Rape of Both Their Bodies and Their Land

Posted by: hrforall on: October 17, 2008 Yesterday, the world remembered in a special way, International Rural Womens Day. Rural women around the world contribute to 60 percent of labour and tasks in agriculture production. Yet, they remain the poorest and most marginalised and exploited group. The rural woman remains invisible and isolated as she is seen as an informal agriculture worker or as part of collective family labour. In Malaysia, recent reports highlighting the plight of Penan women reveal the real struggles of indigenous peoples to protect their land, livelihood and dignity of their communities. The alleged rape of the women and consequent denial of such incidents by the Sarawak government reflects how the state works in collusion with rapists involved in logging, to create fear in the community to get rid of them from their lands. The rural and indigenous women of Sarawak are struggling against the rape of both their bodies and of their land. The theft of the indigenous peoples land to pave the way for pure profits through conversion and control of land for logging and cash crops especially oil palm is an organised threat to food security of the rural communities and Malaysians as a whole. Malaysia in its greed to make quick money with the demand for bio-fuel through palm oil production and jatropa cultivation has taken up land for food production and the land of the indigenous peoples. Thousands of hectares of land are leased to large companies for oil palm with absolutely no respect for the indigenous peoples native customary rights to the land and other resources. Rural women were promised a bright and better future when Malaysia began to implement its New Economic Policy and industrialisation programme 30 years ago. Today, the industries are moving out and the situation will worsen when large numbers of our women, especially in the textile and electronic factories, lose their jobs. Many are eking out a living by taking on two jobs or through the sale of food. With the increase in food prices, women without decent wages are each day finding it

more and more challenging to ensure food on the table, especially in urban centres. Though the food crisis is not very visible in Malaysia, it is being experienced in homes. A large number of women in the urban areas find that they have little choice but to sell their bodies to make ends meet and to pay off debts or loans. Many women especially from Sabah, Sarawak and Johor are being trafficked for prostitution and as labour to Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Europe and the US. But the government remains in a state of denial. The country today imports more than US$20 billion of food alone, and has a a food trade deficit of more than US$8 billion. This high dependency on food imports including rice, meat and vegetables, milk and milk products poses a severe security threat to food security and stability. Recently the world community saw various food riots as people scrambled for food rations. The Philippines experienced the same situation when rice prices increased and there was shortage of rice, as Vietnam placed a temporary export control over rice. The Philippines was a country that enjoyed food self-sufficiency but sacrificed land to cash crops and liberalised trade of food. Food crisis ahead The sovereignty of a nation does not lie in independent political control but also in its agenda to be self-sufficient in basic needs, including ensuring food sovereignty for its people. This goal and concept must mean that food is not just made available through trade but also that the government must have in place a policy on food sovereignty. Such a policy would encompass the local communitys right to land and control over other resources like water to ensure food production and self-sufficiency. Malaysia has a reactive policy whenever it smells a crisis. Globally, there is a food crisis. Both the UN and the World Food Programme have admitted that they cannot contain it. Governments were warned of this when the World Trade Organisation pushed through its agenda of full liberalisation of trade in food and agriculture products, in the agreement in

agriculture. Farmers protested and some committed suicide to send a message to the global community. But the rich countries together with the transnational companies especially agrochemical and agribusiness multinationals drove forward their agenda of profits and control. Today, the reality is that there are more hungry people today than ever before over 150 billion. The UN warned recently that it no longer has enough money to keep malnutrition at bay this year in the face of a dramatic upward surge in world commodity prices, which has created a new face of hunger. Malaysia is not immune to this reality. If left unchecked, the majority of people will eventually have reduced accessibility to food in the near future. In the Ninth Malaysia Plan 2006-2010, the agricultural sector was earmarked as the third pillar of economic growth. The irony is that the governmens policies are flawed. In Budget 2009 proposals, the government deceived Malaysians when it stated that full exemption would be given to several food items which currently attract import duties of between 2 and 20 percent. These include vermicelli, biscuits, fruit juices and canned sweet corn. These items are not staple foods that are a necessity. The government proposed that RM5.6 billion will be provided under the national food security policy from this year up to 2010. This is to provide incentives to agriculture entrepreneurs to reduce production costs and encourage higher agriculture output. Will this policy help the poor or entrepreneurs interested in using land for cash crops? It also said RM1 billion will be set aside for rice farmers. Will this be to subsidise the use of more pesticides and agrochemicals, or guarantee farmers right to land and food production? Initiatives needed We are happy to note that the Selangor government has begun to address the importance of food production with safety standards. It also intends to get the youth involved in food production.

This strategy will bring about an interest in farming among the youth and in the long term ensure food security. We hope similar initiatives will be taken by other state governments and that young women have a equal share in the land ownership and food production. It is when a woman is involved in food production that there is a holistic approach to farming and to ensuring food for the whole family. Food sovereignty and food security should be guaranteed in these ways: - State governments should respect and uphold native customary rights to land and resources. - The corporate sector should deliver on social responsibility by not infringing on the rights of people, especially women, to food and resources; food security; and food sovereignty. - The government should institute a clear and transparent policy on food security and sovereignty with political commitment to ensure food is accessible, safe and available especially to the poor. The government should also be transparent in thoroughly investigating complaints of rape by Penan women and ensure that rural women are not trafficked for forced prostitution and labour, especially in Sabah and Sarawak. A new law is needed to guarantee a minimum wage so that women and their families have access to safe and nutritious food and a healthy life.

Penan Women and Girls Raped and Violated

Posted by: hrforall on: October 6, 2008

Violated by loggers
By HILARY CHIEW Pictures by SIA HONG KIAU

Teenage schoolgirls have become the latest target of unscrupulous timber workers.
BLOCKADES have sprung up again in middle Baram in the midst of the padi planting season in interior Sarawak.

Several Penan communities have abandoned the padi fields to put up symbolic barricades flimsy wooden gates across logging roads to stop encroachment into the last stretch of remaining ancestral forest in a region that has seen extensive logging over the last 25 years. The once-nomadic tribe, noted for their unwavering rejection of logging on their territory and synonymous with blockades since the late 1980s, is fighting a losing battle against the Government-backed timber industry.

At grave risk : Young Penan women bathing and washing in a polluted river next to their sett lement. As the Penan communities in middle Baram struggle to stave off the continuous destruction of their ancestr al lands by logging firms, their womenfolk are being victimised by timber company workers.

Yet another sinister threat has crept into the remote communities Penan women, especially the young ones, are preyed on by workers from logging companies. About three weeks ago, a media release by non-governmental organisation Bruno Manser Foundation (BMF) brought to light a long-held concern the sexual abuse of Penan women. The Swiss group charged that workers from two timber companies were preying on Penan women in the various settlements within the companies operation areas, and targeting female students who relied on the companies transportation service to get to school. Students from middle Baram are boarders in secondary schools in the interior towns of Long Lama and Long San, which could take up to a week to travel on foot from their villages. The Baram district in Miri division is almost as big as the state of Perak. The allegations were flatly denied by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu who dismissed the NGOs claims as baseless. Jabu, who is also Rural Development Minister, challenged BMF to name the villages otherwise it would be a waste of time to investigate.

Largely ignorant of their rights and not well-versed in criminal law, the Penans have long suffered the transgression against their womenfolk in silence. The problem is further compounded by stigmatisation associated with rape in the predominantly Christian communities.

