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Extracted from Malaysiakini
Decade-long struggle bags rights award
Dec 9,
When
75-year-old Sagong Tasi and six others from his village in Selangor took the
government and a powerful corporation to court over a land dispute 10 years ago,
many were pessimistic about their chances.
But with perseverance and determination and after countless visits to the
courts, the villagers succeeded in defying the odds.
It resulted in a landmark judgment by the Shah Alam
High Court and the ruling was recently upheld by the Court of Appeal on Sept
19.
They collectively took on the federal and Selangor state governments, Malaysian
Highway Authority (MHA) and construction giant United Engineers
The High Court had ordered UEM and MHA to pay damages for trespassing on the
ancestral land to build a highway to the
For the first time, a Malaysian court gave recognition to Orang Asli native
land titles under common law.
Today, the Temuan Orang Asli Community from Kampung Bukit Tampoi in Dengkil was
presented with the 2005 Human Rights Award for their ‘hard earned’ victory.
The award,
from leading human rights organisation Suaram, was presented during a ceremony
at a hotel in
After
receiving the award from last year’s winner, a representative for the Temuan
community Ikam Senin described the recognition as a great honour.
Also present
was a beaming Sagong, who related their struggle to the 80-odd audience. “We
fought because we were unhappy that our rights had been stripped,” he said.
Other
nominees
The villagers had defeated two other nominees: a group of pro-democracy
students who highlighted the irregularities in campus elections as well as
anti-incinerator campaigners from Broga, a small village located south of
The winner was picked by a nine-member panel of judges based on six criteria -
the gravity of human rights violations, awareness raised, level of empowerment,
sustainability of the movement, inspiration to others and the overall human
rights situation in the country.
The Suaram Human Rights Award was initiated in 1999 and is presented annually.
Previous winners of the human rights award were the villagers of Kuala
Kuang from Perak and the workers of Euromedical Industry from
Kedah (2004), Ladang Braemar Workers (2003), Human
Rights and Police Watch Committee (2002), the Damansara Save Our School Committee and the
ISA family support group (2001), the reformasi movement (2000)
and the Kampung Sungai Nipah community for fighting against
eviction (1999).
The award
ceremony was held in conjunction with the commemoration of the International
Human Rights Day which will be observed globally tomorrow.
The human rights body also launched its