Tag Archive for 'Penan'

10
Oct

Penan mount blockade against Interhill group

Penan communities from the Middle Baram area of Sarawak (East Malaysia) have mounted a blockade against the logging company Interhill in order to stop them from destroying what remains of the age-old Sarawak rainforest.

The blockade, which was organized after negotiations with Interhill fell apart, is being led jointly “by representatives from the Penan communities of Ba Abang, Long Item, Long Kawi and Long Pakan. A similar blockade was erected by the Middle Baram communities in June 2006 but was dismantled by the police after two weeks,” reports the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF).

“The blockade comes shortly after Penan women launched a cry of alarm to the international community over cases of sexual abuse and violence by logging company workers in their region,” BMF continues.

Malaysian officials have responded to the cry by stating it would be a “waste of time” …

Published on
October 10, 2008
  0 Comments 247 views

24
Sep

Sarawak government deposes Penan leaders

In an attempt to break the resistance to logging in the rainforests of Sarawak, the government has officially announced that it will no longer recognize tribal leaders in some Penan communities.

These leaders include:

1. Saund Bujang from the community of Long Benali, who successfully led an effort to stop the timber company Samling from entering their lands through the use of blockades and a media campaign. The government is currently trying to replace him with a Samling stakeholder.

2. Bilong Oyoi from the community of Long Sait (pictured on the right), who is one of the leading plaintiffs in the long-standing Penan land rights claim. Bilong received a letter from the government simply stating that he had been deposed.

3. Another plaintiff in the land rights case, the late Kelesau Naan, former headman of Long Kerong who disappeared in October 2007. Two months later, …

Published on
September 24, 2008
  0 Comments 444 views

27
Jul

Penusah Tana: The Forgotten Struggle

Penusah Tana: The Forgotten Struggle, is the story of the forest-dwelling Penan tribe of Sarawak, on the island of Borneo.

Historically, the Penan maintained a harmonious relationship with the rainforest, one that could have went on forever. Today, however, the Penan’s relationship is nearing its end, along with the rainforest itself. For the past fouty years, logging companies have been systematically chopping the forest down.

It wasn’t until the early 80s that the Penan started to feel it. But once they did, they knew it was an imminent threat — and so the Penan vowed to do everything in their power to stop them.

One way to accomplish this, the Penan felt, was to start setting up blockades. The Penan have set up dozens of blockades over the years, always doing their best to defend the forest and their way of life.

But they’ve been fighting a hopeless …

Published on
July 27, 2008
  1 Comment 685 views

08
Jan

Kelesau Naan found dead, tensions on the rise.

Just days after a group of Penan came forward to report the disappearance of Kelesau Naan, a respected 79-year old activist and leader from the Penan settlement of Long Kerong in Malaysia, his body was found near Sungai Segita– about a two hours’ walk from Long Kerong.

According to Malaysiakini, the Penan found evidence that he was assaulted. “His hand was broken and looked as if it had been hit by a sharp object,” Matin Bujang told Malaysiakini while en route to lodge a police report.

“While shocked at the gruesome finding, Matin said the villagers were not completely surprised as tensions had escalated in recent months over the issue of logging in the Upper Baram region.

Last September, Matin pointed out, disturbances broke out near Ba’ Lai which led many to fear further troubles.

This is in addition to …

Published on
January 8, 2008
  4 Comments 1,027 views

24
Dec

Penan Headman Kelesau reported missing

A group of Penan from the Upper Baram region of the East Malaysian State of Sarawak have reported Headman Kelesau Naan has vanished without a trace. He was last seen on October 23, 2007.

According to a media release by Bruno Manser Fonds, “The Penan leader, who was in his 70s, was last seen on 23 October 2007 in the vicinity of his village in one of Sarawak’s last intact rainforests. After two months, the Penan have decided to break the silence and have lodged a police report.”

The Penan fear he may have been murdered because he “is one of four plaintiffs and a key witness in a major Penan land rights claim that has been awaiting trial since 1998. He was one of the leading figures in the Upper Baram Penan communities’ struggle against the …

Published on
December 24, 2007
  0 Comments 899 views

05
May

Rumah Nor: A Land Rights Test for Malaysia

In this video, an Iban Dayak community in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo describes ten years of struggle to protect their ancestral rainforests, using letter writing, blockades, community mapping and court action against Borneo Pulp and Paper and the Sarawak government.

In 2001, they won a landmark court case, where it was agreed that Rumah Nor did have a native customary land rights over their traditional territory (”pemakai menoa”) — including the “disputed area” which was being destroyed by Borneo Pulp Plantation, a subsidiary of Borneo Pulp & Paper and Asia Pulp & Paper.

Their victory was partially overturned in 2005 by the State Appeals Court, who said there was insufficient evidence to prove the “occupation of the disputed area”. Their rights over lands outside the area, however, continued to be acknowledged.

The community is appealing this decision in Federal Court. Once a decision is made, it will set an important …

Published on
May 5, 2007
  0 Comments 1,034 views

20
Apr

Penan build five new blockades

From Survival International: Five new blockades have been set up by Penan tribal communities in the Malaysian province of Sarawak in an attempt to stop loggers destroying their forest homes.

On April 4th 2007 officers of the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, supported by the police, dismantled another Penan blockade for the second time this year. The police used chainsaws to destroy the blockades and fired gun shots to intimidate the Penan.

Four Penan villages and one nomadic group recently set up the five new blockades, in protest at the logging companies Rimbunan Hijau, KTS Logging and Samling. Police are reportedly already heading towards one of the blockades, which is on a main logging route and used by a number of different companies. Survival is concerned for the safety of the Penan at the blockade sites.

Much of the Penan’s forest has already been destroyed. According to Malaysian and international law the Penan have …

Published on
April 20, 2007
  0 Comments 789 views

Eight Mayan Women

Eight Mayan Women is a story of continued resistance to the Canadian mining company Goldcorp.

For the past three years the company has been extracting gold and silver in the municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, Guatemala. The people of San Miguel have been opposed the operation, primarily out of a concern that it is destroying the environment and draining the region of its water. Many also say they were deceived and forced into selling their lands, and that …


Underreported Struggles #20, November 2008

In the month’s Underreported Struggles: Talisman decides to ignore warning from the Achuar to “get out now”; A spontaneous tribal uprising forms in West Bengal; Vedanta Resources gets chased away by more than …


I Am A Defender of the Rainforest

Known as ‘Soy defensor de la selva’ in Spanish, I am a Defender of the Rainforest is an award-winning documentary that was filmed, edited, and directed by members of the Sarayaku community in southern Ecuador.

The film shows how the …


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