Sexual violations
A visit to several villages reveals the prevalence of sexual abuse since the advent of commercial logging. Village leaders who readily air their grouses of hardship brought by logging are hesitant to talk about the sexual exploitation by workers from nearby logging camps.

Bulan Laing, a female elder of Long Pakan claims that violation of the women began around 1996 when a logging company began operation in middle Baram.

Nonetheless, at Long Pakan, Bulan Laing, a female elder claims that violation of the women began around 1996 when a Miri-based logging company arrived. There have been three pregnancies so far; the last one was in 2006. In one case, the woman married the Indonesian worker who violated her but was later divorced after she was sexually abused by another worker, recalls Bulan. Asked if the cases were reported to the police, Bulan appears not to know that rape is a criminal offence. We complained to the camp manager. He assured us that they would take action against their men but were still suffering. Her husband, headman Pada Jutang, says: Weve lost hope in the police taking any action. So we stopped going to them. The villages nearest neighbour, Long Item two hours drive away faces a similar predicament. Headman Balan Jon reveals the modus operandi of unscrupulous timber workers. He says the workers come to the village in small groups of not more than five, either on motorcycle or by company vehicle, with alcoholic drinks and entice the young men to join them for drinking binges at night.

They become bold after several drinks and will coax our boys to bring them to houses with young women or girls.

Long Pakan headman Pada Jutang says his people lost hope in police taking any action and stopped going to them.

Or they bring along instant noodles and persuade the victims to cook them a meal on the pretext that they have not yet had dinner. They then hang around and wait for the chance to strike after other occupants of the house turn in for the night, adds Balan. Bulan explains that young Penan men are curious about anything from the cities and are easily influenced despite advice by village leaders to be wary of these outsiders. She also suspects that the victims could have been drugged. Balan laments that complaints to the companys managers on the ground are not taken seriously. There are always new workers showing up. They are also good at covering their tracks and the camp manager refuses to investigate or take action, he says dejectedly. Like Pada, Balan says he has given up on the police. Further north in the Apoh region, Long Beloks headman Alah Beling recalls no less than four cases of sexual violation. The latest incident resulted in a baby born last December. He reckons that the known numbers could just be the tip of the iceberg. Victims who do not end up with unwanted pregnancies may choose to remain silent to hide their shame.

Easy targets
It appears that schoolgirls are the latest to be preyed upon, according to villagers at Long Kawi, next to Long Item. They complain that timber workers come to the village during the day to identify the young girls and return later at night to carry out their plans. The harassment gets worse during the school holidays when the girls are around.

But the latest revelation of female students being made to stay overnight in logging camps, thus exposing them to sexual abuse, has plunged the Penan community into despair. The Penans have abandoned their nomadic lifestyle so that their young ones could get an education and have a better life. If we dont send our children to school, we are blamed. But providing them transportation is beyond our ability. We are at the mercy of the timber companies. Weve to beg them to ferry our children to the secondary schools which are far away. I walk my younger children to Long Kevok (a four-hour drive away) to attend primary school. This problem was discussed at the schools parent-teacher association meetings a few years ago. The school asked us to get help from the Government. There were promises but were still waiting, says Galang Jutang, Padas younger brother. Principal of SMK Long Lama, Ng Cheng Soo, acknowledges that transportation remains a huge problem for Penan students who make up about 12% of the 945 pupils. We put in a proposal for a transport allocation in 2006 to the Resident Office in Miri, says Ng. Resident Ose Murang could not be reached for comment on the status of the proposal. Ng adds that Penan students are catching up in their studies as shown by their better examination results and lower dropout rates. We hold special remedial classes and show them that we care for them. They appreciate it and they like coming to school. Penan kids are the first to volunteer for any gotong-royong events, Ng says, adding that being rather timid, Penan students are easily bullied. Instances of students trekking in the jungle for days to get to school and even missing major examinations when company transportation fails to materialise, are common. Hitching a ride by the side of dusty logging roads makes teenage girls especially vulnerable. Following recent publicity of the alleged sexual abuse of Penan women in the local media, Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh says the force needs a police report to be lodged to facilitate investigations. Dismayed by the police response, the Womens Centre for Change pointed out that according to the Child Act 2001, the authorities must take action if they suspect child sexual abuse has taken place. Under the Act, anyone below the age of 18 is a child. The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and the Human Rights Commission have announced that they will investigate the claims.
Monday October 6, 2008

Against their will

ON a sunny Sunday morning last year, 16-year-old Cynthia (not her real name) boarded a four-wheel drive dispatched by logging company Samling to ferry students to SMK Long Lama from her longhouse in Long Kawi, middle Baram, Sarawak. However, the driver did not send the passengers two boys and three girls to the school directly. He dropped by a logging camp and told the students that they had to spend the night there. It was around 4pm. Although the school is not far from the camp, the driver didnt want to continue the journey. The boys and girls were separated into two rooms. I was with my younger sister and another girl. When night fell, the men in the camp were drinking. In the middle of the night, several men came into our room. One of them dragged me from the room and took me to the bushes behind the camp, Cynthia recalls her ordeal. The other two girls were not harmed.

A life ruined: Mindy, 21, is saddled with two children after being coerced into having sex by a timber company worker.

The Form 3 student became pregnant and delivered a baby girl a few months ago. Cynthia, who harbours hopes of being a nurse, is now unsure of her future as she has been absent from school due to her pregnancy. The fair-skinned, soft-spoken girl had previously been harassed by workers from a Samling camp but managed to elude them.

Samling, when contacted, says the camp implicated in the incident may not have belonged to the company and urged those making the allegations to contact the police and provide accurate information to enable criminal investigations. Samlings head of corporate communications Cheryl Yong says: We are very concerned over the latest allegations even though we do not operate in the Temela Camp (where the alleged sexual assault took place). We do not condone any criminal acts within our premises or by employees. Yong explains that Samling has a zero-tolerance policy towards alcohol consumption during work hours. Furthermore, alcohol sale is unavailable on its premises and anyone found consuming alcohol while working will be dismissed. At Long Belok, Rina (not her real name) who was raped in her house and delivered a baby girl in May 2005, is fearful of timber camp workers. If I see them in the village, I will run and hide in the forest. She is glad that she did not have to marry the man who raped her despite persuasion from her parents and neighbours unkind remarks. The youngest in a family of two boys and two girls, Rina, 20, says life is difficult with an extra mouth to feed. At times, she confesses that she feels like running away. Mindy (not her real name) of Long Item, recounts the intimidation, deceit and harassment of a 40-something man who works for Interhill. We know him as Ah Heng. My parents and I got a ride in his vehicle from Ba Abang sometime in 2005. Shortly after that, he came looking for me in the village. He offered to take care of me but I declined. He then said I should give in or he would hurt me and my family, says the 21-year-old woman who eventually acceded to his demands and has since borne him two girls, one in 2006 and another in February. Ah Heng now rarely visits nor provides maintenance for the family after his wife found out about his activities and accused Mindy of seducing her husband. I dont want him to come here anymore; I will raise the kids myself. I dont even love him, says Mindy.

