More on the continued struggles of indigenous peoples trying to save their ancestral forests. > SARAWAK TRIBAL ELDERS PROTEST IN PRISON > > MIRI, Malaysia, Apr. 29, 1997 (ENS) - Nine Dayak Iban tribal people were > arrested April 23 by the Malaysian Police Field Force personnel for > protecting their native customary forest land from being encroached and > destroyed by oil palm plantation developers, Land Development Custody > Authority (LCDA) and Nation Mark Sdn. Bhd. > > The Ibans are from three longhouses in Tinjar area in Baram, in the state > of Sarawak, Malaysia. Six Ibans were released when they signed a six months > bond of peace, but three elders believe that by signing the bond they would > be admitting to wrong-doing and agreeing to the take-over of their land. > They are protesting the cutting of the last remains of their rainforest to > create the oil palm plantation. > > The elders protesting in prison are TR. Riggie Ak Belulok, chief of > the longhouse, Ungkok Ak Ata and Gengga Ak Timbang. > > In an April 25 statement translated from the Iban language the elders said, > "We do not agree with the Order because we never commit any criminal > offence. And we have taken the decision that we rather stay in Prison here > while our relatives and siblings are consulting the lawyer to make an > appeal to the High Court against the said Order. The police have told us > that if we sign the Order we will be immediately freed. But to us that is > accepting their allegations that we are guilty of the crime we purportedly > committed which is > baseless." > > "The thing that is uppermost in our mind is the fact that by signing the > bond to keep the peace as ordered, we are also accepting the Sarawak > government and the oil palm plantation companies? baseless allegation that > we do not have any right over our native customary land." > > The elders have filed a case in the High Court in Miri challenging the > provisional lease issued by the Sarawak Land and Survey Department to the > Land Custody and Development Authority (LCDA), a state land and property > development agency. They believe this provisional lease is illegal because > they have "prior and existing proprietary rights over native customary land." > > On the 6th January 1997, the Miri High Court had also granted an injunction > restraining Nation Mark Sdn. Bhd and LCDA from trespassing on the Iban's > land and starting the oil palm plantation. But by early April the > injunction had lapsed without the natives' knowledge. > > "On the 10th of April, the three elders stated, "we were shock to discover > that the workers of the company were bulldozing our garden and cultivated > land resulting in extensive damages to our land and crops such as fruit > trees and vegetables thereon. Last portion of our forest are also being > cleared." > > "As we feared that the company would continue to damage our said land, > crops, properties and forest that we went to stop their workers working on > our land. We told the Manager of the company to stop work and explained to > him that our case against them in the High Court Miri is yet to be > determined." > > "However, on the morning of 17th April 1997, we were again shock to find out > that our farm huts on our said land in which we stored padi (rice) seeds and > agriculture tools for our farm this year had been blazed or burned down. We > strongly suspected it was the works of the company workers because their > workers were also found bulldozing the sites of these farm huts on the > morning of the April 17. We reported all these to the Police Field Force > who were stationed there at the site with the workers of the company as well > as the Police in Marudi and Beluru without any success." > > The three elders say they were arrested on their lands under the false > pretense that they were being taken to a meeting with company officials. > Instead they were jailed. > > Their statement was sent to the nongovernmental organization Sahabat Alam > Malaysia through their wives who visited them in prison.
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