Syed Jaymal Zahiid (Malaysiakini)
Sep 24, 07 4:53pm

The United Nations has been urged to apply pressure on the Malaysian government to punish the perpetrators of the recent ‘bloody’ ceramah in Pantai Batu Buruk, Terengganu.
This was the gist of a memorandum submitted by PAS Youth leader Salahuddin Ayub to the United Nations Security Adviser in Kuala Lumpur, Gunnar Mattson-Marn, in the UN office in Kuala Lumpur today (left).
“We feel that the shooting incident is a gross violation of human rights and we urge the UN Security Council to draft a resolution to demand that the Malaysian government respect and safeguard human rights in this country,” said Ayub.

In the memorandum, he also claimed that Malaysian police had breached the UN’s guidelines for weapon handling and felt that the world body must act as it is responsible for the safety and harmony of the peoples of its member countries.
Ayub also told Gunnar that PAS hopes the UN could issue a strong warning to the relevant authorities involved in the shooting incident on Sept 8.
In his response, Gunnar assured the PAS leader that the memorandum would be sent to the UN headquarters in New York, adding that the matter will be looked into.
PAS had submitted similar memorandums to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), representative from the Conference of Rulers and the police.
Who are the flag burners?
On the flag burning incident, Salahuddin said that he suspected foul play behind it. During the Sept 8 riots, several national flags were set ablaze.
He believed the act was to sabotage the credibility of PAS and demonize it as a party which condones violence.
The PAS Youth chief explained that prior to the shooting incident, only one photographer was allowed by the police into the ceramah area while other cameras were confiscated.
“If you look at all the mainstream papers, you only see one photo of the incident which means that it came from only one source.
“If the police really want to apprehend the flag burners, they can just demand the photographer to hand over the photo and you have a clear evidence of who burned the flag but we haven’t heard of any arrest until today,” he reasoned.
He said PAS also wants the flag-burners to be arrested so that the identity of the perpetrators may be revealed.
This he believed would invalidate accusations by Umno that PAS members were the flag burners.
He also said that the party had set up an ad hoc committee to investigate if the perpetrators were party members and promised that action would be taken if found to be so.
Salahuddin said that he would be submitting a memorandum on the matter to the Asean Human Rights Secretariat office in Jakarta next month.
He added that he would be going to Geneva, Switzerland where the UN Human Rights Department is located to submit a similar memorandum later this year.