Penan communities who mounted blockades in August 2009 continue their commitment to resist destruction of their forests and heritage.

Friends of the Earth Malaysia statement, September 2, 2009:

Recognize judicial decisions on native rights!

"Take cognizance of judicial decisions on native rights in order to end the Baram blockades"

Over the past week, numerous news sources have been reporting of the blockades erected by several Penan communities in Tutoh-Apoh, Patah, Baram, Sarawak. SAM has learnt that the blockades, set up since August 20 at three different locations on the logging roads within the territories of the villages of Long Nen, Long Bangan and Long Belok, have involved some 300 people from at least ten Penan villages in the area.

The blockades were set up to halt the transportation of logs by vehicles of several logging business groups operating in the area that for so long have been harvesting timber within the traditional territories (pemakai menoa) of the surrounding villages concerned.

According to community representatives, the blockades were set up for several interrelated reasons.

First and foremost, with the last legs of logging operations being carried out in Sarawak with the advent of large monoculture plantations, the people’s forest resources have been in a state of acute decline. If logging had devastating impacts on affected communities, plantations would certainly produce worse consequences, considering the fact that clear-felling operations would entail the total destruction of the people’s land and forest resources, including their communal water catchments.

Secondly, this impending deforestation disaster is certainly linked to the lack of land rights security of affected native communities to their traditional territories. For years, the communities’ numerous applications for their village forest reserves to be gazetted into Communal Forest Reserves have never been approved by the state.

In all, the people maintain that logging has failed to produce meaningful benefits to local communities and has instead over the years severely compromised their quality of life. They point out that local people even miss on employment opportunities as companies seem to prefer to hire Indonesian labour. The people also stress that their efforts to negotiate with the companies and their agents have often been futile, with some communities claiming to have experienced frequent attempts at deceptive behaviour on the part of the latter.

We have been informed that the protestors are determined not to give in into any intimidations or threats to dismantle the barricades unless their demands are met by the authorities and companies, the foremost of which is for all logging and plantation operations to be halted on their land, a call which if left unheeded may lead to significant food deprivation and widespread malnutrition among the people. Equally important, the people also demand that their Native Customary Rights (NCR) to be fully recognised and that they be allowed to exercise self-determination with regards to any development plans that may affect them. In our view, all the demands above certainly require an urgent comprehensive response at a policy level from the Sarawak State Government.

In this light, we find the statement attributed to Sarawak's Rural Development Minister James Masing in an AFP news article published on August 23 which describes the Penan communities as “good storytellers” and that their land rights disputes “were often aimed at wringing more compensation from companies” as most regretful. Similarly, we find the insinuation on the communities’ blockades as suggested by State Assemblyperson YB Lihan Jok as equally unacceptable. YB Lihan was quoted by Utusan Borneo on August 30, suggesting that the blockades appear to show that as if the Penan communities are uncivilised despite the fact that many of them have been highly educated (Sekatan itu... menunjukkan seolah-olah kaum Penan tidak bertamadun sedangkan ramai di kalangan mereka sudah maju dalam pelajaran), filled with revenge and rebellion (Tindakan sekatan ini menunjukkan Penan penuh dendam dan pemberontakan) as well as ethnically prejudiced and selfish (Mereka prejudis dengan kaum lain seolah-olah hanya Penan sahaja yang perlu dibantu sedangkan kaum lain juga perlu perhatian).

In actual fact, the latest blockades put at least three questions over the sustainability claims of the Sarawak timber and plantation industries.

Firstly, from 1997 to 2004, the Sarawak Forests Department under its Licence for Planted Forest (LPF) system, has licensed out at least 2.8 million hectares of land for large monoculture projects, including land within the state’s Permanent Forest Estate (PFE), in addition to its non-gazetted Stateland forests. Many Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports of the projects concerned seem to suggest that plantation development is today necessary in Sarawak due to the depletion in timber resources in the state. However, timber harvesting for Dipterocarp forests within the Sarawak PFE supposedly operates under a 25-year cutting cycle. If it is indeed true that timber has been largely depleted in just 30 years since large-scale logging commenced in the state, Sarawak should no longer claim to be practising sustainable forestry management.

