BARAM: Sarawak’s Forest Department has cautioned Malaysia’s Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM) that investigating logging conflicts in disputed Penan territories could interfere with ongoing court proceedings.
The department clarified it provided guidance rather than an outright prohibition to SUHAKAM’s investigation team, recommending they postpone their visit to the contentious forest areas in the remote Baram region.
According to the department’s official statement, conducting a human rights inquiry while litigation is active in Miri High Court between Penan communities and a logging company could prejudice the case.
“Conducting a parallel investigation by SUHAKAM could compromise the judicial process and potentially amount to contempt of court or sub judice interference,” the statement explained.
The department recommended SUHAKAM postpone field investigations in the contested areas until after the court resolves the matter.
Reports emerged yesterday indicating that SUHAKAM investigators were blocked by Sarawak officials from accessing Baram’s interior to assess conditions facing Penan communities amid extensive forest clearing operations in disputed logging areas.
Three human rights organisations in Sarawak have independently condemned the authorities for hindering the federal rights body from fulfilling its mandate.
Sarawak native rights advocate and PKR member Roland Engan stated that State Forest Department personnel stopped the SUHAKAM delegation from reaching the Data Bila community in upper Baram.
“SUHAKAM came to examine formal grievances from Data Bila residents whose forests have been extensively logged without their permission,” Engan explained in his statement.
“The investigation team has been continuously prevented from visiting the affected communities. This clearly violates SUHAKAM’s mandate as a government institution established to monitor human rights concerns across Malaysia. They should not face obstruction in performing their duties,” he added.
Environmental advocacy group Save Rivers Network and Penan organization KERUAN have also released statements asserting that SUHAKAM must not be impeded from investigating and assisting interior communities.
Save Rivers director Celine Lim and KERUAN chairman Komeok Joe urged state authorities to permit SUHAKAM to assess conditions on the ground, noting numerous indigenous people are impacted by these logging conflicts.
Indigenous communities throughout Baram and Belaga district in central Sarawak have established blockades opposing timber corporations and palm oil operations clearing extensive forest tracts for commercial purposes.
These communities assert the forests constitute their ancestral lands over which they hold Native Customary Rights.
