Human Rights Watch yesterday accused Malaysia of hypocrisy for calling for the closure of the US Guantanamo jail while holding scores of detainees without trial.
The international rights watchdog called on Malaysia to either charge or release those held under the country's tough Internal Security Act, including alleged mem-bers of the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
"The Malaysian government must charge or release these detainees," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in February urged the US to hut down its prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying it was regarded as a torture center.
"Abdullah has urged the US to close Guantanamo, yet his own government is holding detainees indefinitely without charge or trial," Adams said.
Human Rights Watch has previously alleged that the security act is a "recipe for abuse" and that detainees have been been beaten, humiliated and treated as "less than human" by guards.
Malaysia holds over 100 people under the legislation, with the majority accused of belonging to militant groups including JI, which is blamed for a string of deadly bomb attacks in Indonesia.
Homegrown rights groups have also urged the government to scrap the act, which allows for two-year detention periods that can be renewed indefinitely.
The government maintains that detention without trial is needed as a first line of defense against terrorism.
Human Rights Watch said that many of the detainees have now been held for more than four years without trial or any judicial review of their cases.
Meanwhile, several local rights groups yesterday accused the government of ignoring tens of thousands of refugees living in the country, denying them basic human rights and legal protections.
As one of the region's most industrialized and stable nations, Malaysia has at least 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers who fled violence or persecution from places like Indonesia's Aceh Province, the southern Philippines and Myanmar.
"However, they are perceived with ill regard and denied their fundamental rights to shelter, health care and education as a result of their indefinite status," local leading human rights groups said in a joint statement to mark the UN World Refugee Day.
"The invisibility of refugees in this country needs to be addressed," the groups said.
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