Malaysian Government Finally Publishes Report on Investigation of Sexual Abuse of Penan Girls by Loggers and Merchants
Link to a repost of Malaysiakini's article (Hornbill Unleashed):
<http://hornbillunleashed.wordpress.com/2009/09/08/3766>
This link also includes links to the official report and to a You Tube video on its release.
Statement of the PENAN SUPPORT GROUP* on the RAPE AND SEXUAL ABUSE OF PENAN GIRLS AND WOMEN IN BARAM, SARAWAK
11 September 2009
In September 2008, news broke out that Penan girls, some as young as
10 years, were being sexually abused by logging workers in the Middle
Baram area of Sarawak. However, local politicians and the police were
quick to dismiss these as mere allegations without any basis.
Such lackadaisical attitudes compelled the Ministry of Women, Family
and Community Development to establish a National Task Force
comprising ministry officials and women NGO representatives to
investigate the ‘allegations’. Aided by local activists in Sarawak,
they were able to meet with some of the victims and their families in
November 2008.
Ten months later, on 8 September 2009, the report was finally made
public. The findings, however, were not surprising – the rapes and
sexual abuse did occur and the Penan girls are still vulnerable
because of the lack of policing and development in their area.
The police, it appears, are still in denial. Or at best, are
ineffectual.
The Associated Press reported that Huzir Mohamed, the head of
Sarawak's police criminal investigations department, probed three
complaints last year but found "nothing with proper evidence for us to
proceed in court." Huzir also insinuated that this was due in part
because “the activists did not give specific details to support their
claims”.
We take offence to this statement and perception. We maintain that it
is the police who have dragged their feet in this matter before back-
pedalling on their earlier willingness to work with NGOs on this matter.
For the record, it should be stressed that it was the police who
invited us to the meeting with the IGP and other senior police
officers at Bukit Aman on 2 January 2009. The police knew they were
unable to get the victims and the witnesses to come forward to give
information and statements simply because the Penans did not trust the
police. Instead, they trusted the NGOs more.
At this meeting, the IGP pledged that Bukit Aman would give its
fullest support to a Police-NGO joint investigation mission.
Towards this end, Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Mohd Zinin, the Director of
the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), together with senior
police officers from Sarawak, met with Sarawakian NGOs on 20 January
2009 in Kuching. The purpose was to discuss logistics and terms of
references for the joint investigation mission.
As requested, a draft Terms of Reference (TOR) for the joint
investigation mission and a proposed itinerary for a week-long mission
were subsequently submitted for their approval. The Sarawak NGOs gave
an assurance that the police team would be able to meet the Penan
victims and witnesses, but in neutral venues that were acceptable to
the Penans.
It took the police seven (7) months to respond. At another meeting on
17 August 2009 in Kuching with SAC Huzir Mohamed of the Sarawak
Police, the Miri Resident Officer and some others, we were told that
the RM100,000.00 allocated for the joint-investigation mission by the
Sarawak Police Contingent was only for their use and not for the NGO’s
participation.
In short, we got the impression that they did not want the NGOs to be
involved in the investigation. Our role was only to make sure the
Penan victims and witnesses turned up at the place and date of
interview as appointed by the police. The official written reply from
the CID Director dated 27 August 2009 suggested that this was so.
It was also clear from the meeting on 17 August 2009 that the police
and the authorities were incapable of appreciating the fact that the
crux of the whole issue at hand is the distrust the Penans have for
the police and the authorities, let alone the loggers.
So, to entrust the Resident's Office to provide personnel such as
interpreters and to depend on the logging companies for transport, as
suggested at the meeting, is as good as saying you are not interested
in getting to the truth of the matter.
The police may cite procedure and laws for not going ahead with the
IGP’s pledge to have a joint Police-NGO investigation mission, but
their willingness to work with parties that are a part of the problem,
leads us to suspect the sincerity of the police in their handling of
the sexual abuses cases among the Penans.
The Penan Support Group considers the long-occurring sexual abuse of
the Penan girls a hideous crime. It is also a distressing symptom of
the overall situation the Penans and other vulnerable indigenous
groups in Sarawak are facing today. We are committed to seeking
justice for the victims and to expose and correct the wrongs being
committed in Penan society.
For further information, please contact:
See Chee How: 019-8886509
Colin Nicholas: 013-3508058
for the Penan Support Group, 11 September 2009
* The Penan Support Group is a loose coalition of 35 non-governmental
organisations in Malaysia.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Statement from the Malaysian Bar: Lack of political will to uphold rights of indigenous peoples
The Malaysian Bar is disappointed at the Government’s continuing lack
of political will to promote and protect the welfare and rights of
indigenous peoples throughout Malaysia. The Government’s 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 Ministry
of Women, Family and Community Development finally made the report
publicly available only after pressure from various interest groups.
