The Universiti Malaya students council have filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) claiming that their rights have been violated by university authorities in gearing up for the coming campus elections.

In a memorandum to Suhakam on Aug 30, the council claimed that first-year students were forced to attend a series of programmes organised by the student affairs department during lecture time.

"The off-campus programme called Independence and Patriotism Training Camp was clearly found to be a election campaign exercise for the elections while principals from various residence colleges have threatened and forced expulsion on students to gain support for the department's candidates, " read the memo.

The council also accused the university administration of not being impartial and having a hand in the nomination and election process.

"The administration has directly instructed various committees to assist certain groups for the elections, exploiting and misusing these bodies when it should be running activities which are beneficial for the student population and not instigating us," said the council in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by malaysiakini .

Fair elections

In view of this, the students called on Suhakam to intervene and ensure that the elections are carried out in a fair manner.

"We want Suhakam to send a commissioner or official to be part of the election watch unit, to release a statement on the existing irregularities and to meet with the student affairs department seeking clarification to these accusations and ensuring the spirit of fairness is upheld," they said.

They also want an election guideline drawn up which is consistent with human rights values and true democratic practices.

"This election is a political education process for students and it should be respected as well as run free from outside influences allowing us to vote in true leaders with values, charisma and credibility," they added.

Students from other local universities have also complained of problems leading up to the elections.

Most recently two student representatives of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) were allegedly assaulted and branded communists by officials.

Campus elections are normally seen as a battle between 'pro-government' candidates and 'anti-establishment' candidates.