NGOs condemn the arrest of seven NCR land owners

SIMUNJAN: Four non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have condemned the Police for the arrest of an activist, four longhouse chiefs and villagers on Thursday (21 October) and described such action as an act of intimidation and abuse of power by the authorities.

”We in Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS) view the recent arrest of seven Ibans from Sebuyau as an act of intimidation by the authorities. We believe that Nicholas Mujah and the other six villagers are wrongly accused of mischief.

“This is not the first time that the indigenous communities in Sarawak are accused of committing such a crime.

“Why do the police only decide to act now when numerous police reports were lodged by the villagers against the encroachment of the logging company, and no action was taken then?” asked Mark Bujang, BRIMAS executive director.

Bujang called on the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to start investigating as to how the logging licence was issued to the company especially if it is true that Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's sister, Raziah Mahmud is involved.

The Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) should also check whether any Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study has been done and approved for the logging activities, said Bujang.

“We find it a bit suspicious about the burning incident when Quality Concrete logging licence is about to expire this November,” he said.

Romuald Siew, President of Jaringan Tanah Hak Adat Bangsa Asal Sarawak (TAHABAS) also condemned the arrest of the villagers.

"Our communities have been oppressed and our rights neglected and trampled upon for too long.

“This is just another example of where the rich and powerful are bullying the natives so that they can become even richer at the expense of the natives,” he said.

"We stand in solidarity with the communities in Sebuyau, and demand that the authorities would release the seven Iban villagers immediately," said Siew.

Adrian Lasimbang, President of The Indigenous People Network of Malaysia (JAOS), while condemning the arrest, said that the non-recognition of their rights to NCR land will cause the loss of biodiversity and deforestation.

Rundi condemned

Two non-governmental organisations have slammed Assistant Minister for Public Health and Utilities Stephen Rundi for discouraging the natives from exercising their legal rights by taking their native customary rights (NCR) land disputes to court.

“The statement from Rundi shows how the state government under the current Barisan Nasional regime is not sincere about respecting and recognising the natives’ right to their customary land and resources and continue to make statements aimed to confuse the natives for their own selfish political agenda,” said Romuald Siew, president of Sarawak Native Customary Land Rights Network (Tahabas).

He was commenting on the statement by Rundi, who is the state assemblyman for Kemena that the best and the most effective way for the locals to claim Native customary rights (NCR) land is by submitting their applications to the government.

“Doing it through the courts would only benefit the lawyers,” he said, pointing out that he does not deny that the natives have rights to use the legal channels.

“But the best solution, which involves only a minimal cost would be to apply to the government,” Rundi said.

Responding to this, Siew said: “The natives have tried time and time again to get the government to recognise and respect our NCR, but most of the time the government could not be bothered.

“We have tried all the possible official channels including writing numerous letters, petitions and memorandums to get the state government to solve our land disputes and to get recognition and respect for our NCR.

"Some communities even did direct actions such as erecting blockades on their land or demonstrating peacefully, but until today, the government either ignores us or dismisses our claims,” said Siew.

“Now, where can the poor community seek redress for their NCR land problems? Of course, they have no choice but to engage a lawyer in order to seek redress through the legal channel.

“It is time consuming and costly for the natives, but what choice do they have when the government not only refuses to entertain their claims but keeps on arbitrarily issuing provisional leases to the big companies over their NCR land,” lamented Siew.

The Tahabas president said: “If the government is sincere, as a start Rundi should first look at the document titled, ‘Composite Plan Showing Distribution of Farming Land in Suai-Niah-Sibuti’ and use that as a reference to gazette the communal land boundaries of NCR areas in the Suai-Niah-Sibuti areas.”

Mark Bujang, Executive Director of Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS), pointed out that in the Baram District, the Brooke and British Colonial Administrations had recorded the communal land boundary of the NCR lands of the longhouses there in the ‘Register of Land Boundaries’ kept in the District Office, Marudi until today.

