As part of the Commission’s initiative to monitor the use of the preventive laws, the Commission has requested from PDRM the statistics of individuals detained or restricted under the preventive laws. However, at the time of writing, the requested information was not forthcoming. (iv) Human Trafficking In June, Malaysia was upgraded to Tier 2 in the US State Department’s 2017 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report. The Commission welcomes the positive progress and acknowledges the improvements that have been made in the handling of ATIPSOM cases especially with the establishment of a Task Force on Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants (Task Force ATIPSOM) in December 2016. Of the 14 complaints involving allegations of human trafficking that the Commission received in the year under review, seven complaints were referred to the Task Force ATIPSOM (Task Force) while the rest were not due to the lack of substantial information in the complaints as well as the complainants’ lack of cooperation to provide further information when requested. One of the cases referred to the task force was on a human trafficking syndicate which was operating at an apartment in Cyberjaya. The information on the case was provided to the Commission on 24 January, and the Commission immediately forwarded the information to the task force. Acting on the tip off, the task force raided the place, arrested the traffickers and rescued five Nigerian women. The action was communicated to the Commission on 27 July. In another case, the Commission was contacted by a Thailand-based civil society, Alliance Anti Traffic (ATT), informing that they had intercepted the smuggling of two Shan girls in Thailand when they were S U H A K A M A N N U A L R EPOR T 2017 75 2 c. Allegation of soliciting bribery for freedom Some of the families of the detainees also highlighted to the Commission of phone calls received from unknown persons who claimed that they could assist in the release of detainees under POCA detention by payment of money. In these cases, the Commission advised the families to lodge reports with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) or the police for them to investigate the allegations. C H A P T E R recommendation seriously as the allegation of excessive use of force by the police is not new and has being recurring over the years.