The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) and the Bar Council should investigate and declare their stand on the deportation of permanent residents, a lawyer said today.

Unlike the Internal Security Act (ISA) and other repressive laws, the deportation of permanent residents has generally been overlooked and continues unchecked despite the violation of human rights and the breakdown of families, he said.

Charles Hector ( photo ), who is representing the family of recently deported Indonesian permanent resident Abdul Mutalib Taib, also said Suhakam and the Bar Council should not wait for the case to be settled by the courts but provide guidance as to the way forward.

"It's always been there, but nobody really looked at it," he said when met in Kuala Lumpur today.

"Suhakam and the Bar Council should provide the legal material and points on this. Their people should be doing their own research on it and come out with a clear statement," he added.

Abdul Mutalib was arrested on March 23 while applying for his eldest son's identity card at the National Registration Department (NRD) in Sepang.

After a month's detention at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport immigration depot, the father of four was shown several orders, declarations and notices pertaining to being an 'undesired immigrant' and the revocation of his entry permit.

Notice never issued?

The NRD and immigration authorities have also alleged that his deportation involved offences committed under the ISA, for which he was detained from mid-1995 to early 1998.

The authorities have yet to furnish the reasons for his ISA detention, but allege that his PR was revoked in 1996.

Hector maintains, however, that neither Abdul Mutalib nor his family members or associates have seen the revocation notice nor the grounds for the revocation, and doubt that they were ever issued.

His MyKad was given to him as recent as March 2004 while his older identification card was issued four years earlier.

Last Sunday, his wife Romita Hasibuan learnt that Abdul Mutalib, who has been in Malaysia since 1978, had been deported to Medan two days earlier - just after she had spoken to him on the phone.

Hector explained further that the orders for his deportation, issued on April 22 this year were made in reference to the cancellation of his entry permit and not on the revocation of his IC.

"Before that, he was legal and was staying here legally."

Minister's discretion questioned

Decrying the discretion of the Home Minister to issue deportation orders of permanent residents purportedly on the basis of a revoked permit entry, Hector called on the relevant agencies to question those powers.

"If you look at the ISA detention, it was also not generally discussed at one time and had not been investigated by many people. Now, there are many opinions on it," he said.

"Revoked PR status is an area that is alien territory to most people. They are completely at a loss in this area and it has never been analysed before," he added.

He called on Suhakam and the bar to lend their voice to public support for the family's struggle to be reunited

"We are appealing to get more support from people on this case. We have already recieved 1,300 endorsements of public support. We are trying to exhaust every avenue of appeal."