KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — Malaysians do not need the police’s permission to exercise their right to assemble as the role of the force at rallies is only to ensure that such gatherings run peacefully, the Human Rights of Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) said today.

Suhakam vice-chair Datuk Dr Khaw Lake Tee said the rights commission hopes that the police — previously accused of using brutality and excessive force on Bersih 3.0 rally participants — will continue in their role as facilitators of public gatherings “as envisaged by the Peaceful Assembly Act” (PAA).

“It is our hope that the police, they understand the right to assembly is not bound to the police’s permission; the right to assembly is controlled under the Peaceful Assembly Act,” she told reporters here.

“The PAA only requires the giving of notice to the police to prepare for traffic control or management of crowd. The role of the police as in the public inquiry on the Bersih 3.0 rally is to facilitate the assembly,” she added.

In Suhakam’s latest annual report released today, the commission reminded the government that “the concept of ‘illegal assembly’ no longer exists in law”.

It cited the removal of the requirement for a police permit following the repeal of Section 27 of the Police Act 1967, and the PAA’s requirement for a rally organiser to notify the district police chief of the gathering, as well as the Court of Appeal’s ruling that it is unconstitutional to criminalise any failure to notify the police of a gathering.

Suhakam said no “major incidents” have occurred in rallies since the Bersih 3.0 protest, adding, however, that it received complaints of the police’s alleged “disproportionate force” during a rally last June 22 in Kuantan against the Lynas rare earth plant.

Suhakam revealed that it also received reports that 16 of the anti-Lynas rally-goers were arrested with some allegedly “abused” during custody, and that there were claims of thugs attacking other rally participants outside the police station as the police had allegedly refused to shelter them or help to stop the attack.

“The Commission referred the matter to the police who responded that the participants violated the provisions of the Peaceful Assembly Act, forcing them to take action.

“The police further said they had opened investigation files on the complaint lodged about the participants being abused while in custody and on the incident involving the thugs and police inaction during the assault,” it said.

Suhakam also said it welcomes the inspector-general of police’s reported declaration that crowd control guidelines for the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) will be revamped, with changes to include cutting down on the number of officers deployed based on the situation and putting a “tighter control” on tear gas and water cannons usage.

On April 28, 2012, chaos descended on Kuala Lumpur as FRU personnel fired over tear gas and water cannons at the Bersih 3.0 rally participants in a bid to disperse the crowd.