CHAPTER 1 1.3 COMPLAINTS AND MONITORING OVERVIEW In 2020, SUHAKAM received 756 complaints. Of these, 375 were lodged at the headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, 311 complaints at Sabah Office and 70 at the Sarawak Office. Some of the complaints were in the form of memoranda, e-mail, correspondence, telephone calls, walk-ins, e-complaint system and submissions during SUHAKAM’s roadshows. During the Movement Control Order (MCO) in March until May, and the subsequent Conditional Movement Control Order in selected areas (Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya) in October and November, complainants were encouraged to use the telephone, e-mail, and online complaint system to lodge their complaints. 1. INVESTIGATING COMPLAINTS After thorough consideration, SUHAKAM decided that 239 of the complaints were beyond its jurisdiction. We completed investigations into 142 cases of the 517 complaints. The remaining are still pending. The highest number of complaints were related to nationality, followed by arbitrary arrests, detentions or exiles, liberty and security of persons, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and death in custody. Figure 1: Human Rights Complaints Received, 2016 – 2020 1,400 1180 1,200 Total Cases 1,000 879 800 1154 803 756 600 400 200 Year 0 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 ANNUAL REPORT 2020 33