The "draconian" conditions set by the Malaysian government on former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim's treatment of his back ailment has led to a serious violation of his basic human rights, stated a memorandum sent to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) today.

The memorandum, signed by Anwar's legal counsel Sankara Nair and Anwar's wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, was handed to Suhakam staff at 4pm today at its headquarters in Menara Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur.

"It is not that Anwar is denied treatment in Malaysia and hence his basic human rights are breached but it is the manner in which the government has been going about dealing with his preferred treatment.

"It is the unfair imposition of draconian conditions that made it absolutely impossible for Anwar to comply with, that has led to a breach of his natural and basic right to the treatment of his choice in Malaysia," the memorandum stated.

Anwar is seeking to have his endoscopic surgery at Alpha Klinik, Dr Thomas Hoogland's practice in Munich, Germany, but the government has stated that the surgery must be done locally.

Last March, the spinal surgeon on the invitation of Anwar's family came to inspect the facilities available locally. He found Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) to be "well equipped except for an appropriate operation table and X-ray equipment" and that "the anesthesiologists do not have experience with spinal procedures under local and intravenous anesthesia".

This later evoked a backlash from (HKL) director Dr Abdul Razak Kechik and Health Minister Chua Jui Meng with the latter questioning Hoogland's professional qualifications and expertise.

Wan Azizah later refuted Chua's remarks by stating that Hoogland had in fact published some 27 publications. The government has yet to disprove her claim.

"The public discussion of Dr Hoogland by the HKL's director in the press and the unjust comments made by Chua have now conclusively added further breach of Anwar's right to the treatment of his choice, wherein it has seriously affected Dr Hoogland's decision, to not wanting to perform the surgery here," the memorandum added.

Slipped disc

Anwar is suffering from slipped disc in his spine which was attributed to a fall during a horse-riding session in the mid-1990s.

He claims it was further aggravated by former Inspector-General of police Rahim Noor's assault on him during his detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 1998. Rahim is now serving a two-month jail sentence for the offence.

When asked by reporters what could be achieved by sending the memorandum to the year-old commission, Sankara said he hoped that Suhakam would investigate the matter.

"We have asked them to expedite investigations and have them make a declaration whether or not we have a case.

"Their job is (to do with) human rights and they will investigate whatever evidence we give them and come to a finding whether Anwar's right has been abused or not. That would lend weight to our argument," he said.

Asked to comment if Suhakam's capability could be limited as Anwar's medical condition had become a political matter, Sankara said he had no comment.

Legal action

Anwar is considering legal action against the government for slandering him through the charges of four counts of sodomy and one count of corruption that had been made against him, Sankara later told reporters.

"The charges were splashed in the papers and because of this he has been slandered and libeled against. Now they say 'We are not going to proceed' after all the damage," he said.

Last Saturday, the Attorney-General's chambers dropped all charges against him without giving any reasons.

Anwar has always maintained that the charges leveled at him were a result of a government conspiracy, a charge denied by the government.