Mark also echoed the sentiments of TAHABAS to urge the government to also gazette the communal land boundaries immediately based on the records in the Register.

“As for areas where the communal land boundaries are yet to be recorded, the government should make its own efforts to go to the ground and assist the natives to record and gazette their boundaries,” said Mark.

Mark added: “Since the Courts have already decided that the communal land boundary of the NCR lands of the natives is based on or defined by the ‘antara’ or ‘garis menoa’ of their longhouses, the government should therefore comply with the said decisions by the Courts and immediately conduct joint ground surveys with the natives to identify and then gazette the communal land boundary of their longhouses.”

Can the government be charged for contempt of court when it (the government) refuses to comply with the court decisions? – The Broken Shield.

KROKONG DECLARATION

BAU: The three-day Borneo Forests Conference which was attended by representatives from Sabah, Sarawak, West and East Kalimantan ended on 9 July with calls to their respective governments of Malaysia and Indonesia to recognise the rights of the indigenous peoples of Borneo.

The conference was jointly organised by Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA), Borneo Resource Institute Malaysia (BRIMAS), Building Initiative in Indigenous Heritage, PACOS Trust, Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara, Indonesia, and Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia.

Called the Krokong Declaration, it reminds the two governments of their international human obligation to incorporate their rights into the national laws.

It also calls on the two governments to:

Ø ensure the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in all development policies, plans, assessments and implementation related to indigenous peoples subject to our free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).

Ø impose a moratorium on development projects that have been identified to be implemented and planned in our territories that have violated our rights and do not have our FPIC.

Ø review all existing laws and regulations that undermine our rights as indigenous peoples.

Ø urge the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia to stop and investigate all forms of violence against our people, arising from all the common issues below.

The declaration says: “We, the indigenous peoples of Borneo coming from Indonesia and Malaysia gathered together for the very first time in Krokong, Bau, Sarawak, in the beautiful land of the Hornbills to discuss the common issues faced by the indigenous peoples of Borneo.

“We, the indigenous peoples of Borneo, have very distinct cultures and relations to our land, territories and resources. We strive to maintain these distinct values through our Adat and norms that have been passed down to us from our ancestors for generations. We have lived and nurtured our traditional knowledge, innovations and practices since time immemorial, making us the true custodians of our land, territories and resources.

“We, the indigenous peoples of Borneo have suffered social injustices resulting from the imposition of development aggression on our lands, territories and resources. All these have been done without our free, prior and informed consent (FPIC). We have not been included in the decision making processes, thus we continue to be marginalized and discriminated regardless of our basic human and customary rights to land, territories and resources, as stated in state, national and international laws.

“We call upon our governments, Malaysia and Indonesia, who adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), to fully uphold the rights contained in the Declaration.

“We, the indigenous peoples of Borneo declare our solidarity and unity in declaring the Krokong Declaration to be respected and recognized towards its implementation in Malaysia and Indonesia.

“We are further united by the common threats that face us: mega dam projects, mining and other extractive industries, oil palm plantations, deforestation and forest degradation, and climate change on our island of Borneo. We recognize that these threats are faced by indigenous peoples in Malaysia and Indonesia as well as around the world.

“In Borneo, the development of mega dams has displaced and involuntary forced resettlement of indigenous peoples causing losses of our customary land and source of livelihood, identity and culture. It will also contribute to climate change because of the emission of methane and carbon dioxide from forest clearing and from flooding of reservoir. Water-borne diseases like Malaria and Chikungunya happen more often in areas that surrounds the dam.

“The expansion of oil palm plantations is escalating in alarming and unprecedented proportions that destroy our customary land, territories and resources. This trend brings grave concern to us because it has adversely affected our social culture and livelihoods and unjustly deprived us of the very source of sustenance.

“Additionally, extractive industries such as mining and logging continue to encroach into our ancestral domains which have resulted in land and environmental quality degradation that further impoverish our people. All the extractive industries have contributed to climate change by emitting green house gases (GHGs).