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Monday October 6, 2008

A neglected people
THE Penans protracted resistance to deforestation and the international attention the tribe continues to receive must have irked the Sarawak government. The state government continues to dismiss their concerns over the loss of forest resources brought on by industrial logging that degrades the forest and pollutes the rivers. At the height of the international anti-tropical timber campaign in the late 1980s, the state set up a Penan Affairs Committee to help the nomadic tribe to lead a settled life with promises of socio-economic development. The state announced allocations worth millions of ringgit. Two decades later, the benefits remain elusive for many Penans. The rapid expansion of acacia and oil palm plantations eats into their ancestral land. To top it off, the natives are becoming illegals with many not having official documents. The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) has raised the issue of poor MyKad registration which complicates the issuance of birth certificates. Suhakam has thus far failed in persuading the state government to resolve the land rights issue inflicting every native group in Sarawak. In recent years, the Penans are turning to the court of law to stop further encroachment. But the nomadic Penans face a tough battle in claiming native customary rights (NCR) as the Sarawak Land Code 1958 states that one cannot stake a claim for NCR if one had not cultivated that piece of land before Jan 1, 1958. In May 2007, further restrictions were imposed when the clause any other lawful method of establishing land claim in Section 5(2) was dropped. Lawyers had previously used that provision to argue for a broader interpretation of land use. When environmental groups suggest setting aside forests for wildlife, the state will agree but when we demand for our forests to be protected, we are ignored. It seems that the wildlife living in the forests are more valued than us humans, notes a young Penan. Although disillusioned, the Penans remain hopeful. As Balan Jon of Long Item puts it: Its not only our livelihood but our culture and survival as a tribe has been affected for so long. Well die if we continue to be neglected.

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And theres always the dumb nitwit politician whos all out to deny human rights violation and maintain the business as usual posture.
2008/09/25, NST Online

Penan sex claim is baseless, says Jabu

By : Desmond Davidson KUCHING: Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu yesterday dismissed the claims of a Swiss non-governmental organisation that Penan women and girls were being sexually abused by workers from two logging companies. Jabu said unless the Bruno Manser Fund could give details of their allegations, it would be a waste of time to investigate. Show proof. Tell us which Penan settlement. I have not heard of such complaints from the Penan community leaders in my many visits to Ulu Baram, said Jabu, who is the chairman of the steering committee on the Penans, after launching Ops Sikap XVII at Km19 of the Kuching-Serian Road. BMF had posted the allegations on its website, claiming that the workers preyed on students who were in the settlement during school holidays. It also claimed that the abuse had resulted in several pregnancies. Jabu said if the NGO could provide evidence, then the police could take action. He was also dismissive of BMF, labelling it a bunch of people who are nothing in their own country but like to sensationalise events elsewhere.

Jabu urged the BMF and other NGOs not to paint a negative picture of Sarawak and to respect the truth. Hearsay and sweeping statements are unfair to Sarawak.

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Sarawak sounds alarm over Penan rape claims

Malaysiakini Oct 7 Authorities in Sarawak have called on police to investigate reports that women and girls from the Penan tribe have been raped by workers from jungle logging camps. The plight of the Penan people was made famous in the 1990s by environmental activist Bruno Manser, who campaigned to protect their way of life and fend off the loggers, before he vanished in 2000 amid suspicion of foul play. Let the police do a full investigation. It is important that we get to the truth of all these things, Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister George Chan said of the rape claims, according to the state news agency Bernama. This is criminal but we must have very firm evidence as it could portray a very bad national image, he said. Allegations of attacks on the Penan tribe by workers from prominent Malaysian logging companies were last month reported by the Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), which champions indigenous rights. The group said that Penan women from the remote Middle Baram area of Sarawak had accused workers from timber firms Interhill and Samling of harassing and raping them. Youngsters who must travel from their villages in the dense rainforest to boarding schools in larger towns often rely on lifts from logging vehicles, it said. I want to make it known that we are being sexually abused by the timber company workers on a regular basis, the BMF reported a young Penan woman as saying. The group said the perpetrators, who were usually drunk, also targeted women living in settlements and young schoolgirls who were home during school holidays. It said complaints made to the police and authorities have had no effect. But Jabu rubbishes allegations Another deputy chief minister from Sarawak, Alfred Jabu, had recently rubbished the allegations and dismissed BMFs claims as baseless, Bernama said. The Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) has also called for a full investigation into the rape claims.

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These allegations are very serious in nature, especially if they involved natives who are isolated and defenceless, its top official in Sarawak, Mohamad Hirman Ritom, told the Star newspaper last week. They are allegations of a criminal nature, not just a violation of human rights. We will have to visit those areas where such alleged crimes took place and speak to the people, he said.

Joint Press Statement NGOs response to reports of rape, sexual abuse and exploitation of Penan girls and women by loggers
8 October 2008

With reference to the growing reports of rape, sexual abuse and exploitation of Penan girls and women in Sarawak, the latest of which was highlighted in the Star dated 6 October 2008, we the undersigned NGOs wish to state the following: Despite the obvious serious nature of these allegations, the Sarawak police have not taken the issues seriously. Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohammed Sallehs insistence that a police report must be lodged first reflects poorly on the police as they can certainly take the initiative to investigate these reports without a formal police report. The situation is worsened by Marudi district police chief Deputy Superintendent Jonathan Jalin who was reported to have said that the police have not found evidence to support the allegations but only a number of marriages between the workers and Penan women. The marriages, he claimed, were between willing parties, were accepted by the Penan elders, are of a temporary nature and will end once the workers leave for other logging areas. The police in these instances 14

seemed to have summarily dismissed these serious allegations and have failed to take into account the vulnerability of the Penans, especially the women and girls, where the logging company and workers are concerned. We also wish to add that in November 1994, the Penans lodged a police report listing 10 instances of abuses committed against their persons, property and lands, including the rape of a 12-year-old girl by Police Field Force personnel (PFF, now known as General Operation Force). These were quickly dismissed by the police even before any investigation has begun, causing a serious loss of confidence in the ability of the Sarawak police to act professionally. In 2000, a report was also made to Suhakam but similarly there was no action. Due to the vulnerability of these girls, women and the communities as a whole, we strongly and urgently call upon the Government, in particular the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development and also Suhakam, to follow through their concerns and take these allegations seriously to set up a fact finding mission comprising respected and qualified members who will be able to conduct the fact finding independently, fairly and competently. We further urge that proper police investigation commences as soon as possible with the Bukit Aman Police heading the investigation, as the communities affected have expressed a serious loss of confidence against the Sarawak police due to their long-standing dealings with them including in disputes with logging companies and the inaction and perpetuation of impunity in the aforesaid abuse cases. Endorsed by:

1. All Womens Action Society (AWAM) 2. Bar Council 3. Borneo Child Aid Society 4. Building Workers International (BWI) 5. Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC) 6. Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI) 7. Civil Rights Committee of The Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (CRC-KLSCAH)

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8. Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM)

The terror of government silence

Posted by: hrforall on: May 29, 2009 By Jacqueline Ann Surin

Penan child ( Robin Hanbury-Tenison/Survival, pic courtesy of Survival International) DATUK Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was the perfect picture of concern and care on the front page of The Star newspaper on 28 May 2009. The newly re-appointed women, family and community development minister was photographed at the Serdang Hospital with a five-year-old child who looked like he had suffered serious and constant abuse at home. It is so awful and very sad. Obviously the abuse must have been going on for some time, Shahrizat was quoted as saying after she struggled to compose herself. Shahrizat, who is also Wanita Umno chief, has rightfully demonstrated shock at such abuse. However, she has yet to illustrate the same kind of alarm and urgency towards the plight of Penan girls and women in the interiors of Sarawak who were reportedly sexually violated and abused. Indeed, since the report first emerged in mid-September 2008 about the sexual violence towards the Penans by logging company employees, eight months have gone by. A government-led task force into the Baram district completed its investigation in midNovember and yet six months later, Malaysians remain clueless about the plight of the

