Kerajaan Kelantan harus iktiraf hak Orang Asli ke atas tanah adat, pelihara hutan

Kami, pertubuhan-pertubuhan masyarakat madani yang berikut, mengecam keras tangkapan dan penahanan 47 Orang Asli di Gua Musang, Kelantan pada 29 November 2016 semasa satu operasi untuk merobohkan blockade oleh 100 anggota dari pasukan polis, Pasukan Gerakan Am dan Jabatan Perhutanan Kelantan. (English version below)

Kami terkejut dan kecewa dengan perintah reman dua hari terhadap 47 Orang Asli yang dikeluarkan oleh mahkamah majistret kerana mereka tidak melakukan apa-apa jenayah, sebaliknya hanya sekadar menggunakan hak mereka untuk berhimpun secara aman dan hak untuk menyuarakan pendapat bagi mempertahankan tanah dan hutan mereka. Kami menuntut mereka dibebaskan segera tanpa sebarang syarat.

Masyarakat Orang Asli di Gua Musang telah mendirikan blockade sejak 26 September 2016 untuk melindungi tanah adat mereka dari aktivit pembalakan. Walaupun kerajaan Kelantan telah menwartakan kawasan tersebut untuk pembalakan sebagai sumber pendapatan negeri, masyarakat Orang Asli telah lama mempertikaikan keputusan tersebut kerana ia gagal memperakui hak Orang Asli terhadap tanah adat mereka di kawasan tersebut.

Adalah tidak jujur untuk Menteri Besar Kelantan Ahmad Yakob cuba cuci tangan dari penangkapan Orang Asli dengan alasan kerajaannya telah menyerahkan perkara ini kepada pihak berkuasa untuk diuruskan. Tanpa notis dan arahan dari kerajaan Kelantan, polis, Pasukan Gerakan Am dan Jabatan Perhutanan tidak akan bertindak merobohkan blockade tersebut.

Kami menyeru kerajaan Kelantan supaya membuka semula rundingan dengan masyarakat Orang Asli, mengiktiraf hak mereka ke atas tanah adat, membatalkan penwartaan kawasan pembalakan, dan memelihara Hutan Simpan Balah, Hutan Simpan Perias, dan Hutan Simpan Stong Selatan.

Tindakan membenarkan pembalakan di hutan simpan itu sendiri adalah satu penghinaan terhadap konsep hutan simpan. Pelupusan hutan dan penafian hak Orang Asli ke atas tanah mereka, yang mana amat penting untuk mereka sebagai mata pencarian dan amalan kebudayaan, adalah bersamaan dengan penghapusan budaya Orang Asli.

Walaupun pembalakan mungkin dapat menjanakan pendapatan yang diperlukan oleh kerajaan negeri, kami amat bimbang dengan kadar kehilangan hutan di Kelantan yang disebabkan oleh pembalakan berlebihan, yang juga telah menyebabkan banjir besar di Kelantan pada tahun 2014-2015. Pada tahun 2015, Kelantan telah merekodkan 887,666 cubic meter pengeluaran balak, bertempat kedua selepas Pahang.

Kami menyeru kerajaan Kelantan untuk mengambil pendekatan yang lebih menyeluruh dan mapan dalam merangkakan pelan pembangunan negeri yang mampu melindungi alam sekitar dan menguntungkan lebih ramai penduduk negeri dan bukannya sebilangan kecil elit dan syarikat-syarikat balak semata-mata.

Kelantan Government must recognise Orang Asli right to customary land, keep the forest

We, the undersigned civil society organisations, strongly condemn the arrest and detention of 47 Orang Asli in the interior of Gua Musang, Kelantan on 29 November 2016 during an operation to dismantle their blockades by some 100 personnel from the police, the General Operation Forces and the Kelantan Forestry Department officers.

We are shocked and disappointed by the two-day remand orders of the 47 Orang Asli granted by the magistrates’ court as they had not committed any crime, but were merely exercising their right to peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of expression to protect their land and forest. We call for their immediate and unconditional release.

The Orang Asli community in Gua Musang had erected the blockades since 26 September 2016 to protect their customary land from logging activities. Although the Kelantan government had gazetted the areas for logging as a source of income for the state, the Orang Asli community has long disputed the decision for its failure to recognise the right of the Orang Asli community to their customary land in those areas.