“We are also adversely affected by climate change. Our rivers and land are drying, frequent occurrences of flash floods, unpredictable weather patterns and seasons that threaten our food security. Climate change mitigation schemes such as REDD can create potential threats to the ownership of our forests and our rights.

“All of the common issues above have increased the violation of our human rights in the form of intimidation, wrongful detention, criminalization, killings, deployment of gangsters and the use of para-military force against Indigenous Peoples. Likewise, our traditional values, institutions, governance system and knowledge as well as cultural heritage are being eroded as a result of these,” the declaration says.

The declaration also pledges that they work together as one people and one Borneo to respond to these threats in a united and systematic manner that will ensure the survival and dignity of our peoples.

It says: “We therefore, will work for the establishment of the Borneo Indigenous Peoples Alliance (BIPA) as the expression of our united stand for life and dignity.”

The Krokong Declaration will be submitted to the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia as well as to the State and provisional governments and the United Nations.- The Broken Shield.

Are our YBs a cat’s-paw?

KUCHING - Borneo Researches Institute Malaysia (Brimas) has accused PBB secretary general Stephen Rundi and his party as solely and directly responsible for the loss of the rights of the natives over their land in his own constituency of Kemena

“As secretary general of Parti Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu, a party claiming to represent and protect bumiputra rights and whose president is the Chief Minister and Minister of Planning and Resource Management, Rundi and his party are directly and solely responsible for the said deprivation,” Mark Bujang, Brimas executive director said in a statement.

The voters in Kemena should ask their elected representative to read and digest the official map or plan called the “Composite Plan Showing Distribution of Native Farming Lands in Suai/Niah/Sibuti” which recorded the boundary of the once primary forested land allocated by the Brooke and the British Colonial Governments to each of the native longhouses in early 1930s.

“The present government of which Rundi has been and is still an active part of it has blatantly disregarded the rights of the natives over the land within their respective boundaries by arbitrarily issuing provisional leases thereon to big companies thus depriving the natives of their allocated lands,” Mark said.

He made the statement in response to comments made by Rundi, who is the Assistant Minister of Public Health.

The State Assemblyman for Kemena had said that native customary rights land were lands that were inherited from one generation to the next before 1958, whereas temuda lands were those occupied after 1958.

He blamed the land owners for not knowing the difference between native customary rights land and temuda (farming land).

“While NCR lands are passed from generation to generation before 1958, temuda lands are the lands occupied after the 1958,” Rundi had said.

Mark said: “From his statement, it is obvious that Rundi is confused and has yet to have a full understanding of what NCR is and its concepts according to the customs and practices of the Ibans and also according to the law.”

“NCR is created over land when natives cleared a forested area for the purpose of occupation, farming, hunting, fishing, and searching for forest produce, establishing pendam (gravesites) as well as using the area as a right of way or for other lawful purposes for the community’s livelihood.

“It has no document of title and it can be passed down from one generation to the next according to customs of the community.

“For the Ibans, lands are closely associated with religious beliefs, cultural practices and traditional farming methods,” Mark said, pointing out that NCR land does not confine to temuda (farming) land, tembawai (sites of previous settlements) and gravesites, but it also includes an area known as ‘pemakai menua’ and ‘pulau’ (forested areas) where they can fish, hunt, collect jungle produce and get their drinking water.

From the legal point of view of Sarawak Land code 1958, he said NCR land has been defined as land where native customary rights has been established through communal or otherwise before 1 January 1958.

NCR land can also be created within a reserve land under section 6 or interior area land over which NCR have lawfully been created pursuant to a permit under section 10 of the Land Code.

Mark said that after 1 January 1958, NCR land can still be created if the native communities still occupy or an individual still belongs to his community who are occupying their ‘pemakai menua’.

NCR could also be established, he said, when natives clear virgin jungle, and plant fruit trees, farming, establishing graveyard, occupying cultivated land or using land for rights of way or any other lawful method under Section 5(2) of the Land Code 1958; and when they obtain permit under section 10 of the Code to create their NCR.

