The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) has urged the government to make public the number of alleged victims of enforced disappearances in the country.

Suhakam secretary Cheah Swee Neo, representing the commission’s chairperson Razali Ismail, said this at a regional conference on victims of enforced disappearances in Kuala Lumpur today.

“Disclose the number of alleged cases or complaints of enforced disappearances in Malaysia as currently, there is no official statistics or data available.

“And conduct an independent investigation on all enforced disappearance cases reported and bring the perpetrator to justice.

“Rule of law must prevail and there is no place for a culture of impunity in Malaysia,” Razali’s speech read.

Read more: 'New M' sia ' urged to set example by solving enforced disappearances

Suhakam also called upon the Pakatan Harapan government to accede and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED), which had been adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2006.

“This is crucial as there is no law or regulation in Malaysia which governs the act of enforced disappearances perpetrated or done with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of the state.

“As such, families of victims of enforced disappearance are left with no effective remedy under the present laws."

Suhakam is presently holding public inquiries into the disappearances of pastor Raymond Koh and social activist Amri Che Mat. It will also be holding similar inquiries soon for another missing pastor, Joshua Hilmy, and his wife Ruth.

The purpose of these inquiries is to determine if all four were victims of enforced disappearances.

Enforced disappearance is defined as the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the state or by persons, or groups of persons acting with the authorisation, support or acquiescence of the state.

On Feb 13 last year, Koh was abducted from his vehicle in Kelana Jaya in broad daylight by a group of men in a what appeared to be a professionally executed operation.

Koh’s wife Susanna Liew previously said that the police had failed to update the family on their investigations into the case, despite a change of government after the May 9 general election.

Amri was taken just months earlier, on Nov 24, 2016. An eyewitness previously told Suhakam that he had seen a car surrounded by three four-wheel drive vehicles at the scene on the night the activist disappeared.

Joshua and Ruth Hilmy have been missing since Nov 30, 2016. Little is known about this case.

Today’s conference was organised by NGO Citizens Against Enforced Disappearances (Caged) and was attended by Koh and Amri’s family members, as well as groups protesting enforced disappearances in South Korea, Laos, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Philippines.