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Penan girls and women. Some logging company employees in Baram (pic courtesy of WhatRainforest.com) Despite public funds spent on setting up the task force, the affected communities themselves remain uncertain about the concrete measures that the government aims to undertake, if at all, to prevent further violations. In the meantime, Shahrizat continues to pussyfoot around questions about the reports contents and evades questions about its status. Why the silence? One has to wonder, whats stopping Shahrizat as the minister in charge, and the Barisan Nasional (BN) cabinet as the government in charge, from treating the rape and sexual harassment of Penans girls and women with more urgency? Penan woman and child ( Andy Rain/Nick Rain/Survival, pic courtesy of Survival International) Is it because the Penans dont factor as a constituency? Or because there arent photo opportunities for the relevant minister to be seen demonstrating her care and concern? Or because the BN just doesnt care and will only respond if there is public outrage and pressure? To be fair, former minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen was quick to respond with a concrete measure against a backdrop of public outrage over the Penans being violated. It was she who set up a task force that included representatives from different government agencies, two womens rights groups and the indigenous community. Ng Yen YenAnd it wasnt as if the task force didnt work as quickly as it could. Additionally, The Nut Graph is told that the report isnt about pointing fingers. It contains comprehensive measures that attempt to address, as holistically as possible, all the circumstances that make the Penans vulnerable to abuse. However, even Ng seemed unable to commit to making the report fully public. In early February 2009, when I met her at the MCAs Chinese New Year dinner for the media, she would not answer questions about when the task force report would be made public and why it hadnt yet been made public. For a government that created a women, family and community development ministry to show how much it cares about these constituencies, Ngs and Shahrizats responses are, at the very least, strange. At the very worst, it reflects a government that actually doesnt care about a marginalised community which doesnt have the influence and capacity to pressure or shame those in power. Attempts to reach Shahrizat for confirmation on the reports status were futile The PKFZ report

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Compare, for example, Shahrizats response after she ignored requests by The Nut Graph for a month for an interview about when the government would make the task force report public. When she was finally met at the press conference of an event she was launching, she first said the report would be tabled in cabinet as soon as possible (but perhaps not soon enough for the affected Penans). Then instead of committing to full public disclosure of the report, she said interested parties could go to her ministry to discuss the report. Thats at least one hurdle for public scrutiny that the minister is definitely trying to put in place. Additionally, it was only later when she was pressed again that she said the report would be submitted to cabinet on 27 May. However, attempts to reach her after that to confirm that the report was tabled were futile. The Nut Graph was told she was at the Serdang Hospital as The Star report and photos bear testimony to the following day. And since then, still no word from either her or the cabinet about the reports status. Compare this with the release of the report on the controversial Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project on 28 May 2009. Indeed, the report is available online until 10 June. Penan woman ( Survival, pic courtesy of Survival International) In his blog, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat boasted that the government had to disappoint the Opposition by proving to the public that the new administration under our prime minister has nothing to hide and is prepared to reveal the truth as well as to take the appropriate action should there be any wrongdoing. Now, if we could only have the women, family and community development minister say exactly the same thing for the Penan task force report. Then, maybe the BN government would have more credibility with regard to being transparent and taking appropriate action against any wrongdoing. Penan people in a longhouse in Long Lutin (pic courtesy of WhatRainforest.com) The question though is why did the cabinet feel pressured to reveal the PKFZ report but doesnt see the need to do so for the Penan task force report? Truth is, apart from the Womens Aid Organisation and the Womens Centre for Change, no other public interest groups are raising their voices for the task force report to be made public. The traditional media have also lost interest. Two of the largest English dailies in the country The Star and the New Straits Times didnt even bother reporting what Shahrizat said about tabling the report in cabinet and making it partially available. So is it any wonder that the government feels no need to be accountable? Hence, it looks to me that as far as Shahrizat is concerned, the public may just forget about the Penans plight if she keeps silent long enough about it. Penan person standing in front of the Rukunegara scrawled

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on the wall of a longhouse ( Survival, pic courtesy of Survival International) Tackling terror What was even more ironic is that on 28 May, the New Straits Times highlighted on its front page the headline Zero tolerance for terror old and new. The report lent support to Datuk Seri Najib Razaks actions in denying the request by former Communist Party of Malaya leader Chin Peng to come back into the country, and in incarcerating suspected terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari under the Internal Security Act. But what about the terror of a Penan girl or woman living in the Sarawak interiors who faces the real and frequent possibility of rape and harassment? Want to know what I find even more terrifying than that? It is knowing, as I am sure the Penans do by now, that even after a crime is committed against me, the Malaysian government can remain indefinitely silent for months about what it will do to ensure justice and prevent future violations. Media Release Bruno Manser Fund, Basel/Switzerland 15 September 2008 Serious charges against Malaysian companies Interhill and Samling related to sexual violence Malaysian government asked to open a formal enquiry on offences. Penan women from the Middle Baram area of Sarawak are launching a cry of alarm to the international community over cases of sexual abuse by logging company workers in the East Malaysian states rainforests. The Penan are accusing workers from Interhill and Samling, two Malaysian logging companies, of harassing and raping Penan women, including schoolgirls. I want to make it known that we are being sexually abused by the timber company workers on a regular basis, a Penan woman from Sarawaks Middle Baram region said. According to research undertaken by the Bruno Manser Fund, the perpetrators are frequenting several Penan settlements in the Middle Baram, looking for women. The company workers are based in logging camps in the region and are usually drunk when they arrive at the villages. When we hear their off-road vehicles coming, we just leave everything as it is and flee into the forest, the Penan source said. They come on an almost weekly basis, but the situation is worst during the school holidays when they know the students are in the villages. In other cases, school transports operated by company vehicles had been arranged in such a way that schoolgirls had to stay overnight at a logging camp, where they were abused.

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The Penan communities are reporting several cases of pregnancy as a consequence of abuse by company workers. They also accuse the loggers of using armed gangsters to intimidate them and of handing out alcohol to the young Penan. Complaints by the Penan to those in charge of the logging camps and to the Police have so far had no effect. The Bruno Manser Fund is asking the Malaysian government to start a formal enquiry into these serious criminal offences. In particular, the government is being asked to ensure that the victims are protected and that the harassment of Penan women by company workers is brought to an end immediately.

The police and the Penans

Posted by: hrforall on: October 25, 2008 Sim Kwang Yang | Oct 25, 08 The brief uproar over the alleged rape of Penan school girls in the national media has died down, while the white-wash campaign in the Sarawak media continues unabated. Recently, Sarawak Police Commissioner Mohamad Salleh reportedly said that a fourman team under his supervision went to Baram to start investigations. He announced that the team would investigate an alleged rape in 1994. He said, Although the incident took place 14 years ago, I want to assure the public that are will investigate without fear or favour. I remember that old case well, as I was directly involved in having the police report lodged-at the central police station (CPS) in Kuching. I was still the sole opposition MP from Sarawak then. While attending Parliament sitting in Kuala Lumpur in 1993, I was pressed quite a few times by my then colleague the MP of Petaling Jaya Dr Kua Kia Soong to look into the allegation of rape of a 15-year-old Penan girl in Baram. He had heard about it from some Australian NGOs. On returning to Kuching, I decided to send my personal assistant See Chee How to Baram and visit the Penans. The 2000-mile journey to and fro would take two weeks, requiring Chee How to fly from Kuching to the town nearest the Penans in the inhospitable rugged and torturous terrain of the great upper Barram headwaters. From the town, Chee How would then have to travel by longboat in the treacherous Baram rapids and walk for days in the jungle before reaching his destination. I was already physically weakened by my diabetic conditions while Chee How was young, fit, and very well-trained. When Chee How returned to Kuching, he confirmed that the local Penan communities did tell him the story of a 15-year-old girl raped by some security personnel, and a six-