Secondly, we believe that the Sarawak State Government has also failed to take full cognizance of our judicial decisions on native rights. The Federal Court in 2007 has ruled on the respect the principles of common law accord to the pre-existence of native rights under native laws and customs, explicitly stating that native rights owes its existence to native customary laws and not to any modern statute or legislation, while affirming that individual and communal native rights have equal legal force. Our Appeals Court meanwhile, on different occasions, have affirmed that such rights cover both cultivated and forested areas and are characterised by proprietary interests that go beyond mere usufructuary rights.

Finally, SAM is of the view that the continuous occurrence of land rights protests in Sarawak is a result of the absence of a participatory and consultative demarcation process of native territorial boundaries in Sarawak. Such a process should incorporate the Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) mechanism and a set of substantiation procedures designed to yield corroborative evidence to support each native land rights claim. We strongly believe that this is not only feasible today, given the availability of GPS and other information technologies, but is in fact the most practical and rational way forward to end such protests.

Given all the facts above, we call on the Sarawak State Government to fulfill all the demands made by the blockading communities and exercise restraint in dealing with the protest. In our view, unless Sarawak halts further forest conversions in the state and subsequently establishes a consultative demarcation process which takes cognizance of the full stature, nature and extent of the NCR as ruled by our judiciary, any sustainability claims made on both the timber and plantation industries in Sarawak must be treated with great caution.

S.M.Mohamed Idris

President

Friends of the Earth Malaysia / Sahabat Alam Malaysia 

September 20, 2009

BY Hornbill Unleashed Editor

Press statement by See Chee How, lawyer and Keadilan Sarawak Information Chief, in Kuching on 19.09.2009

See Chee How, a lawyer acting for Penans and indigenous communities in NCR land cases, today expressed his shock and disgust with Lihan Jok. See said Lihan, the Telang Usan State Assemblyman, did not tell the truth when he reportedly said that the Penans had agreed to dismantle blockades and to allow logging to resume in the timber concession areas.

See also called on the state government to take native customary rights land claims seriously, to salvage the state’s plummeting international reputation, in the interests of the state’s economic development, and to respect and uphold various court judgements that ruled in favour of Native Customary Rights (NCR) lands in Sarawak.

In a statement issued in a press conference in Kuching today, See said that he was present at the meeting between Lihan Jok and the Penan headmen, village representatives and villagers in Long Bangan last Tuesday (15 Sept 2009) and has first-hand knowledge of what had transpired during and after the meeting.

Video inside :-

Showing video clip footage at the press conference, See Chee How said that Lihan Jok had called for the meeting with the Penans at Long Bangan. Lihan arrived at the Penan settlement in a helicopter, with representatives from the Miri Resident’s Office and District Office. On a separate road convoy in support of Lihan Jok’s trip were logging company representatives, a Penghulu and one Ajeng Kau, former President of the Sarawak Penan Association.

“Hopeful that the State Assemblymen will convey the state government’s pledge to recognize their native customary land rights as they were notified, 16 village headmen and their representatives together with more than 200 Penan had gathered in Long Bangan with anticipation,” See said.

“The village headmen and their representatives presented community surveyed maps showing the 16 Penan communities’ native customary rights land boundaries, with a letter to be signed by Lihan Jok acknowledging their native customary rights. They wanted the State Assemblyman to sign his acknowledgement on the letter and the maps.”

The villages represented at the meeting were Long Win, Long Nen, Long Belok, Long Kerangan, Long Lutin, Long Lilim, Long Dilo, Ba Kabing, Long Liwe, Long Iman, Long Siang, Ba Selulung, Ba Marong, Long Lunyim Pelutan and Long Lateh.

