Extracted from Malaysiakini

Penan sexual abuse: Work with us, NGOs tell police

Fauwaz Abdul Aziz | Dec 10, 08 5:55pm

NGOs and grassroots organisations close to the Penan communities in Baram, Sarawak, have urged the police to work with closely them - rather than treat them with antagonism - to get to the bottom of the Penan sexual abuse ontroversy.

The groups also called for the police to stop accusing NGOs such as the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) of being unco-operative and coaxing victims into distorting the issue.

Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC) co-ordinator Colin Nicholas (right) said contrary to statements that NGOs were evading police attempts to contact them for information on the issue, he and other activists had always offered their full co-operation and assistance.

"To say that the NGOs are not co-operating with the police is not true," Nicholas told a press conference today the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

Several months ago, the Swiss-based BMF reported allegations that workers from logging companies operating in Baram had been sexually abusing and raping women and girls from Penan villages in the area.

While it was claimed that the loggers would sometimes come into the villages and abuse the women and girls, the latter would be further victimised when they travelled in the buses provided by the logging companies to transport them to school.

BMF said the perpetrators, who were usually drunk, also targeted young girls who stayed home during school holidays. Complaints made to local police and authorities reportedly had no effect.

COAC activist Jenita Engi, meanwhile, said she took exception to the insinuation made by top police officers - such as Bukit Aman CID chief Mohd Bakri Zinin - through the media that NGOs had ostensibly ‘sheltered’ two of the alleged Penan victims of rape and sexual abuse in Kuala Lumpur for nine days in order to coax them into distorting the issue.

She said in the past few weeks, the two - aged 17 and 21 - had freely given their statements to the police in Bukit Aman, Kuala Lumpur.

Giving victims strength

Jenita also pointed out that the only reason NGOs had sheltered them for nine days before taking them to Bukit Aman to have their statements recorded was to help them muster enough courage and confidence to relate their ordeals.

"When they came here, they did not know who we were. We were outsiders to them. To gather enough strength (to express themselves) takes a very long time because we needed to get close to them," said Jenita.

"We cannot fault the NGOs by saying they ‘kept’ them for nine days in order to teach them what to say. That is not correct."

Commenting on this, Nicholas said Bakri’s statement demonstrated the "insensitivity and lack of understanding among the police top brass of rape and sexual abuse victims, especially those from isolated, marginalised and long-abused communities".

Nicholas also noted that female Penan villagers did not trust male police officers in general, and those from the local, district and state police stations, in particular.

Most notably, the reason for this distrust was the police’s inaction on reports of sexual abuse and rape, some dating back 14 years, he added.

Highlighting a 1994 report of a 12-year-old Penan girl, allegedly raped by a policeman, which the police had failed to act upon, Nicholas said this was happening again in the present case highlighted by BMF.

Nicholas, however, commended the professionalism displayed by the women police officers at Bukit Aman’s sexual assault unit.

"We really respect the women officers in the unit, they have been doing their work professionally, we trust them, and I think we can work with them," said Nicholas.

Kuching-based lawyer See Chee How, who also acts as legal advisor for the Penan Support Group, criticised news organisations in Sarawak, which he claimed were part of the state government’s attempt to "whitewash" the scandal.

This included attempts to portray the forced marriages between the loggers and Penan women and girls who had been sexually assaulted, as a result of their love affairs.

"We feel very sorry that such newspapers have gone to that extent of helping the government to cover up the whole thing," said See.