Bruno Manser Fund to assist police in Penan rape claim

The Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) clarified on Saturday via an email to Bernama that it had not been contacted by the police to assist in the investigations into the alleged sexual abuse of Penan women and girls by logging workers in Baram, Miri division.

In the email, BMF stated that it is willing to come forward and make a statement to the police in Bukit Aman in order to bring about justice and help improve the victims's situation.

In recent weeks, the police has hit the brick wall in their investigation when they failed to trace the alleged victims.

BMF is an environmental non-governmental organisation headquartered in Basel.

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, who is also state Rural Development Minister, had said early this week that investigations had hit a brick wall when BMF, which made the allegations, refused to cooperate with the police.

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Bruno Manser Fund willing to help police probe Penan rape claim

KUCHING: The Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) clarified on Saturday that it had not been contacted by the police to assist in the investigations into the alleged sexual abuse of Penan women and girls by logging workers in Baram, Miri division.

In a statement emailed to Bernama in Kuching, BMF said it formally rejected allegations that it had refused to cooperate with the police to facilitate investigations.

"BMF is willing to come forward and make a statement to the police in Bukit Aman in order to bring about justice and help improve the victims' situation," said the environmental non-governmental organisation headquartered in Basel.

Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu, who is also state Rural Development Minister, had said early this week that investigations had hit a brick wall when BMF, which made the allegations, refused to cooperate with the police.

During his visit here last week, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan was also annoyed over the matter given that the police task force which recorded more than 20 statements, including from families of the alleged victims at the village in Ulu Baram, had so far, failed to trace the key witnesses.

"BMF is concerned about the lack of a political climate that can restore the trust of the sexual abuse victims in the Malaysian legal system," said the statement.

"According to Penan sources, several victims and key witnesses are currently hiding in the forest because they feel intimidated by the way the investigations are being conducted," it added.

It claimed that in earlier instances, reports of sexual abuse such as a case reported by a Penan victim at the Kuching central police station on 30 Sept, 1994 and at the Miri central police station on 22 March, 1995 had failed to result in legal action against the alleged perpetrators.

Meanwhile, at the federal level, the action committee, headed by Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen has begun investigations into the alleged sexual abuse of the Penan women and girls.

Expert trekkers, the gentle Penans are among the last of the nomadic hunter-gatherers in the world and live in the ancient jungles of Borneo - Bernama