“After hours of speeches and a break for discussion between the Penan headmen and village representatives with officers from the Resident Office, the headmen and village representatives had relaxed on their demands, saying that they only wanted Lihan Jok to give a written commitment to bring in the government’s surveyors to verify the NCR boundary maps presented by the 16 Penan communities. And Lihan Jok was allowed to state the time he needed to take such a single small step to show the state government’s commitment to recognize their native customary land rights,” said See.

“To the disappointment of the Penan village headmen, representatives and all those present in Long Bangan, Lihan Jok refused and rejected the good gestures of the Penan leaders, saying that he had no authority to commit on the Penan’s native customary land rights.”

“The village headmen and representatives of the 16 Penan settlements in the vicinity of Long Bungan present at the meeting therefore unanimously objected to the dismantling of the blockade, and this clearly angered Lihan Jok who then ended the meeting abruptly and stomped out with his entourage.”

The blockade in Long Bangan was dismantled the next day by the police, army personnel, government officials and logging company workers, completely without the people’s consent. This is in direct contradiction of what has been reported in the mainstream media.

“It appears that the citizens’ group which produced the video footages will soon upload them into websites, blogs and u-tube hence allowing the international communities to understand the truth behind the dismantling of the blockades in Baram, exposing the fallacies behind Lihan Jok’s statement.”

“State leaders like Alfred Jabu and Lihan Jok should be held responsible for Sarawak’s plummeting international reputation. The revelation of the Task force Report on the alleged sexual abuses of Penan girls and women has exposed the state’s neglect for the wellbeing of the rural minority groups. The suppression of truths concerning their aspiration and dissent will only fuel the anger and agitation of right thinking people, in the country and abroad.”

“Now, we have elected government representative spinning truth about the forced dismantling of the symbolic blockades.”

“As expected, the state Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu has come out to question the signatures in the memorandum on Murum Dam. It is just customary and typical of Alfred Jabu to doubt and deny any criticism on the state’s misdeed.”

“The denial syndrome suffered by our state leaders will not help the state in the long run. The native customary rights land claims are real and the state government must take it seriously. The blockades in Baram and the presentation of Memorandum on Murum Dam are not isolated cases of the native communities asserting their native customary rights to land. Similar blockades and protests are reported in Suai, Pantu, Simunjan and Julau.”

“The state government must take these native customary rights land claims seriously, to salvage the state’s plummeting international reputation and in the interests of the state’s economic development particularly in rural and semi-rural Sarawak.”

“The Sarawak Government of 46 years must correct the injustice and disrespect of the Native Customary Rights of our original inhabitants,” See concluded.

RIGHTS-MALAYSIA:Win Some, Lose Some for Beleaguered Penan Tribe 
By Baradan Kuppusamy

KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 21 (IPS) - In wealthy Malaysia that employs over four million Asians to service its high- rolling lifestyle, a tiny indigenous tribe is fighting for its survival against state inaction and bureaucratic apathy, as well as marauding giant multinationals and timber loggers.

It is an increasingly losing battle for the Penan, a tribe of about 12,000 semi- nomadic people fighting against destruction of their home in the jungles of Sarawak state in East Malaysia, home to the world’s oldest rain forest and a complex ecosystem. 

The state’s wildlife and unique tropical ecosystem are equally under threat from loggers who swing into the forest felling the best trees, leaving giant oil palm plantations while clearing the logged forest to grow more palm oil. 

In recent months about 3,000 Penan in the Bakun area in upper Rejang River – the second longest river in the country – faced severe food shortage for various reasons, including drought sparked by deforestation. Food supplies had to be airlifted after church groups raised the alarm. 

Exacerbating their already harsh living condition is that Penan women and children are being raped by loggers and their workers, according to a long- delayed government report that concluded in mid-September what human rights activists and non-governmental organisations had been saying for at least a decade. 

But despite evidence of sexual assaults, Malaysian police are dragging their feet in investigating the cases and bringing the culprits to justice. 

