chairman’s message input from the public and the Commission, so that this highly contentious issue can be satisfactorily resolved toward bringing the Act in line with contemporary international practice. The Commission continues to be concerned with a number of other issues that have also been taken up by CSOs, relating to preventive detention, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, the rights of vulnerable groups, and the plight of migrant workers, among others. A matter of perennial concern is the allegation of use of excessive force by the police, especially in the interrogation of detainees. The Commission would urge enforcement agencies to be more compliant with international human rights standards in carrying out their responsibilities, and make a determined effort to bring up to date their policing and interrogation methods and procedures, so that they can be considered to be among the best in the Asia-Pacific region, if not the world. With regard to the plight of vulnerable groups, the Commission is working closely with the Government, specifically the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, on a number of initiatives. These include persuading the Government to consider withdrawing its remaining reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and to ratify, at least initially, its Optional Protocols. The Commission will continue to highlight the human rights perspective by way of various platforms, including in the context of its recent appointment as a member of the National Advisory Consultative Council for Children, while carrying out its independent monitoring functions as a national human rights institution (NHRI). Indigenous peoples are among the world’s most vulnerable groups and those in Malaysia are no exception. Following persistent complaints from members of this community over the years, the Commission launched its first-ever National Inquiry focusing on the issue of their land rights which are either not recognised or have been challenged, or infringed or trampled upon, thereby pushing them further to the fringes of society even as Malaysia is galloping steadily to attain developed country status. It is the Commission’s hope that, on completion of its findings by the middle of 2012 and submission of its Report to Parliament as well as to State Legislative Assemblies, the recommendations will be favourably considered and followed up in the interests of resolving, or at least substantially ameliorating, the plight of this largely forgotten people who are among the original inhabitants of this great country of ours. In fulfilling its advisory role, the Commission hopes to be able to work closely with the relevant government agencies in ensuring that those obsolete laws are quickly abolished or replaced by legislation that is consistent with universally accepted human rights and democratic principles. The year witnessed a number of positive developments, the most notable of which was the Honourable Prime Minister’s decision to do away with the Internal Security Act 1960, the Banishment Act 1959 and the Restricted Residence Act 1933; along with the repeal of the existing but obsolete Emergency Proclamations; and a review of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 and sections of the 2