Heightened Danger for Dayak Indigenous Community Due to Land Dispute
12/22/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Heightened Danger for Dayak Indigenous Community Due to Land
Dispute
Source: Amnesty International
Marilyn McKim at
Date: 12/22/97
EXTERNAL AI Index: ASA 28/14/97
UA 407/97 Excessive force / Ill-treatment /
Possible prisoners of conscience
22 December 1997
MALAYSIA Enyang ak Gendung, aged 40 )
Indit ak Uma ) shot and injured
Siba ak Sentu, 36 )
Untok ak Utom )
Rolly ak Sylvester Nyelong )
Sylvester Nyelong ak Mudat, aged 36)
Johan ak Jau, aged 19 ) detained
Jau, aged 50 )
Tingom ak Rangking, aged 60 )
Fear for the safety of members of the Dayak Iban indigenous community
in the Malaysian state of Sarawak involved in a land dispute has been
heightened after three Iban were shot and seriously injured by police
during a protest on 19 December 1997. Several community members
subsequently taken into police custody may be prisoners of conscience.
Officers of the Police Field Force (PFF), armed with M16 rifles,
opened fire on unarmed villagers in Sungai Subukut, Bakong, Miri
Division in Sarawak. Enyang ak Gendung is in a coma in intensive care
and it is feared he may not survive. Indit ak Uma and Siba ak Sentu
are also being treated at Miri General Hospital for gunshot injuries.
Several others are reported to have been injured by police batons,
including TR Bangga ak Andap the village headman, and Untok ak Utom
who was admitted to hospital after being struck on the head. He was
later taken into police custody.
The shootings and beatings happened during the course of a peaceful
protest by about 300 members of the indigenous community against the
development of their native customary land by an oil palm plantation
company, Empresa Sdn. Bhd. Local people lodged complaints with the
police against the company after it began clearing their land with
bulldozers and damaging crops without any prior notification or
consultation with them. When the police and other government
authorities refused to take any action against the company and
clearance operations continued, the villagers confiscated three of the
company's bulldozers and began a peaceful protest, calling for
negotiations over the use of their land. On 19 December PFF officers
arrived at the scene and tried to arrest several people without any
warrant. A commotion began and police officers opened fire on the
villagers.
Six people, including Untok ak Utom, are reported to have been
detained at Miri Central Police Station in connection with the
incident. It is not known whether they have been charged with any
offence.
According to an article published in the Borneo Post on 20 December,
one police officer was injured by a machete during the incident. Large
numbers of PFF officers have since been drafted into the area and
there are fears that further arrests may be imminent.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Amnesty International is concerned about reports of escalating
harassment and arbitrary arrests of members of the indigenous Dayak
Iban communities who have been engaged in peaceful protests at the
development of their native customary land by oil palm plantation
companies. In July 1997, 42 members of another Iban community in
Sarawak were detained for several weeks in connection with a similar
dispute. A number of the group were badly beaten during arrest. (See
UA 196/97, ASA 28/10/97, 2 July 1997 and update, ASA 28/11/97, 4
August). The following month the Miri High Court allowed their
appeals against their detention, ruling that they had been arrested
without just cause and quashing an order for them to keep the peace
for six months.
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Contact Marilyn McKim at for information on how you
can help.