It is totally disingenuous for the Chief Minister of Kelantan, Ahmad Yakob, to try to wash his hands over the arrests of the Orang Asli using the justification that his government has left the matters to the authorities. Clearly, without the notice and instruction from the Kelantan government, the police, the General Operation Forces and the Kelantan Forestry Department officers would not have moved in to dismantle the blockades.

We call on the Kelantan government to resume talks with the Orang Asli community, recognise their rights to customary land, degazette the logging areas and leave the Balah Forest Reserves, Perias Forest Reserve and Stong Selatan Forest Reserve intact.

Allowing logging in forest reserves is a mockery to the concept of forest reserves. Clearing the forest and depriving the Orang Asli of their land, which they depend on for their livelihood and cultural practices, is tantamount to cultural genocide.

While logging may generate the necessary income for the state government, we are extremely concerned with the rate of deforestation in Kelantan due to excessive logging, which eventually contributed to the massive floods in Kelantan in 2014-2015. In 2015, Kelantan recorded 887,666 cubic metres of log production in 2015, second only to the state of Pahang.

We call on the Kelantan government to adopt a more holistic and sustainable development plan for the state that will protect the environment and benefit the larger population in the state instead of the elite few and logging companies.

Pertubuhan-pertubuhan yang menyokong kenyatan bersama/Endorsed by the following groups:

1. All Women’s Action Society (Awam)
2. Angkatan Warga Aman Malaysia (WargaAman)
3. Baramkini
4. Bersih Sibu
5. Centre for Independent Journalism Maaysia
6. Community Action Network (CAN)
7. Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM) Youth
8. Damn The Dams
9. Engage
10. Focus On Sarawak
11. Friends of Kota Damansara
12. G25
13. Greenfriends Sabah
14. Himpunan Hijau
15. Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF)
16. Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas (JERIT)
17. Kill The Bill (KTB)
18. Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH)
19. Kueng Cheng
20. Komuniti Muslim Universal (KMU)
21. LLG Cultural Development Centre (LLG)
22. Mama Bersih
23. Malaysian Indians Progressive Association (Mipas)
24. Malaysian Indians Transformation Action Team (Mitra)
25. Malaysian Physicians for Social Responsibility (MPSR)
26. Malaysia Youth & Students Democratic Movement (Dema)
27. Malaysian Youth Care Association (Prihatin)
28. Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS)
29. Muslim Professionals Forum (MPF)
30. National Human Rights Society (Hakam)
31. Negeri Sembilan Chinese Assembly Hall (NSCAH)
32. Northern Youth Group
33. Oriental Hearts and Mind Study Institute (OHMSI)
34. Partners in Community Organising (Pacos Trust)
35. Pahang Raub Ban Cyanide in Gold Mining Committee
36. People’s Green Coalition
37. People Welfare And Rights Organisation (Power)
38. Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (Aliran)
39. Persatuan Alumni PBTUSM Bahagian Utara
40. Persatuan Komuniti Prihatin Selangor, KL dan Perak
41. Persatuan Masyarakat Sel dan Wilayah Persekutuan (PERMAS)
42. Persatuan Rapat Malaysia (Rapat)
43. Persatuan Sahabat Wanita Selangor
44. Pertubuhan Ikram Malaysia (Ikram)
45. Pertubuhan Pembangunan Kebajikan Dan Persekitaran Positif Malaysia (Seed)
46. Pertubuhan Rakyat Mukakas Kipouva Sabah
47. Projek Dialog (PD)
48. Pusat Komas (Komas)
49. Research for Social Advancement (Refsa)
50. Saccess
51. Sahabat Rakyat
52. Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (SABM)
53. Selangor and KL Hokkien Association Youth Section
54. Sembang-sembang Forum
55. Seniman Paksi Rakyat (Paksi)
56. Seremban Chinese Methodist Church
57. Sisters in Islam (SIS)
58. Student Progressive Front UPM (GMMUPM)
59. Suaram Malaysia (Suaram)
60. Sunflower Paper
61. Sunflower Electoral Education Movement (Seed)
62. Tamil Foundation (TF)
63. Tenaganita
64. Teoh Beng Hock Trust for Democracy
65. The Society for the Promotion of Human Rights (Proham)
66. Tindak Malaysia (TM)
67. University of Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany)
68. Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO)
69. Writer Alliance for Media Independence (Wami)

The views expressed in Aliran's media statements and the NGO statements we have endorsed reflect Aliran's official stand. Views and opinions expressed in other pieces published here do not necessarily reflect Aliran's official position.

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