"There is no question that the state government will call in the police and the field force to break the Murum and Baram blockades.
"The question is when," land rights lawyer and Sarawak PKR vice chairperson See Chee How (below) told Malaysiakini.
"I do not expect the police to compromise, or to give an ear to the aggrieved natives. Didn't the Belaga police already fire a gunshot, albeit into the air, at the Penan blockade?"
"The question is when," land rights lawyer and Sarawak PKR vice chairperson See Chee How (below) told Malaysiakini.
"I do not expect the police to compromise, or to give an ear to the aggrieved natives. Didn't the Belaga police already fire a gunshot, albeit into the air, at the Penan blockade?"
A Penan man arrested at a blockade of the Murum dam, Ngang Buling from Long Singu, said a policeman named Sufian had fired into the air to intimidate the Penan.
Ngang told a citizen journalist from People's Documentary that the policeman then insisted to his colleagues at the Belaga police station that his name bekept out of the police report on the incident.
See, a state assemblyperson , was voicing his concern over the safety of the Dayak communities opposing the massive Murum and Baram hydro-electric dams.
Ngang told a citizen journalist from People's Documentary that the policeman then insisted to his colleagues at the Belaga police station that his name bekept out of the police report on the incident.
See, a state assemblyperson , was voicing his concern over the safety of the Dayak communities opposing the massive Murum and Baram hydro-electric dams.
These "mega dams" are being built by Sarawak Energy, chaired by Hamed Sepawi, first cousin of Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.
Beneficiaries of construction contracts for the dams in Bakun and Murum, and a water reservoir dam in Bengoh, have included Naim, chaired by Hamed Sepawi, and Cahya Mata Sarawak or CMS, run by group deputy chairperson, Taib's son, Mahmud.
Hundreds of Penan, Kenyah and other Dayaks in Murum and Baram have placed rudimentary blockades across access roads to the dam construction sites, and filed lawsuits against Taib, to oppose the projects on their ancestral land.
These are the largest acts of civil disobedience we have witnessed since massive anti-logging blockades were crushed in the early 1990s.
See participated in a civil society fact-finding mission to Baram in 1994 that produced a landmark report, "Not Development But Theft".
Beneficiaries of construction contracts for the dams in Bakun and Murum, and a water reservoir dam in Bengoh, have included Naim, chaired by Hamed Sepawi, and Cahya Mata Sarawak or CMS, run by group deputy chairperson, Taib's son, Mahmud.Hundreds of Penan, Kenyah and other Dayaks in Murum and Baram have placed rudimentary blockades across access roads to the dam construction sites, and filed lawsuits against Taib, to oppose the projects on their ancestral land.
These are the largest acts of civil disobedience we have witnessed since massive anti-logging blockades were crushed in the early 1990s.
See participated in a civil society fact-finding mission to Baram in 1994 that produced a landmark report, "Not Development But Theft".
The report described alleged crimes against humanity that took place when the police dismantled the anti-logging barricades on behalf of timber companies.
In February 1992, an estimated 1,000 police personnel attacked hundreds of peaceful Penan protestors at a logging blockade at Pelutan Baram.
The large Sebatu blockade in Baram was similarly demolished by police and forestry department officers in September 1993.
Eye-witnesses described tear gas and live ammunition fired over the heads of screaming protesters.
Alleged crimes documented include rape, beatings and deaths from tear gas. The authorities have ignored the report since its publication 13 years ago.
When Taib and his uncle Abdul Rahman Ya'kub, his predecessor as chief minister, fought a bitter election campaign in 1987, public statements from them both confirmed that logging companies have long enjoyed the patronage and favour of Sarawak's mini-dynasty of chief ministers.
State ignores court rulings
"The state government is not bothered with the court actions filed, and more lawsuits soon to be filed, by the native communities affected by the megadams," See explained.
He said this was consistent with the state government's reaction towards the increasing number of judicial pronouncements, including that by the apex Federal Court, that indigenous communities in Sarawak have native customary rights (NCR) over land.
The courts have ruled that the timber licences and provisional leases for plantations granted by the government on NCR land are null and void, but the state government behaves as if the court rulings simply never exist.
One recent example of the Taib administration's denial was a presentation to the United Nations Human Rights Working Council on October 24.
