NGOs want Bukit Aman to head probe on alleged harassment of Penan women ref Malaysiakini

KUALA LUMPUR: Thirty-three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the Bar Council want Bukit Aman instead of the Sarawak police to investigate the alleged sexual abuse of Penan women and girls by loggers.

They said this on Wednesday, citing non-action over the alleged rape of a 12-year-old Penan girl back in 1994 and other abuses.

The NGOs said in a statement the affected communities had “expressed a serious lack of confidence in the Sarawak police due to their long-standing dealings with them” and the perpetuation of abuse with impugnity.

Referring to the reports of rape, sexual abuse and exploitation of Penan girls and women in The Star on Oct 6, they said that despite the serious nature of the allegations Sarawak police had been dismissive, insisting a report be lodged before an investigation commences.

They questioned police commitment since the Marudu police had stated that they had found no evidence of abuse but “temporary” marriages between Penan women and loggers.

On Tuesday, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen announced the setting up of a task force to look into the plight of Penan women and girls.

“We are going to investigate this thoroughly. This cannot happen, and we must protect our women and children, especially those in the minority groups,” Dr Ng had said.

She added that two women’s NGOs – the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) and Women’s Centre for Change Penang – would be members of the task force.

UN signatory
At a press conference at the Bar Council on Wednesday, its chairman Datuk Ambiga said that Malaysia was a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Under Article 7, she said that as individuals, indigenous people have “the right to life, physical and mental integrity, liberty and security”; and that as a group, they have “the collective right to live in freedom, peace and security as distinct peoples and shall not be subjected to any act of genocide or any other act of violence, including forcibly removing children of the group to another group.”

“The task force is one step towards showing Malaysia’s commitment to the UNDRIP but we must keep up the pressure so the incidents of rape and abuse stop,” said Ambiga.

“One of the strengths of good governance is not how well the Government looks after the majority but its minority and vulnerable groups.

“The Malaysian Bar has always stood up for the rights of the orang asli (aborigines) and we call on the Sarawak Bar Association to take steps to ensure the rights of the Penans are protected.”

(Under Sarawak and Sabah immigration laws, peninsular lawyers may not practise or give legal advice there without a work permit.)

WAO executive director Ivy Josiah, who said the task force had yet to meet, said WAO would like indigenous women represented in the task force.

“WAO would like the task force to not just devise programmes but go on a fact-finding mission to see for ourselves the situation.

“We need to find out from the community what are their needs and how they can be met; and investigations should be carried out in a way sensitive to the victims and the culture.

“We should have absolute access because there have been times when activists have been denied this.”

She said investigations should be conducted swiftly and quickly, adding that rapists must be prosecuted to send a strong message that the authorities will not be tolerate this crime anymore.

Biased or incompetent
Colin Nicholas, Centre for Orang Asli Concerns coordinator, called for investigations to “be conducted by Bukit Aman because the Sarawak police has shown itself by its inquiries in 1994 to be either biased or incompetent.”

“This is just the latest in a series of such incidences,” added Nicholas, who had inquired into the rape of the 12-year-old girl.

Noting that Malaysia was a state party to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women and Convention on the Rights of the Child, Suaram executive director Yap Swee Seng urged the Government to protect the victims as well as activist-whistleblowers who were often later discriminated against.

Asked whether the “temporary” customary marriages the Sarawak police said they had found between Penan girls and loggers was normal, Nicholas said that traditional marriages were simple affairs and were between locals.

“When outsiders take advantage of a local custom, especially in light of the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act, that is an abuse; these are not marriages of convenience but a breaking of the law,” said Nicholas, who was also representing the Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia.

On how the task force could ensure safe passage to and from school for Penan children when even the driver of government-provided-transport may be bribed to drop them off at logging camps, Josiah replied:

“It’s possible but we hope that with awareness-building the perpetrators will realise that they cannot act with impunity anymore.

“Hopefully with the current media attention and investigations a strong message will be sent.”

On whether logging companies could be held accountable for the criminal actions of their employees outside the camp, Ambiga said:

“No. But the task force could probably call up the employers and ask them to rein in their workers.

“The best way to stop all this is to prosecute. It’s a shame these problems have been around for years; the question is why no action was taken?”

She added that, even if police investigations were incomplete, the employer could commence its own domestic inquiry and take action against its worker if it found prima-facie evidence against him.

She agreed that logging companies should show greater social responsibility to the indigenous peoples living in the areas they had been given logging concessions.

Ambiga added it would be worthwhile to explore the question of civil liability of logging companies whose workers abused Penan women and girls.

KL Legal Aid Centre chairman Ravi Nekoo, who had first been approached by the Sarawakians for help on the issue, said the matter should have been taken more seriously by the police and state government when it was highlighted.