"They don’t take the Penan people seriously; they give all kinds of excuses (for their inaction)," Ragunath Kesavan, leading rights lawyer and president of the Malaysian Bar Council, an association of legal practitioners, told IPS. "(The) Penan might be semi-nomadic and live differently. Nevertheless they are (still) citizens and have the same rights to protection under the laws as other citizens." 

The beleaguered tribals are fighting back in the way they know best — with spears and blowpipes with which they arm themselves when staging their blockades, and the media. Assisted by a network of supporters here and abroad, they are using the press to shame the government for their alleged inaction and force concession. 

The rate of deforestation in Malaysia is estimated to be the fastest in any tropical country in the world, according to United Nations data. The Food and Agriculture Organisation, a U.N. agency, shows the annual deforestation rate jumped almost 86 percent between the periods 1990-2000 and 2000-2005. 

Annually, Malaysia has lost an average of 140,200 hectares or 0.65 percent of its forest area since 2000. 

Oil palm plantation acreage and world palm oil output increased dramatically as the forest vanished during the same period. The prized commodity is now the world’s most important edible oil in global production and consumption. 

Between 2006 and 2007, it held approximately 32 percent of the market share of all edible oils by production in comparison to soybean oil, which comprised about 29 percent of the world market for oils. 

Malaysia and Indonesia produce the majority of the world’s palm oil, accounting for approximately 86 percent of the total global production. 

Malaysia has a policy framework for sustainable forest management based on its National Forestry Act of 1984. Yet on the ground, rampant logging is the norm, sources said. 

Though faced with an uphill battle on several fronts, the Penan are chalking up some victories. They are successfully blocking logging roads with barricades, raising hues and cries in the Malaysian media while bringing their woes to the Malaysian parliament. 

Opposition lawmakers are now actively taking up their cause and speaking up for their rights – a far cry from the 1980s when blockades installed by the tribe were broken up and protest put down with brute force. 

Then, too, there is considerable sympathy for the Penan among the local population. An awakened electorate concedes the Penan have the right to preserve their habitat and traditional lifestyle. 

Amid these developments is the state’s glaring inaction on the plight of its indigenous population, advocates say, who noted that it had only paid lip service to the U.N.. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that it voted to adopt in 2007. 

"This inaction to protect and promote and recognise their indigenous people is alarming," said human rights lawyer Ragunath Kesavan. "The sexual abuse faced by the Penan is but one of a multitude of human rights violations that indigenous communities face. Their traditions, customs and values are being eroded and their needs have been long neglected." 

He added that it is time "the government formally recognizes, protects and guarantees the right of indigenous peoples to their ancestral lands and to gazette such ancestral lands as reserved areas." 

Pressured from every side to aid the Penan tribe and stop the destruction of their habitat, the authorities — in an unprecedented move — reached out to the tribal group to iron out a peace deal. 

According to the mass-circulated ‘Star’ daily around the third week of September, the Sarawak government, prodded by the federal government in Kuala Lumpur, had agreed to several Penan demands as preconditions for ending the anti-logging blockades, which had significantly hurt the profits of the timber companies. The concessions include state recognition of the Penan as the original settlers of the island of Borneo, right to ancestral land and farmland for the semi- nomadic tribe. Other concessions include the provision of basic infrastructure, including housing complete with electricity and water, clinics, kindergartens and primary schools; official aid for rubber tree planting and fruit farming; and skills training. 

Local officials claimed the Penan have acceded to these compromised solutions. Promising "positive results within three months," they said that with the "peace deal," the Penan have agreed to allow logging to resume, the ‘Star’ daily quoted them as saying. 

The deal, however, was rejected by some Penan and questioned by rights NGO, saying the concessions were only on paper, adding that allowing logging to resume is inimical to the Penan’s interests in the long run. 

They warned that the anti-logging protest and blockades would resume if the promises were not kept.