PUTRAJAYA: Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail today wants Human Rights Watch to provide evidence of child abuse in detention centres.
The minister was commenting on a report by the international rights group that alleged that children in Malaysian detention centres faced abuse, including denial of medical treatment and inadequate food.
At a press conference today, Saifuddin also invited the organisation to discuss the issue personally.
"I want to invite them and I want them to provide a report to me. If they agree, I will personally meet them.
"I also urge them to provide me the evidence related to the abuse and death claims in the report," he said today.
Saifuddin added that following the report, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) had also summoned Immigration director-general Datuk Ruslin Jusoh as well as HRW for a discussion, yesterday.
On Wednesday, HRW said in a report that 1,467 children were confined in 20 immigration detention centres nationwide as of last September.
The organisation also said two-thirds of the detained children were unaccompanied or separated from their families and sometimes sent back to their home countries alone.
Saifuddin questioned the credibility of the sources cited by the non-governmental organisation, insisting that he was fully aware of the situation In immigration depots in the country.
Saifuddin also wanted HRW to list all the deaths that occurred in Malaysian detention centres.
He added that should HRW provide evidence of abuse among detainees, he would initiate an investigation without hesitation.
"They should specify the abuses and the victims' deaths and provide the exact numbers, which detention centres did such cases occur. Were they in the Semenyih or Tuaran?
"I will not hesitate to conduct investigations promptly; the issue of human rights is not just about our citizens nor foreigners.
"Our stand is to defend the rights of every living human being," he said, adding that if the report was based hearsay, the allegations could not be substantiated.