Mark said Rundi should read a number of Court decisions especially the ones on Nor Anak Nyawai on the Borneo Pulp Plantation Sdn Bhd, on Madeli bin Salleh and the recent High Court decision on Agi Anak Bungkong against Land and Survey and the State Government.

“We also call on Rundi to refer to reports by Suhakam entitled Legal Perspectives on Native Customary Land Rights in Sarawak,” he said, expressing the hope that the assistant minister would not make nonsensical comments in the future.

Are they not making a laughing stock of themselves for their stupid statements or as a cat’s-paw by Pelita to grab NCR lands? - The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Another 11 Ibans to be charged

SRI AMAN: - Another 11 more Iban NCR land owners from Abok in the Pantu District in Sarawak have been arrested on Friday 18 September for harvesting oil palm fruits from their own land.

The arrest was made following a police complaint filed by the Pelita-Tetangga Akrab oil palm plantation.

This is the second arrest this month in the district. On 4 September six Ibans from Kasindu were picked up together with their three tons of oil palm fruits on a similar offence. They have been released after their statements were taken.

Cobbold John, an NCR land owner and oil palm planter said that a group consisting of 20 Iban males and five women in the group of 32 people last Friday was rounded up and spent a night in the custody of the Police. They were then allowed to go. Eleven others have their statements taken and are going to be charged.

"This is a clear case of harassment," said Nicholas Mujah, Secretary General of the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association. "They are not going to be charged and yet they will have to spend one night in the custody of the police. It shows that the companies are able to exert influence over the police and government."
The communities' farm land was taken by Pelita-Tetangga Akrab in 2003 in a joint venture to plant oil palm, despite immediate protest and the filing of a court case by the communities affected. Though they have claimed to do this JV with the community, the vast majority of the communities had rejected the project and their right to free, prior and informed consent ignored.

As a desperate measure, the villagers have taken to harvesting the oil palm fruits that were grown on their land. Though numerous reports and complaints to the police have been made by the villagers, these have fallen on deaf ears.

"The government wants the natives not to leave their NCR lands idle. But when the native communities want to develop their own land by planting cash crops such as oil palm, they are being penalised", said Mark Bujang, Executive Director of Borneo Resources Institute, Malaysia (BRIMAS).

In Sarawak, native land rights are recognized by the Sarawak State Constitution and their rights to these lands have been reaffirmed through several key judgments in the Malaysian Courts. – The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

The State government the destroyer of Forests?

Kuching: The Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia (BRIMAS) has called on the State Government of Sarawak to halt its current development policy and practice of developing its 1.7 million hectares of oil palm plantations as its development is tantamount to the build–up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

In a statement emailed to The Broken Shield, its executive director, Mark Bujang said that over the recent years some 750,000 hectares of land had been planted with oil palm trees, about 70% of this are in deep peat soil area in Sarawak.

“With this massive clearing of peat swamp forest and conversion of peat soil land for plantations, thousands of tons of carbon dioxide are going to be released into the atmosphere,” he said, pointing out to a study conducted by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2007 on the role peat lands play in human-induced climate change, found out that the world’s estimated 988 million acres of peat land (which represented about three percent of world’s land and freshwater surface) are capable of storing some two trillion tons of carbon dioxide.

This, he said, was equivalent to about 100 years worth of fossil fuel emissions.

Sarawak’s peat land is one of the most fragile wetland systems in the world, Bujang said and added that 95% of peat land in Sarawak is deep peat that is more than three metres deep.

He said: “The state government of Sarawak’s target of planting one million hectares of land with oil palm next year is very alarming.

“As such, the widespread conversions of peat bogs into plantations will seriously affect environment especially when the stored carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere from drained or burnt of peat lands,” he said.

BRIMAS he said had over the years carried out field monitoring on oil palm plantations and found out the nature of development activities taken place on peat lands are very destructive with extensive clearing of peat swamp forest and drainage of lands.