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year-old boy had also died from a tear gas attack upon a blockade put up to resist logging operations. Penans brought to Kuching Apparently, the Penans had made the long-trip downriver to Marudi and even Miri, trying to make police reports against the crimes committed on their children. But the policemen on duty in these places simply refused to accept their police report. (It is against the law to refuse to take a police report, but if you are meek, shy, and respectful Penans, what can you do?) We then decided that perhaps it would be better to bring the Penans to Kuching to lodge the police report. I was a serving MP, and had a little clout with the police, the media, and government departments and agencies in the capital city of Sarawak. It must have been a logistics nightmare, a huge financial burden, and a communication cul-de-sac across 1000 miles of the dense forest in Sarawak. But with the help a group of very supportive friends, Chee How pulled it off. Many months of hard work and thorough preparation later, the Penans walked into my office in Kuching one bright morning, in a single file, as they are wont to do in the forests. They wore street clothes and looked rather smart, though I surmised that they could not have felt very comfortable in them. Apart from their short stature in their physique, they looked no different from any other group of Sarawak natives. There were 18 Penans in the party, including four tua kampong (village chiefs) village elders, women, and the rape victim whose identity was never revealed. They settled down on two rows of long benches and faced the excited crowd of reporters who had turned out in full force to attend the first press conference by some Penans in their lives. Even reporters from a TV station were there! I still remember it as if it was yesterday. A reporter would ask a question in simple Malay, such as How many Penans in your area have been affected adversely by the logging? Apparently, the idea of a single spokesperson was (and probably still is) alien to the Penan culture. A Penan man would turn to his nearest neighbour and a brief consultation in their Penan language would ensure in a soft murmur. That neighbour would turn to his nearest neighbour in turn, for a soft conference lasting a minute or two. The process would continue down the line until it returned to the first Penan who initiated the process. He would then give an exact number of Penans affected by bad logging in his area.

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Despite the reporters impatience for quick, shot-gun responses to which they were used, the Penans answered their every question with this languid laborious and amiable process of group consultation in low whisper! Naturally, there was little press coverage of what the Penans said at the press conference the next day. The media organisations in Sarawak were all either owned directly or under the thumb of the elite group who control political power and the logging interests in the state. Perfect hosts, perfect guests That evening, i invited all my visitors from the Upper Baram forest to my house for a meal. I had prepared a huge pot of pork-leg-peanut stew, knowing the Penans partiality for pig meat. I was sure my farm pig was nowhere in taste near their wild boar, but then wild boars must have disappeared in their over-logged jungle. After the meal, we sat around in a big circle on the cement floor and chatted, as was the fashion with friendly gatherings among fellow Sarawakians. A good time was had by all. Bright and early next morning, we proceeded as a single group to the Kuching central police station looking out to the Central Padang, where the Merdeka celebration is held annually. I had made an appointment with the commanding officer at the CPS, and he was prepared. We were invited to sit round a large oblong table in a conference room. We had prepared a long report of the rape of the 15-year-old girl and the untimely death of the six-year- old boy at the blockade. While the long report was copied dutifully word for word into the brownish official police report book, the visitors from Baram were treated to coffee or tea, and cakes. The hosts were perfect hosts, and the guests were perfect guests. During the remainder of the day, the Penan visitors made a few trips across town, trying to see officers in the Health, Education and other departments, and even the Chief Ministers office. It was no surprise to me that everywhere they went, the door was slammed shut in their face. The transport and communication infrastructure in the vast remote rural area of Sarawak is so primitive that progress in working with the indigenous communities would take years where it would take mere weeks or months in the urban centres. Unfortunately, my time ran out. In 1995. I was defeated in the parliamentary contest in Kuching. I was compelled to retire from politics because of my bad health. (Fortunately, my friends in Sarawak continued to work hard in their lonely cause of defending the rights of the Sarawak indigenous communities. Chee How had since qualified as a lawyer and he joined Baru Bians law firm. Between them, they now have over 100 cases in court, representing various indigenous communities all across Sarawak

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against encroachment upon their customary land rights by the state government, loggers, and plantation companies). I tell this tale not for the self-serving purpose of showing how heroic I was in trying to bring justice for the Penans. I merely want to show how hard it is for the Penans just to make a police report if a Penan girl is raped, and a Penan boy, killed. That is the sort of injustice that cries out for the total overhaul of our political culture. Surely, the greatness or meanness of our Malaysian society is judged by how the weakest members of our Malaysian body politics are treated by the institutions of power? Since then, I have thought about that poor Panan girl often. Rapists are the real culprits In my book of crime against humanity, rape is very near to the top of the list. I am not merely being self-righteous. I just have to think of the numerous beloved female members of my extended family. I also agree with most women NGOs that rapes are not caused by women who are beautiful or who wear sexy clothes. Rapes are not crimes of sexual passion; they are crimes of violence. The rapists are the real criminals. They leave incurable and life-long psychological scars on their victims, who probably would never recover from their ordeal of being violated. Chee How told me a few days ago that the Penan rape victim has since moved from Upper Baram to Middle Baram. She has never married and led a normal family life. She should be 29 this year. So now, the Sarawak police chief wants to pursue this case 14 long years later without fear a favour? One can only be cautiously optimistic about such a declaration of intent, which is the same as saying that one is down right cynical about the outcome of the police investigation. Meanwhile, in the last 14 years, how many Penan girls and women have been raped by outside parties in the remote hostile and god-forsaken forests of Sarawak? We will never know. Even making a police report on such a heinous crime is so difficult for the Penans! I have been cautioned many times not to reveal the identity of any rape victim. I will just say that the initial for that poor Penan girl 14 years ago is S, in case the police needs reminding. I am very fond of her. Happy Deepavali. May good triumph over Evil!

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SIM KWANG YANG served as Bandar Kuching MP from 1982-1995. He can be reached at kenyalang578@yahoo.com

What Penan is Jabu?

