The Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) has urged the establishment of a new national commission on indigenous people to advise the government on laws and policies.

            

Suhakam's national inquiry into the land rights of indigenous peoples was held over almost two years and the report was handed to Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Paul Low yesterday.

The report contains 18 recommendations, which include:

  • Establishing an Indigenous Land Tribunal of mostly retired judges to resolve complaints with regard to land ownership; and
  • Reconciling past wrongs in land removal with the returning of land or proper compensation, and also the establishment of a Native Titles Court to clear the backlog of cases in the civil court relating to indigenous land issues.

NONE Speaking at a press conference, Low ( right ) said Institute of Integrity (IIM) chairperson Mohd Tab Salleh would head a government taskforce to look into the 18 recommendations.

    

The inquiry found that in Sabah alone there were 51 complaints against the Rural Development Ministry and government-linked companies ignoring Native Customary Rights in approving plantations.

The inquiry also found cases in Sabah of the police using excessive force to evict people from their land.

Orang Asli Dept criticised

                    

The Suhakam report also criticises the Orang Asli Development Department (Jakoa) for failing in its task of protecting and promoting the well-being of the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia.             

"It was widely and repeatedly asserted during the inquiry that Jakoa has not been fulfilling its fiduciary duty. Jakoa has in fact from time to time acted against the interests and advancement of the Orang Asli," the report says.

 

In an interview, a senior officerl from Jakoa admits to the inquiry that the principles in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), to which Malaysia is a signatory, were not adhered to.

"The principles were not consciously promoted or internalised within the department (Jakoa) due to the different interpretation of the term 'indigenous'," the officer says.

One of the recommendations  of the inquiry for a comprehensive review to be carried out into whether the role of representing Orang Asli interests on land matters remains with Jakoa or that this be handed over to the community.