The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) has received 531 complaints of alleged human rights violations between January and this month.

Suhakam commissioner Hamdan Adnan said the commission has settled 104 cases, while 269 cases are pending action.

"We have closed 158 cases or classified them as 'No Further Action' (NFA)- cases that have no connection with human rights," he said in a statement today.

He added that Suhakam will refer the NFA cases to the agencies concerned.

He said Sabah topped the list in terms of the number of complaints received, noting that this also showed a high level of human rights awareness among Sabahans.

Most of the complaints in Sabah and Sarawak were related to land matters, while the majority of cases in Peninsular Malaysia concern alleged human rights violations by enforcement agencies.

Hamdan said that, up to early this month, Suhakam had also received three complaints against the police in the peninsula.

"The complaints were about alleged abuse of power, violence and absence of action (over a report)," he said.

The commissioner said Suhakam would continue working with the authorities, especially enforcement agencies, to resolve the complaints.

"Suhakam will continue to put in more effort to promote and defend human rights, so that Malaysians will not be silent when their rights are violated," he added.