http://knightadventure.blogspot.com/2008/10/what-penan-is-jabu.html By Devils Advocate If truly we want to winch the Penans out of their true sense of backwardness and ignorance, hear me now. To map the Penans salvation and sustainable future we need more people in the quality of Raymond Abin and fewer people in the quality of Alfred Jabu (picture above). Now the fate of Sarawak Penans falls at the mercy of the latter quality, the job is made harder but we shall persevere. Jabu vs Devil Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu anak Numpang is Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak. He is also Chairman of Penan Steering Committee in Sarawak. Behold! Jabu anak Numpang is not a Penan, he is Iban the fearless tribe in Dayak society. Neither is I a Penan; I am devil and that says everything about my kind.His function as Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak is spared, my outrage is aimed at Jabu in his capacity as Chairman of Penan Steering Committee. I dont know what is Steering Committee but I know Chairman and I certainly know Penan. If Jabu thinks he is the Chairman of Penan, I think I am the Penan.I am sad. I am angry. I am sick of this mans antic.Alfred Jabu anak Numpang, you come here!Sit down.Now you listen to me.Do you know what youre doing? As Chairman of Penan, do you have a clue what you are doing? As a Penan, I am telling you plenty of things you do for the Penans are worldly wise but your Penan sentiment is misplaced. If youre Chairman of Penan then start feeling like Penan. You brought luxury to the Penans but what good is that bridal gown if the bride is pregnant?Yeng kaau medei, akau manou bareng jian itau.(In English: Fret not Im doing you a favour here)If you cannot make out that Penan words I just uttered, Alfred Jabu anak Numpang, what Penan are you?You know what the people in Malaya are saying about you this very moment? They said Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu anak Numpang so long the name so short the temper , the Chairman of Penan Sarawak, cannot even save his own people. If the Chairman of Penan himself could not be bothered to protect the Penan girls from their rapists, said they, why bother sticking their neck out for people who wished not their protection. Yes, Chairman Jabu, theyre talking about you. Yes, Chairman Jabu, theyve got a point there. No, Chairman Jabu, I cannot save your face there.They said one million Dayaks in Sarawak commanded by Chairman Jabu cannot be marshalled to shield a small tribe Penan from further harassment while the Indians in Malaya can rally in full force behind a campaign to pressure the Malaysia Government to release the five jailed HINDRAF activists. If the Indians can lay siege to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi until he quit as Prime Minister what hardship is that for a Dayak army to arrest a handful of rapists? Yes, Chairman Jabu, I wonder the same. No, Chairman Jabu, we still cannot catch the rapist.They said because a Sarawak Jabu took his sweet time to response to cries for help from Penan girls in the bushes, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development from Malaya had to fly over to help those girls. Yes, Chairman Jabu, they flew in haste to Sarawak. No, Chairman Jabu, some girls are already pregnant by the time they got here.

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They said SUHAKAM (Human Rights Commission of Malaysia) has to carry out their own investigation because a Sarawak Jabu does not want to waste his time checking on rumours. Yes, Chairman Jabu, you should have checked the rumours. No, Chairman Jabu, you didnt check it out.They said a rumour is no longer a rumour if highly credible scouts in the shape of Borneo Resources Institute of Malaysia (BRIMAS) already confirmed the story. Yes, Chairman Jabu, I wonder what took you so long to believe the story when the whole of Malaysia are ready to believe that story. No, Chairman Jabu, youre not helping yourself.They said while a Sarawak Jabu waited for proof to find its way to his desk while he was napping, a group of journalists from far and wide went down to the field to look for proofs. Yes, Chairman Jabu, youre sleeping on the job. No Chairman Jabu, no proof has come to your desk by itself. Alfred Jabu anak Numpang, where are you going?I am not yet finished here. Sit down!They said you dont want to response to allegations made in a website. They said you have said that will only be a waste of time to investigate. But when blogger Joseph Tawie wrote something about you in his blog brokenshield you were quick to response and investigate. Yes, Chairman Jabu, thats very ironic. No, Chairman Jabu, we dont know what you are trying to prove.Cant you see the tight spot you put yourself in as Chairman of Penan Sarawak? You are an embarrassment to us and to yourself. You still dont get it, do you? The forces from Malaya and elsewhere can overcome all obstacles, brave the uncertainties and sidestep protocols to response to a distress voice from the jungle while a Sarawak Jabu, the Chairman of Penan Sarawak, cannot even clear the first hurdle.You still dont get it, do you? While the whole of Malaya, including their hordes of bloggers, are deliberating night and day devising plans for the Penan rescue, Alfred Jabu anak Numpang, the Chairman of Penan Sarawak, can only be bothered about protecting Sarawak image against foreign propagandas. For all we know the adverse influences you fear are merely played up by your hallucination, your paranoia or phobias or hypochondrias or Dayak Syndrome.Yet your most embarrassing moment is when Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri George Hong Nam anak Chan so long the name so far the vision , a Chinese who could not even speak Dayak, stepped in to do what you cannot do for the Penans. In case you didnt see it, George and Chan is stepping in because youre starting to mess it up for the Sarawak Government Again. Im sure you hate to be reminded of your messing up big time during the helicopter drama in Bario Highland 2004, not to mention your howler, gaffer-prone, and fanatical optimism. George anak Chan wrestled the job as Director of Operation from you but by then it was already too late as the seven men onboard the ill-fated helicopter were already dead.Now Im banging my head against the wall. A Chinese, unknown even to the Penans, someone who looked so pale that leeches dont find him appetising, now meddles with the Penan affair and does it right while a Chairman of Penan failed the Penans.

Think Penan I know its hard for you to stomach this thing I said to you, Chairman Jabu, but please bear with me a little longer because its not you we need to save here but the Penans. So if you think youre the Chairman of Penan start thinking like Penan.All the projects and infrastructures you plan and build for the Penan Sarawak no doubt are of value to the Penans and they are grateful to you for that, although they may not know the RM100 million-fund allocation was actually from the Federal Government. They know you want to settle the 16,000 Penans, including 3 per cent still nomadic. They know you have identified specific project to build handicraft centre and Tadika in Long Bruang in Upper Baram, and that soon the Penans will enjoy the Internet service via project eBruang.They know youre a good man, Alfred Jabu anak Numpang. But how well do you know the Penans? Your title Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri probably means nothing to them but when they start calling you Lake jaau thats

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equivalent to Chief Minister of Baram. Has it ever occurred to you, Lake jaau, that the Penans love their children more than they love anything else in the entire world? Did you not see how the parents and even the entire village move in to live near a primary school just to make sure the children can study comfortably and having enough food? What Im trying to say, sir, is your million-Ringgits projects can mean nothing to the Penans if you disrespect their children and neglect their morale welfare.Now the Penan children are in danger of sexual harassment you can imagine the worries and sadness paining their parents every day. Your million-Ringgit projects cannot make up for their loss. I thought you knew this already since youre the Chairman of Penan Sarawak. You are after all Iban, if not devil like me.Learn the Penan psyche and reorganise your priorities. Maybe you think building infrastructures for the Penans is more important. Dont be surprised if they think Penan-defined human values are more important to them. I repeat, your works are worldly wise but your Penan sentiment is misplaced. You brought luxury to the Penans but what good is that bridal gown if the bride is pregnant? Save the Penan children first, later we worry about building Internet caf for them.In case you dont know where youve been wrong with the handling of priorities for the Penans read below the newspaper reports: Where Jabu went wrong September 22, 2008

Penan girls cry rape

KUCHING: A foreign organisation has claimed that Penan women and girls in the deep interiors of Baram are being sexually abused by logging company workers. The Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), which is based in Switzerland, claimed on its website that the workers were frequenting several Penan settlements looking for women. (http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/National/2356584/Article ;) September 23 BRIMAS confirms The Borneo Resources Institute (BRI) substantiated BMFs claims, adding instances of forced marriages.(http://www1.malaysiakini.com/news/90256) September 22 BRIMAS reports Borneo Resources Institutes (BRI) Sarawak coordinator Raymond Abin said that he too has been informed by Penans of the abuses, pregnancies and forced marriages for some time now. But perhaps the operations offices of the logging companies do not inform the head office of the matter, said Abin when contacted today. Even if they are aware, the most that they would do when their workers are involved is to transfer them to other operations offices, he added. He said due to the distance between the interior settlements and closest police stations, police reports are rarely lodged. Even if they lodge a police report, will the police act on it? he asked in reference to long standing complaints of the police acting in favour and sometimes on behalf of the statebacked logging companies.(http://www1.malaysiakini.com/news/90173) September 24 JABU denies one time

