Source: nst online (November 3, 2008)
THE alarming allegations that Penan women in the forested fastnesses of Sarawak had been sexually abused by logging company personnel needed to be investigated, not least for having emerged a couple of months ago through the agency of an international non-governmental organisation -- the Bruno Manser Fund, based in Basel, Switzerland -- that banners its antipathy towards the state government, which they accuse of oppressing the indigenous peoples under its charge even as it is complicit in the rapacious exploitation of their environment. We earlier decried the state authorities' tardiness in acting on these allegations; it ill behoved Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu to dismiss them out of hand merely on the basis that no one had lodged any reports to that effect.
That was not a good enough reason, we still maintain, not to check out the veracity or otherwise of these charges, not just for the deleterious effects they would have on the state's image but, much more importantly, to ensure the health and well-being of the forest communities concerned. Similarly, we urged those who could shed light on the matter to indeed make their knowledge available to the authorities.
It now appears that the investigations duly launched are being stymied by their reluctance. Those who made the initial accusations seem to have gone to ground. Limited to the secondhand and hearsay accounts of those a degree or two of separation from those directly involved, the police task force in charge is being frustrated by the absence of half-a-dozen key witnesses. One wonders why these people -- if they exist -- should have been so forthcoming to the Swiss NGO, which could only raise concerns, but not to the parties empowered to act on those concerns. It would be simply puerile to suggest that these purported victims are afraid of the state authorities, but perhaps less so to wonder if those supposedly speaking on their behalf against the state government might not have cynically parlayed unsubstantiated gossip or rumours into further grist for their mill.
Regardless, this curious reticence on the part of the supposed victims of sexual abuse should not deflate resolve to pursue these investigations. The truth is out there, and in this case will set free either the indigenous communities of the interior from the continued predation of outsiders, or the state of Sarawak from being continually portrayed by other outsiders as callously uncaring of its forest communities and heedless of legitimate criticism.
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Salam Wira
" THOSE WHO CRY WOLF, GET LOST "
Laporan berhubung masyarakat Penan yang dianiayai baru-baru ini dan disangkal oleh Ketua Menteri sARAWAK Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, turut dinafikan oleh Temenggong Penan Dato Sri Nyipa Bato. " Saya ( Dato Sri Nyipa) menyokong penuh kenyataan Ketua Menteri.
" Sesetengah pihak cuba menganggu dan mensabotaj keharmonian masyarakat berbilang kaum kita dan laporan media yang berulang serta tidak menyokong menandakan mereka tidak membantu mempertahankan kehormonian yang dicapai." katanya. Ujar beliau, dikawasannya sendiri yang kebanyakkannya kaum Penan, tiada sebarang aduan atau penganiayaan di laporan setakat ini. "Namun jika ada kes dan bila ia berlaku, perlu dilaporkan dalam saluran yang betul dan biarlah pihak berkuasa menjalankan tanggungjawab mereka dengan menyiasat menerusi keadilan," katanya. Kita tidak mahu memandang perkara ini remeh temeh dan perlu menanganinya dengan undang-undang, tambah beliau. "
( Utusan Borneo: 10/10/2008)
????? : Bolehkah kita terima kenyataan Temenggong Dato Sri Nyipa Bato ini bahawa kawasan dibawah seliaannya bebas dari sebarang aduan atau penganiayaan . Baguslah kalau tiada .
Tetapi kenapa kes rogol ini mengambil masa yang lama baru didedahkan sehingga " Bruno Manser Foundation" mengembar-mengembur isu barulah semua orang menjadi kecoh .
Ini berita betul atau tidak : Kita mesti ingat salah seorang dari mangsa itu telah melahirkan seorang anak, fikirlah betul 9 Bulan Mengandung , kenapa lama sangat kita bertindak.
Semua ini adalah fitnah-fitnah yang dilempar kepada kerajaan negeri sarawak supaya negara-negara luar mengecam , membenci, mensabotaj, eco-pelancongon dan ekonomi negeri kerajaan sarawak.
Kita akan tahu kebenaran kes ini setelah Polis siap membuat siatan dan sedang mencari Saksi (Mangsa) utama.
The concerned authorities have pursued this investigation with immediation action, even the penan people already clarified there was no such allegation took place. So please don't tarnish the image of Sarawak with untrue accusations.
JELAS ianya merupakan satu usaha oleh pihak yang tidak bertanggungjawab bagi memburuk-burukkan nama negara kita di sisi mata dunia. Tindakan undang-undang perlu diambil ke atas pihak yang tidak bertanggungjawab ini supaya tidak diulangi lagi...
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