By acknowledging "a person's right to assemble," Musa Hitam, the chairman of the newly formed Malaysian Human Rights Commission, is indeed endorsing what Aliran has all along maintained: that it is the citizen's inalienable democratic right to assemble and demonstrate peacefully to highlight a perceived wrong.

There can be no ifs and buts regarding this right in a civil society. It is a legitimate form of expression to register one's dissent and dissatisfaction.

Any attempt to thwart this legitimate avenue of expression is not only a denial of our democratic right but a violation of a basic human right i.e. the right to assemble.

Just as the commission has taken a commendable stand on the right of a person to assemble, it must also state its unequivocal views on arbitrary arrests, the lack of freedom of speech, curbs on media freedom, custodial violence, indiscriminate shootings and the need for an independent judiciary.

Such openly expressed views will go a long way in convincing the sceptics that the Commission is here to protect and uphold our human rights without fear or favour.

The Commission should also immediately recommend to the Malaysian government to ratify the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. There is no need for further study of these instruments, which have been around for years, as they have already gained universal acceptance among more enlightened and democratic nations.