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KUCHING: Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu today dismissed the claims of a Swiss non-governmental organisation Bruno Manser Fund that Penan women and girls were being sexually abused by workers from two logging companies. Jabu said unless the organisation was able to give specific details of their allegations, it would be a waste of time to investigate. Show proof. Tell us where and which Penan settlement. I have not heard of such complaints from the Penan communal leaders in my many visits to ulu Baram, said Jabu. (http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/NewsBreak/20080924164429/Article September 25 JABU denies two times KUCHING: The report of Penan women being sexually abused by logging camp workers was mere sensationalisation. It was meant to smear the good name of Sarawak, said Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Alfred Jabu yesterday. He said that the foreign organisation making the claim was fond of sensationalising events to create stories to earn a living. Ive just came back from the Penan areas, meeting their leaders and people but no such thing was reported to me. But if the allegations were true then the non-governmental organisation (NGO) concerned should be specific. State the logging area and who are involved. Otherwise we are just wasting our time with such an NGO preying upon any situation just to create sensationalisation without respect to the factsrespect to the truth, he said when asked to commend on the claims by the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF). (http://www.easterntimes.com.my/index.php?news_id=1&news_content=8855) October 1 SUHAKAM steps in MIRI: Suhakam will investigate claims about timber workers sexually abusing Penan women and girls in the deep interior of Sarawak. The probe by the human rights commission will begin after the Hari Raya holidays, its commissioner for Sarawak Dr Mohd Hirman Ritom told The Star yesterday. We must establish the truth. These allegations are very serious in nature, especially if they involved natives who are isolated and defenceless. They are allegations of a criminal nature, not just a violation of human rights. We will have to visit those areas where such alleged crimes took place and speak to the people in those areas. If there is any truth to these allegations, then Suhakam will have to make sure the police and the relevant authorities do something against those who had victimised these natives, he said. (http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/10/1/nation/2159546&sec=nation) SARAWAK POLICE also stalling No report lodged: Sarawak Police cannot investigate Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh had said that the police had not received any official report on the allegations.Suhakam commissioner for Sarawak Dr Mohd Hirman Ritom said the Sarawak police must find out why there were no such official reports. Is it because the Penans are afraid to come forward and lodge official reports? Maybe the reports have not been accepted or they have been threatened or maybe it is due to logistic problems, he said.The excuse by the Sarawak police that there is no official report and thus they cannot investigate is shallow and unacceptable, said Kuala Lumpur Suhakam commissioner Datuk Dr Denison Jayasooria.He said the Sarawak Government should initiate their own investigations into the allegations. October 1

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WOMEN MINISTRY steps in PETALING JAYA: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry will investigate claims about timber workers sexually abusing Penan women and girls. Its minister, Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen said she has instructed the director-general of Women Affairs to meet Sarawak deputy chief minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu to get more information immediately after the Hari Raya holidays. We are very concerned about the matter. I have also talked to the Health Ministry to do something as we want to ensure the health of the Penans has not been compromised, she said. Alfred Jabu, who is also the chairman of the steering committee on the Penans, had previously dismissed the sexual abuse claims saying he had not heard such complaints from Penan community leaders. Dr Ng was responding to a statement from Suhakam commissioner for Sarawak, Dr Mohd Hirman Ritom, who had said on Tuesday that the commission would investigate the sexual abuse claims.(http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp? file=/2008/10/1/nation/20081001142642&sec=nation October 6 REPORTERS step in A visit to several villages reveals the prevalence of sexual abuse since the advent of commercial logging. Village leaders who readily air their grouses of hardship brought by logging are hesitant to talk about the sexual exploitation by workers from nearby logging camps. Bulan Laing, a female elder of Long Pakan claims that violation of the women began around 1996 when a logging company began operation in middle Baram. There have been three pregnancies so far; the last one was in 2006. In one case, the woman married the Indonesian worker who violated her but was later divorced after she was sexually abused by another worker, recalls Bulan. Asked if the cases were reported to the police, Bulan appears not to know that rape is a criminal offence. We complained to the camp manager. He assured us that they would take action against their men but were still suffering. Her husband, headman Pada Jutang, says: Weve lost hope in the police taking any action. So we stopped going to them. Further north in the Apoh region, Long Beloks headman Alah Beling recalls no less than four cases of sexual violation. The latest incident resulted in a baby born last December. He reckons that the known numbers could just be the tip of the iceberg. Victims who do not end up with unwanted pregnancies may choose to remain silent to hide their shame.Following recent publicity of the alleged sexual abuse of Penan women in the local media, Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Mohmad Salleh says the force needs a police report to be lodged to facilitate investigations.Dismayed by the police response, the Womens Centre for Change pointed out that according to the Child Act 2001, the authorities must take action if they suspect child sexual abuse has taken place. Under the Act, anyone below the age of 18 is a child. The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and the Human Rights Commission have announced that they will investigate the claims.Last year, a 16-year-old student from Long Kawi, a settlement in the Middle Baram, became pregnant after being raped while returning to her boarding school. She gave birth recently. At Long Belok, Rina (not her real name) who was raped in her house and delivered a baby girl in May 2005, is fearful of timber camp workers. If I see them in the village, I will run and hide in the forest. Mindy (not her real name) of Long Item, recounts the intimidation, deceit and harassment of a 40-something man who works for Interhill. We know him as Ah Heng. My parents and I got a ride in his vehicle from Ba Abang sometime in 2005. Shortly after that, he came looking for me in the village. He offered to take care of me but I declined. He then said I should give in or he would hurt me and my family, says the 21-year-old woman who eventually acceded to his demands and has since borne him two girls, one in 2006 and another in February. (http://thestar.com.my/services/printerfriendly.asp?

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file=/2008/10/6/lifefocus/2150772.asp&sec=lifefocus) October 7 GEORGE CHAN steps in KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr George Chan has called for a full investigation into claims of sexual abuse of Penan girls by timber workers. This is a serious allegation and I hope that a complete investigation will be done to find out whats going on, he said on Tuesday.Borneo Resources Institute of Malaysia (Brimas) project director Raymond Abin said there were cases of Penan women and girls being sexually assaulted by loggers in the deep interior of Baram. I have heard of such cases, but I do not know how widespread they are. He said Brimas, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which had a close relationship with the Penan community, would go to the ground and gather evidence of sexual abuse by loggers on Penan women and girls. He said Brimas wanted to verify allegations made by the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF), a Swissbased non-governmental organisation, that loggers had harassed and raped Penan women and girls. Abin said there was truth in BMFs allegations. Abin said Brimas would report its findings to the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam). We want Suhakam to conduct a public inquiry into the sexual abuse against Penan women and girls by loggers. The exploitation of the Penans has to be stopped once and for all.JABU tries damage controlWe need solid evidence to present cases of sexual abuses to the state government, said deputy chief minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, who is in charge of Penan affairs. Alfred had recently denied that sexual abuses had ever taken place.BRIMAS doubtful of Jabus source On Jabus statement that the sexual abuses had never taken place, Abin said the minister should have met the Penan elders at a proper forum. From what I know, Jabu had met the community leaders from Baram where some of them spoke in praise of the government. He said he did not think that the community leaders would be brave enough to speak about sexual abuse at such a gathering. Abin said Jabu should meet ordinary Penans and learn the truth behind the allegations.(http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp? file=/2008/10/7/nation/20081007133403&sec=nation)

Penan abuse: Swak launches counter-attack

Posted by: hrforall on: September 24, 2009 Penan abuse: Swak launches counter-attack Keruah Usit . Sep 23, 09 . 10:44am

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Embattled Sarawak government officials have responded to damaging media coverage of their treatment of Sarawaks Penan minority, arguing that negative NGOs were to blame rather than the Sarawak authorities. Flurries of angry headlines have emerged in the past few days in the Sarawak press. Local newspapers are tightly controlled by the state government and logging and plantation companies.

