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Extracted from Malaysiakini
Penan rapes: Complaint to UN rapporteur
Susan Loone
Sep 22, 10 |
A regional human rights organisation has
expressed concern about the 'significant delay' in response by
Pooja Patel, the Forum-Asia representative in
However, the NGO remains deeply concerned that “no concrete measures have been
taken so far to act upon its findings and recommendations or bring perpetrators
to justice”.
Patel said that Forum-Asia, together with local indigenous support groups in
“We have also conducted research on the wider structural causes to the issue of
persistent sexual violence and exploitation faced by Penan women and girls,”
she said during a dialogue yesterday with James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental
freedoms of indigenous peoples.
“These include denial of their land rights and basic citizenship rights as well
as defunct mechanisms for redress and remedies.”
A copy of Patel's statement was made available to Malaysiakini.
She said Forum-Asia, based in
Anaya was asked to follow up with
It is learnt that he had communicated with the Malaysian government in November
2008, but has not received a response .
In July, the Penan Support Group, a coalition of 36 NGOs, had released a detailed report,
describing the ordeal of the Penan women and their communities.
The logging company Samling Global, which has
consistently denied the allegations, immediately reminded employees
in a circular that it does not tolerate criminal acts or inappropriate
behaviour, and that offenders will be reported to the authorities.
Explanation of delay
In a related development, the Malaysian delegate's
office in
Read on behalf of the government by Johan Ariff
Abdul Razak, it attributed the delay to official action
in progress at the time.
A high-level task force chaired by the women, family and community development
minister had only just been established at the time, and was undertaking its
own investigation on the issue of alleged sexual 
violence
against Penan women, said the statement.
The task force report, initially kept under wraps by the cabinet, was finally
made public in September last year after coming under pressure from PKR Women's
chief Zuraida Kamaruddin.
“It was only appropriate that the findings of the task-force be included in its
response to the special rapporteur's communication,”
said the statement.
“For its part, the government remains committed to ensuring that the Penan continue to reap the same benefits as other communities from
the nation's continued progress and development.
“In this connection, it is unfortunate that certain quarters, both domestically
and internationally, have sought to politicise the
situation of the Penan, which is not necessarily the most constructive
approach.”
According to government data, 97 percent of the Penan community have adopted a
settled lifestyle, with the remaining 3 percent -
numbering several hundreds - have retained their traditional nomadic way of
life.
It is this latter group which is at greater risk of potential human rights
violations, including sexual abuse, said the government.
It claimed that, like other indigenous communities in