Probe timber firms hiring thugs: NGOs

MIRI: Twelve indigenous people's organisations urged the police to investigate parties involved in land rights dispute which led to the assassination of PKR politician Bill Kayong.Condemning the killing, the organisations called for investigation specifically on companies they claimed to have employed thugs in the guise of security personnel to look after their plantation estates.

The group said in a joint statement issued that they were extremely shocked, angered and saddened by his untimely demise. The 43-year-old Miri PKR branch secretary was reportedly shot Tuesday morning at the traffic light next to eMart, Senadin.

The late Kayong was an activist and politician who was very vocal on indigenous land rights issues in Sarawak.

He was the special assistant to the MP of Miri, Dr Michael Teo and Secretary General of Persatuan Dayak Miri (Pedas).

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During the last State Elections, he stood as a Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate for the N71 Bekenu State constituency but lost. He was also very active in Malaysia's Bersih movement.

"We condemn such heinous crime and urge the police to investigate thoroughly and expediently to bring the assassin and whoever ordered the assassination to justice. This is not the first time that this sort of crime has happened in Miri City," the group stated.

They said within the last few years there had been a spate of killings throughout Sarawak with the same modus operandi: drive-by shooting by criminals.

"We urge the police and authorities to take immediate and proactive action in dealing with this sort of crime by stepping up their policing activities and installing security measures such as having close circuit television (CCTV) so as to deter such crimes from happening again in the future."

"We also urge the police to investigate the parties involved in the land rights disputes in which the late Kayong was involved in highlighting, especially companies that employ thugs in the guise of security personnel to look after the plantation estates," the group added.

They pointed out that a local land rights lawyer had recently been threatened when he acted for an indigenous community having a land dispute with a certain oil palm plantation company in Miri.

They also called on the government to seriously look into the root causes of the land disputes in the State including the existing laws and policies as well as the approaches taken in dealing with any development activities that affect the rights and interest of the indigenous and local communities.

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"We also urge the government to develop and put in place practical mechanisms through the involvement of relevant stakeholders to uphold the principles of the free, prior informed consent (FPIC) as stipulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and other international human rights instruments," it said.

The joint statement was endorsed by the Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (Joas), Borneo Resources Institute, Malaysia (Brimas), Jaringan Tanah Hak Adat Bangsa Asal Sarawak (Tahabas), Save Sarawak Rivers Network (Save Rivers), the Sarawak Indigenous Lawyers Alliance (Sila), Gerakan Anak Sarawak (Gasak), Persatuan Kenyah Miri, Persatuan Tering, Baram Protection Action Committee (BPAC), Orang Ulu National Association (Ouna) Miri Branch, Institut Pribumi Malaysia, Sarawak (Ipimas) and Dayak Association Miri (DAM).

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