In a Sept 12 front page article in the Borneo Post, Doubts over KL Penan report, Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister and Minister in charge of Penan affairs Alfred Jabu cast doubt on the credibility of a report condemning the rape of minors by logging company workers. The report had been issued by the national task force set up by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development to investigate allegations of rape of Penan girls and women by logging companies in far-flung villages in Baram.

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The release of the report was delayed by Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil for almost a year, raising questions of political interference. Shahrizat eventually released the report on Sept 8 after intense pressure by opposition parties and civil society. Jabus outburst According to the Borneo Post, Jabu said there may be a report, but you must remember that negative non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were strongly behind it (but) if there are grounds to take action, then it must be done. Jabu had added that the media had played a role by highlighting the issue. He went on to admit that he had not even seen the report. However, the article quoted Jabu as saying he believed negative NGOs had a hand in it. He did not elaborate on the NGOs identities. There was no response from Shahrizat or her ministry to Jabus outburst. The national taskforce comprised senior members of her ministry, as well as members of the Home Affairs, Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage, Education, Rural and Regional Development, and Health, ministries, as well as representatives from the Sarawak government itself, and NGOs Womens Centre for Change (WCC) and Womens Aid Organisation (WAO). The task force found that Penan girls as young as 10 had been sexually abused by employees of logging companies in remote Baram communities. The report concluded that Penans poverty and dependency on the logging companies for transport to and from school had contributed to the sexual abuse by logging company truck drivers and other workers. Jabu has attempted to portray himself as a champion of Sarawakians, resisting interference from the federal government. He ignored the fact that the Sarawak government and a representative of the Royal Malaysian Police had participated in the national taskforce. The Borneo Post quoted Jabu as saying some of the Penan were in cahoots with foreign NGOs, bringing up the spectre of Swiss environmentalist Bruno Manser. Jabu alleged Manser had gone to live with the Penan to make a documentary so that he could make some money. Manser had highlighted injustices perpetrated on the Penan by logging companies in the 1980s and 1990s. He went missing in Baram in 2000. He is believed to have died there, but his body has never been found. The negative NGOs made use of the Penan to feed their concocted stories about Malaysia if all the Penans are settled down, the negative NGOs cannot make up stories

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and cannot exploit the Penan any more. The negative NGOs will then lose their business, he was quoted as saying. Jabu appeared to describe the activism of Mansers NGO, and the work of two womens NGOs in the Ministrys national task force on sexual abuse of the Penan by logging workers, as being under the same umbrella of negative NGOs. However, he stopped short of accusing the WCC and WAO of being in the business of exploiting the Penan. In another Borneo Post article on Sept 20, headlined NGOs manipulating Penan issue: Dawos, State Environmental Advisor Dr James Dawos Mamit echoed Jabus allegations.

He was quoted as saying if (the NGOs) highlight an issue like this, the foreign donors will come in and give them more money. Both Jabu and Dawos condemned the Sept 16 Malaysia Day protest by Penan and other Dayak villagers from Murum, at the Chief Ministers office in Kuching. Fifteen protesters had been arrested for attempting to hand over a memorandum to the Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. They had been protesting the loss of their ancestral lands to the construction of the giant Murum hydroelectric dam.

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It is not the Penans who oppose. You tell me who are the Penans? Where did they come from? Did they come from Murum? Dawos asked, according to the Borneo Post.

Blocades Dismantled Meanwhile, Telang Usan state assembly representative Lihan Jok argued that Penan blockades against logging and plantation companies had been voluntarily dismantled in Baram, according to the Borneo Post on Sept 18. PKR state information chief See Chee How made a subsequent press statement rebutting Lihan. See pointed out that he had been present at Lihans meeting in Long Bangan, Baram, with 200 Penan from 16 settlements, who had been protesting the incursion of the plantation company. See uploaded a copy of a video of Lihans meeting with the Penan communities onto the website Hornbill Unleashed. He said the police, army and forestry officers had forcibly dismantled the blockades, after Lihan had said he could not ensure the Penans land rights could be protected. State leaders like Alfred Jabu and Lihan Jok should be held responsible for Sarawaks plummeting international reputation, See argued. The revelation of the task force report on the alleged sexual abuses of Penan girls and women has exposed the states neglect for the welfare of the states minority groups. The suppression of truths concerning their aspirations and dissent will only fuel the anger and agitation of right-thinking people.

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Chief Minister Taib did not respond personally to the international furore over Sarawaks treatment of rural communities. However, he made an appeal in his Hari Raya message for an end of criticism of the states Barisan Nasional government. With Sarawak elections to be held by next year, the mounting anger over the cosy relationship between Sarawaks top politicians and wealthy timber and plantation companies, and their neglect of rural Sarawakians rights, are the last thing Taib needs.

Govt has failed indigenous peoples

Posted by: hrforall on: September 19, 2009 By Ragunath Kesavan THE Malaysian Bar is disappointed at the governments continuing lack of political will to promote and protect the welfare and rights of indigenous peoples throughout Malaysia. The governments inaction makes a mockery of its vote in favour of adopting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007 (the UN Declaration). Most recently, the government refused to make public the report of the national task force established to investigate the allegations of sexual abuse against Penan women and girls. This refusal flouts democratic principles of transparency and accountability. The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry finally made the report publicly available only after pressure from various interest groups. We are further disappointed that despite the Inspector-General of Polices pledge of full support for a joint police-NGO investigative mission, the Sarawak police have now reportedly stated that the funds allocated are not sufficient to fund the participation of non-governmental organisation representatives.

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Penan woman (Pics courtesy of Sofiyah Israa @ Flickr) The sexual abuse faced by the Penan is but one of a multitude of human rights violations that indigenous communities face on an ongoing basis, and which are inextricably interlinked. Most indigenous persons are not able to fully enjoy their fundamental human rights because their traditions, customs and values are being eroded and their needs have been long neglected. A crucial first step for the government, in fulfilling its state obligation, is to formally recognise, protect and guarantee the right of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands throughout the country and to gazette such ancestral lands as reserved areas for them. If necessary, land laws must be amended to achieve this. We are concerned that many indigenous communities still live without basic amenities and infrastructure. It is within the context of the deprivation of their rights to ancestral lands and access to basic services that indigenous peoples have become vulnerable to sexual abuse and other violations of human rights. We strongly urge the government to perform its duty by taking concrete steps to improve the welfare of indigenous peoples. Finally, we denounce the wholly unnecessary arrest of 15 Sarawakian indigenous leaders on 16 Sept 2009, who were reportedly detained as they attempted to deliver a memorandum to the chief minister to protest the building of hydro-electric dams that would adversely affect their communities. The manner in which our nation deals with the needs and rights of these communities is a reflection of our commitment to democracy and human rights. In this, our leaders have failed. But change is possible. More can, and must, be done.

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We therefore echo our earlier call, made in a resolution that was unanimously adopted at the Malaysian Bars 63rd annual general meeting on 15 March 2009, that the federal and state governments, as well as all public and private enterprises and individuals, respect and protect the rights of indigenous peoples pursuant to the UN Declaration, and not act in any manner inconsistent with those rights. Ragunath Kesavan President Malaysian Bar 18 Sept 2009

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