Having been established after the fallout of the Anwar Ibrahim controversy, some lacked confidence in its independence from the government of the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

As reported in Malaysiakini, he was widely seen as close to Mahathir, but SUHAKAM under Abu Talib continued to put forth many human rights recommendations.

In 2008 SUHAKAM was asked by the accreditation subcommittee of the ICC to explain in writing within a year, evidence to establish its continued conformity with the Paris Principles, failure of which would result in a status downgrade from A to B and would disqualify them from attending sessions hosted by the UN Human Rights Council.

[7] Suhakam Chairman Razali Ismail condemns the recurrence of child marriage in Malaysia, calling it "a violation of human rights and not a solution to poverty".

Razali also called upon the women, family and community development ministry to make social protection programmes for poor children a priority.