In a statement, the Iskandar Puteri MP said IPCMC must ensure the police conduct themselves with full accountability.

Last night, Suaram, the human rights NGO, had also made a similar call to ensure errant officers who had a hand in the deaths of detainees in custody or had assaulted detainees were not given a free pass.

Lim said a royal commission of inquiry (RCI), set up in the early years of the Abdullah Badawi premiership, had proposed the IPCMC in 2006.

“Unfortunately, the RCI proposal was not implemented because of strong objections from the police leadership at the time.”

Lim said this worsened the confidence in the independence, impartiality and professionalism of the police force.

He said the RCI had recommended that the IPCMC should inquire into every custodial death, either under the police or Immigration Department.

He said IPCMC could start with the most recent cases.

In recent times, there have been a number of highly controversial custodial deaths, such as in the cases of A Kugan, Karuna Nithi, C Sugumar and S Balamurugan.

In these cases of custodial deaths, human rights group Lawyers for Liberty noted that pathologists had sought to cover up for the police despite subsequent post-mortems which indicated abuse by the police.

Since 2008, 143 people were reported to have died in police custody.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister’s Department said establishing the IPCMC would strengthen the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission. It said the IPCMC will act as an independent and holistic body.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim has welcomed the government’s decision to set up the IPCMC, saying it will enhance the integrity and capabilities of the police force.