The state government asserted that only "temuda", or communal farmland, is subject to NCR claims, ignoring Court of Appeal rulings that NCR clearly applies to "pemakai menoa", or land left fallow, and "pulau galau", or communal forests and rivers, as well as "temuda".
In February 1992, an estimated 1,000 police personnel attacked hundreds of peaceful Penan protestors at a logging blockade at Pelutan Baram.The large Sebatu blockade in Baram was similarly demolished by police and forestry department officers in September 1993.
Eye-witnesses described tear gas and live ammunition fired over the heads of screaming protesters.
Alleged crimes documented include rape, beatings and deaths from tear gas. The authorities have ignored the report since its publication 13 years ago.
When Taib and his uncle Abdul Rahman Ya'kub, his predecessor as chief minister, fought a bitter election campaign in 1987, public statements from them both confirmed that logging companies have long enjoyed the patronage and favour of Sarawak's mini-dynasty of chief ministers.
State ignores court rulings
"The state government is not bothered with the court actions filed, and more lawsuits soon to be filed, by the native communities affected by the megadams," See explained.
He said this was consistent with the state government's reaction towards the increasing number of judicial pronouncements, including that by the apex Federal Court, that indigenous communities in Sarawak have native customary rights (NCR) over land.The courts have ruled that the timber licences and provisional leases for plantations granted by the government on NCR land are null and void, but the state government behaves as if the court rulings simply never exist.
One recent example of the Taib administration's denial was a presentation to the United Nations Human Rights Working Council on October 24.
The state government asserted that only "temuda", or communal farmland, is subject to NCR claims, ignoring Court of Appeal rulings that NCR clearly applies to "pemakai menoa", or land left fallow, and "pulau galau", or communal forests and rivers, as well as "temuda".
"Communities' backs to the wall"
"The security forces are not concerned with the rightfulness of the NCR claims, they have simply stood by the decisions of the state government," See said.
Although Taib (right) portrays himself aschampion of Sarawakian autonomy, he has relied on the federal government to provide the police enforcement to allow takeovers of NCR land for logging concessions, oil palm plantations, and now megadams.
See has also criticised the local district police for inaction against armed thugs in Melikin, Serian, who savagely assaulted Iban NCR activists fighting oil palm plantation companies.
"The connection of state officials with the plantation companies operating in Melikin has been highly publicised in Sarawak Report, with compelling details," See said.
"The attitude of the state government towards NCR land claims, and the provisional leases granted, explains the indifference of state ministers and the police towards the allegations of illegal logging and land grabs."
Sarawak Report, an anti-corruption campaigning website, haspublished several Companies Commission of Malaysia documents, linking ownership of these plantation companies with two high-ranking state government ministers.
"The security forces are not concerned with the rightfulness of the NCR claims, they have simply stood by the decisions of the state government," See said.
Although Taib (right) portrays himself aschampion of Sarawakian autonomy, he has relied on the federal government to provide the police enforcement to allow takeovers of NCR land for logging concessions, oil palm plantations, and now megadams.See has also criticised the local district police for inaction against armed thugs in Melikin, Serian, who savagely assaulted Iban NCR activists fighting oil palm plantation companies.
"The connection of state officials with the plantation companies operating in Melikin has been highly publicised in Sarawak Report, with compelling details," See said.
"The attitude of the state government towards NCR land claims, and the provisional leases granted, explains the indifference of state ministers and the police towards the allegations of illegal logging and land grabs."
Sarawak Report, an anti-corruption campaigning website, haspublished several Companies Commission of Malaysia documents, linking ownership of these plantation companies with two high-ranking state government ministers.
"With state officials' vested interests in the mega dams, it is inevitable that more security forces will be called in to reinforce the police, army and field forces already stationed in Baram and Murum, to break the blockades," See said.
See expressed uncertainty over the likelihood of continued resistance, in the event of another incident of police brutality similar to that of the early 1990s.
"Generally, our folk are mild and yielding - they recognise and respect the role of the administration and the authorities as their guardians and providers.
"But when the government fails to fulfil those roles, we have come to the stage where the indigenous communities have their backs to the wall."
See expressed uncertainty over the likelihood of continued resistance, in the event of another incident of police brutality similar to that of the early 1990s.
"Generally, our folk are mild and yielding - they recognise and respect the role of the administration and the authorities as their guardians and providers.
"But when the government fails to fulfil those roles, we have come to the stage where the indigenous communities have their backs to the wall."
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