|
|
Extracted from Malaysiakini
Rape of
Penan women: Activist assists police probe
Syed Jaymal Zahiid
| Nov 22,
Prominent
anthropologist and activist
Nicholas said he was contacted by
police three days ago, ordering him to come to the Bukit
Aman police headquarters at
"They
asked me if I knew people from the (Swiss non-governmental organisation)
Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) and asked me for the contact
details of my Penan friends but I did not give them (the details)," he
told Malaysiakini
via telephone yesterday.
Nicholas said
the allegations of sexual abuse surfaced in 1994 when seven NGOs
embarked on a fact finding mission in Sarawak after their counterparts in the
state - who had received complaints of rights abuses from the Penan people -
had asked for assistance.
Representatives
from the NGOs, including Nicholas, then held a press conference to reveal their
findings and claimed that there had been various cases of sexual abuse of Penan
women by logging company workers.
"The
police also asked me about the press conference, but the case was in 1994 and
we have already lodged police reports over the matter. Only now we are being
told that the case has been handed over to the Attorney-General’s office,"
he added.
Nicholas said
the procrastination in launching an investigation and the slow response of the
authorities has been very disappointing.
"I told them
that we have no trust for the police because of the pre-judgment they have
about Penan people. They are insensitive and have acted with bias in handling
the matter," he said.
The
investigation today lasted for about an hour and a half and no lawyers were
present, said Nicholas.
Political cover up?
About a week
ago, BMF had expressed worries over the Malaysian authorities'
handling of enquiries into the alleged sexual abuse of Penan women by logging
company workers in
Despite two recent
police reports lodged by Penan women who became pregnant after being allegedly
raped by loggers, Inspector-General of Police Musa Hasan had claimed in a statement to the Borneo Post that "none of the10
rape cases" investigated by the police in Baram had been linked to the
allegations made public by BMF in September.
BMF claims
there are attempts to cover up the cases so as not to adversely effect the
The NGO in a
statement said that reports of sexual abuse such as a case reported by a Penan
victim at the Kuching central police station on
The Swiss NGO
further claimed that several victims and key witnesses were currently hiding in
the forest for fear of intimidation.