These activities, he added, had resulted in total loss of biodiversity as most of the plantations have taken the easy way out of clearing the lands through open burning.

“Hence Sarawak is continuously facing and experiencing poor air quality due to haze when there is dry weather,” Bujang pointed out.

He went on to say that the roundtable on sustainable palm oil (RSPO) proposals to amend the RSPO principle and criteria with inclusion of specific measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should be lauded and supported by all parties including the Sarawak oil palm owners association.

BRIMAS also called on the State government to stop issuing new licences for planting of oil palm over any peat land area in the state, he said, and also urged the government to stop the oil palm plantation companies from further clearing of forest for new plantations.

“By doing so, the government could avoid the accusations of being labeled as destroyers of the forest and ecosystems by opening up lands for oil palm plantations. Not only that, the government could stand high to prove to the global community that it has taken credible efforts in protecting and restoring peat lands in reducing our country’s carbon footprints as the world braces for global warming,” Bujang said.- The Broken Shield

Source: www.thebrokenshield.blogspot.com

Leasing NCR land to plantation companies is illegal

The acts of the state government in issuing provisional leases over NCR land to plantation companies are illegal without the prior consent of the land owners, says Michael Jok, who represents several indigenous peoples organisations.

The organisations included Jaringan Tanah Hak Adat Bangsa Asal Sarawak (TAHABAS), Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS), Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia (BRIMAS), PACOS Trust Sabah (PACOS), Persatuan Wanita Desa Sarawak (WADESA), Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) and SPNC and Orang Asli community Reps (Peninsular Malaysia).

In a joint statement issued to commemorate the international day of the Indigenous peoples of the world on 10 August 2009 which was held in Miri, Jok said: “We call on the state government to stop large-scale plantations and other activities on indigenous lands until effective measurers to safeguard their rights and the environment are in place.

“We are deeply concerned that the state government has issued licences for planted forests plantation over as large as 1,397,644 hectares in three areas of Belaga, Kakus and Tutoh.

“This still does not include oil palm plantation. Some of these forest plantation estates are established within the NCR land and water catchment areas of the native communities,” he said.

Jok said: “We are calling on the government to stop this arbitrarily issuance of provisional lease to any private companies for the purpose of plantation development projects. The companies that have been given the PL have encroached illegally into the NCR land of the native communities.

“The effect of this has resulted in disputes over rights to the land and resources. The acts of the state government in issuing provisional leases over NCR land are illegal without getting the prior consent of the natives.

“We strongly urge moratorium on any plantation development projects and call on the government to immediately bring about meaningful solutions to all these land disputes and land rights,” he said.

On the exploitation of timber, Jok said that over the past decades our indigenous communities have faced turbulent survival as a result of our forests being continuously exploited by timber companies.

“Logging has destroyed our fundamental existence of living, the plant varieties including medicinal plants, animals and fish have either become threatened or extinct.

“The bulldozed forests cannot be planted with crops as soil is compacted and disturbed; crop harvests are reduced and rivers on which the people depend for water became polluted.

“Forests produce become scare which threatens the survival of the people who have depended on it for hundred of years,” Jok said, adding that in Sarawak, native communities are yet to face the worst in the future.

He said as the sunsets on the timber industry in Sarawak, the state government energetically seeks to diversify and broaden its revenue base via land development for oil palm plantation and large scale trees plantation.

“This land development means taking on time and again the various indigenous communities on their native customary rights (NCR) lands and forests within our respective ancestral territories,” Jok said.

The state government considered all NCR land as “idle land” in need of large scale development to be brought to the native communities in order to alleviate their poverty.

This argument, he said, was used to promote logging in the 1970s and is now used to justify the introduction of oil palm plantations and industrial tree plantation.

“After more than three decades of extensive loggings and deforestation why are that most of our people living in the interior are now worse off than before?” he asked. - The Broken Shield