'New evidence' uncovered of Penan rape

Systematic sexual abuse by loggers continues in Sarawak despite denials by the state government with seven additional Penan victims coming forward to seek justice.

The Penan Support Group (PSG), a coalition of 36 NGOs, released an intricately researched report in Parliament today, describing the distressing ordeals of the Penan women and their communities.

The hard-hitting report said the sexual crimes are “allowed to flourish” because of widespread poverty, deprivation of land rights, citizenship and basic services, as well as lack of respect for rural communities, their autonomy and their calls for justice.

The PSG also highlighted the failure of authorities to respond to the shocking findings of a national ministerial task force.

The task force report, initially kept under wraps by the cabinet, was finally made public last September by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, after coming under pressure from PKR Women's chief Zuraida Kamaruddin.

The ministry's task force had confirmed eight instances of loggers sexually abusing Penan girls and women, including a 10-year-old schoolgirl.

The PSG's own fact-finding mission ensued after the police reneged on a promise to investigate the sexual attacks by loggers, claiming a lack of funds.

The PSG visited Long Lamam, Long Ajeng and Long Mobui, over a week last November, and heard testimonies from members of 13 Penan communities gathered there, from Middle and Upper Baram.

The seven sexual abuse survivors interviewed by the PSG had never been documented previously. The youngest said she was only 14 when she was attacked. These seven women are further additions to the eight girls and women reported by the ministry's national task force.

The rapes of the Penan have drawn international condemnation, but have been brushed off by state ministers.

Chief Minister Taib Mahmud warned angrily, “check your information or you will be suspected by the decent people of Sarawak of trying to sabotage us”.

Land Development Minister James Masing told the BBC that “the Penan arevery good story-tellers” and suggested that the Penan are promiscuous at a young age.

Daud Abdul Rahman, a deputy minister in charge of Islamic affairs, was more concise: “To me, the reports of the sexual abuse of Penans are not true”.

Wider context of abuse

The PSG fact-finding mission brought in representatives from the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, Tebtebba and the Asian Indigenous Women's Network, the Malaysian Bar Council, Suaram and the Centre for Orang Asli Concerns and Sarawakian NGOs.

“The mission found that women were willing to share their stories, but they did not want to go to the authorities owing to the police's lackadaisical responses in the past and further obstacles including the lack of identity cards, language barriers and the prohibitive cost of travel,” said John Liu (left) of Suaram.

The PSG report portrayed a pattern of sexual violence, with the common themes of rape, deception, abduction, beatings, emotional abuse, coercion into fake marriages and desertion upon pregnancy.

The loggers were said to have behaved like predators: they intruded into Penan villages at will, entering houses without consent, or abducting their victims and taking them to logging camps.

The PSG underscored the wider context of the loggers' intrusion into native lands that has facilitated the sexual crimes and has further impoverished rural Sarawakian communities.

“Logging and other land exploitation has not just cost communities, like the Penans loss of control over land…but also loss of control over decisions affecting their present and future lives,” the report argued.

“The close relationship between timber companies and the ruling political elite - 'timber politics' - has long been acknowledged and many have argued that this has meant that the political will to monitor and enforce the law, to ensure sustainable and legal forestry practices, is fatally compromised.”

The report pointed out criticisms of Sarawak's poor monitoring of logging and low standards of forestry, including those outlined in the 2008 Auditor-General's Report.

“Logging is extensive, lucrative and in the hands of a few companies close to the ruling political elite,” the report stated.

“There is the argument that tax evasion has diverted much of the resource exploitation proceeds from the state (which could then have been used for capital accumulation or poverty alleviation programmes) to the pockets of politicians and corporations.”

The PSG quoted Suhakam's 2007 account of the neglect of the rights of Sarawak's indigenous people:

“While Suhakam recognises that logging and oil palm plantation activities contribute to the country's development, it appears that the Penans do not benefit from this.

“Rather, logging, oil palm plantation and forestry activities have added constraints on the development of the Penans and has further displaced this community given their distinct economic, social and cultural life… the survival, livelihood and development of the Penans is further stunted as a majority of them live in abject poverty.”

Endemic lawlessness

The PSG described endemic lawlessness in Baram, because the logging companies are let loose to do as they please.

“Attempts to protect their land and their land rights, culture and future sustainability (have) often brought the Penans into conflict with both state authorities and logging companies, such conflict being often conducted with threats and intimidation… and on occasion with actual violence,” the PSG report said.

“This environment of violence gives an important wider context to the sexual violence perpetrated against Penan women and girls,” the PSG explained.

The PSG's recommendations included a royal commission into indigenous people's land issues.

The PSG urged concrete action to improve extremely poor access to health, education, national registration, transportation and clean water.

It called on the federal and state governments to adopt a new model of development, one that incorporates respect for these rural communities' values, culture and rights to self-determination and redress.

The PSG also asked for action by intergovernmental bodies, Parliament and the state assembly, Suhakam, Bursa Malaysia, and local NGOs to provide impetus to reform land rights and stop violence against rural indigenous communities.

The report concluded that “the way forward is simply to reverse the lack of respect and protection. A starting point is suggested by the remark by one of the women from Long Item: 'The ultimate solution is to revoke the logging licences.'”

Photos: Penan Support Group

courtesy of Malaysiakini