True to his style, former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad did not mince his words when he slammed the United States, United Kingdom as well as local non-governmental organisations and media agencies at a human rights conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Following a verbal tirade on the double-standards of the superpower and its strongest ally, Mahathir turned his focus on local NGOs and the media, branding them 'gullible'.

He accused human rights defenders around the world and locals of buying-in to Western propaganda on Malaysia's human rights situation while failing to hold larger nations, such as the US and UK, accountable for their shortcomings.

"These are the countries and the people who claim that Malaysian courts are manipulated by the government (and) that abuses of rights are rampant in Malaysia. And, Malaysian NGOs, media and others lap it up," he told the 300-odd audience at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) conference.

He cited examples of human rights abuses and acts of torture of war prisoners in the Guantanamo Bay and Abu Gharib prisons.

"When forced by world opinion to take action against those responsible for these reprehensible acts, the culprits were either found guilty or given light sentences. They were tried by their own courts under their own laws. Their victims were not represented.

"The countries where the crimes were committed were denied jurisdiction. Altogether the whole process was so much eye-wash," he said.

The former premier ended his speech , which led several western diplomats to stage a walkout earlier, by saying that Malaysians were still mentally colonised.

'We didn't leave them to drown'

At a press conference later on, Mahathir compared the West's practices of rights to local practises when talking about the Bakun Dam project in Sarawak, which displaced indigenous communities.

Local rights organisations have for years slammed the mega-hydro-dam project, expected to produce some 2,400 megawatts of energy when completed, as it displaced some 10,000 indigenous people.

"The NGOs always oppose everything. For Bakun, the energy produced will avoid Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) prices from going up so high. A huge number of people will benefit from Bakun," he said.

Mahathir, who is now the adviser for national corporations Proton and Petronas, was not to be budged on reconsidering whether the project was detrimental to the rights - on land and livelihood - of those displaced.

"We paid them compensation. There was no way for the project without moving them out. At least we didn't leave them to drown, like some others have," he noted.

Using his long-trusted argument, he said that when fighting for human rights, weighing the benefits for the community is more important than that of individual rights.

Malaysians, he claimed, were happy with the situation in the country.

Human rights activists and civil societies had also boycotted the event because of Mahathir's presence. Some intentionally turned up only after his speech.