jointly pledged to continue their campaign to free their husbands from detention without trial.

"We will struggle to free ourselves from the siege mentality, and we strongly believe that ISA is draconian and those detained were innocent," said Wan Hamidah Wan Hamid, wife of Mohd Sha Sarijan, who is detained for being an alleged member of the Jemaah Islamiah terror group.

She added that the true spirit of Merdeka was to tell the truth.

"We will also work hard together to uphold the rights of the detainees and their families."

Wan Hamidah and the other ISA detainees' wives, who hailed from Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Sabah, made a 10-point declaration at an ISA family gathering organised the Abolish ISA Movement (AIM) in Kuala Lumpur today.

According to AIM, the gathering - the third of its kind - was to give legal and moral support to the families of ISA detainees. The declaration was witnessed by AIM chairperson Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh and former ISA detainee Saari Sungib.

Human rights lawyer Edmund Bon, who spoke at the function, urged the families to give full support to AIM.

"To repeal ISA is a long-term struggle. I really hope the families of ISA detainees can help themselves and give support to AIM. Otherwise, nobody will be able to help you," said Bon, who have represented many ISA detainees in court.

He reassured those who are reluctant to obtain legal advice because of financial constraint that such help is given 'free'.

"In cases which involved public interest, normally my team would not charge any legal fees," he explained.

"We only ask for reimbursement from AIM, for example, in the cost for photocopying documents and petrol."

Physical tortures

Meanwhile, four ISA detainees from Sabah have asked Suhakam to investigate allegations of mental and physical tortures during their detention.

The request was made through a memorandum presented yesterday by AIM secretary Yap Swee Seng to Suhakam commissioner Asiah Abu Samah.

Accompany Yap were the detainees' wives - Hapipah Manji, wife of Abdul Razak Abdul Hamid, Junaidah Biansing, wife of Azman Hashim, Rosmini Anwar, wife of Sulaiman Suramin and Kontesa Ahadi, wife of Mohidin Shaari.

"The detainees were put in solitary confinement for three months after they were transferred to Kamunting detention camp," said Yap.

"Together with the first 60 days of detention, they would have undergone almost five months of solitary confinement."

The memorandum said that such solitary confinement of the detainees was inhumane and a serious mental torture.

"AIM is especially appalled that the detainees were also allegedly physically beaten, kicked and striped naked," it added.

The ISA, which was originally enacted to combat the communist insurgency, has since been used against alleged terrorists as well as opposition leaders and other dissidents.

Detainees are held for a period of two years without trial on the orders of the internal security minister, and this could be extended indefinitely.