We are further disappointed that despite the Inspector-General of
Police’s pledge of full support for a joint police-NGO investigative
mission, the Sarawak police have now reportedly stated that the funds
allocated for the project are not sufficient to fund the participation
of NGO representatives.
The sexual abuse faced by the Penans is but one of a multitude of
human rights violations that indigenous communities face on an ongoing
basis, and which are inextricably inter-linked. 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 September, 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.
Change is possible. More can, and must, be done.
We therefore echo our earlier call, made in a resolution that was
unanimously adopted at the Malaysian Bar’s 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 September 2009
AND STATE MINISTER'S POSITION.....
11 Septmber 2009
Government To Study Report On Penan Women Sexual Abuse
KUCHING, Sept 11 (Bernama) -- The Sarawak government will study and take action based on the recommendation of the findings of the National Task Force set up by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry on sexual harassments against Penan women in the state, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu said on Friday.
Jabu, who is also the minister-in-charge of Penan Affairs, however said he had not received the report, which was made public this week as a result of the investigation involving several Penan settlements, four primary and two secondary schools in the Baram district, including Long Item, Long Kawi, Long Luteng, Long Muboi and Ba' Keluan since November last year.
The matter, including the documentation of at least eight cases of rape and molesting of Penan women and girls by timber workers in the report, would be referred to the state cabinet and discussed once he had receive it, he told reporters after the launching of the facelift version of the Mitsubishi Triton model here.
The report, among others, recommended the appointment of 'trusted' lorry drivers and student management assistants to escort Penan schoolchildren back to their villages and the need for awareness programmes on personal safety, sex education and violence against women to address the problem.
The report also found that the Penans had little access to registration, healthcare and education due to poverty and the remoteness of their settlements while many did not have personal documents.
The Penans also felt neglected because of negative perceptions and prejudices against them and their children had a high drop-out rate at school.
Jabu said the state government was concerned about the welfare of the Penans as such issues were likely to be manipulated by the opposition and negative foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
It would be unfair if such NGOs and foreign media chose to capitalise on the three percent of the estimated 16,281 Penans who still remained nomadic in the jungles for their own ulterior motives, he said.
"We don't mind if it is balanced reporting but there had been a lot of manufactured lies," Jabu who is also State Rural Development Minister said, adding that he had been dealing with the Penans for the past 40 years.
-- BERNAMA
Sept. 8, 2008 Statement by Bruno Manser Fonds (Switzerland), which originally published reports in 2008 of years of sexual abuses of Penan girls allegations by loggers:
Malaysian government report confirms Penan girls were raped by loggers
Bruno Manser Fund asks for legal and political consequences
One year after the Bruno Manser Fund launched a campaign against sexual abuse of indigenous Penan girls and women by logging company workers in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak, a Malaysian government report confirms the Penan’s allegations of sexual abuse by loggers.
According to the independent news service Malaysiakini, a hitherto confidential report by the Malaysian Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development lists at least eight cases of sexual abuse of Penan girls and women by logging company workers and says that several of the victims were schoolgirls as young as 10.
The report concludes that “allegations of sexual abuse of Penan girls and women by outsiders dealing with the Penan, including logging company workers and merchants, did indeed take place.” It quotes two victims as saying that it is a regular and common occurence for logging camp workers to sexually abuse girls who hitch rides to and from school.
The report said the girls’ vulnerability, widespread poverty and “dependency on the logging companies for transportation into towns, including sending and ferrying of children to and from school” were among the reasons for incidents of sexual abuse.
The report contains the results of an investigation conducted by the Malaysian ministry for Women, Family and Community Development in November 2008 and was released under growing pressure from civil society groups and the opposition. It contradicts statements by leading Sarawak politicians, including Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu, who had condemned the Bruno Manser Fund for making the Penan’s allegations of sexual abuse public.
On 15 September 2008, the Bruno Manser Fund had informed the public on allegations of Penan women that they were being sexually abused by employees of Samling and Interhill, two logging companies operating in Sarawak’s Middle Baram region. Both companies denied the allegations.
The Bruno Manser Fund welcomes the release of the report by the Minister for Women, Family and Community development. However, it is disturbing to note that it has taken the Malaysian government a full year to compile this report which apparently has not had any legal consequences for the perpetrators. It is high time that the responsibles of the crimes described in the report will face the legal consequences of their conduct. It would also seem appropriate that such a scandal should have political consequences at the state level.
Bruno Manser Fund, Socinstrasse 37, 4051 Basel, Switzerland, www.bmf.ch, info@bmf.ch | 
