PENAMPANG: The country’s first indigenous Chief Justice Tan Sri Richard Malanjum may get a “tweak on the ear” when the United Nation Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples makes her official visit to Malaysia.
Senator Adrian Lasimbang said on Monday that Malanjum’s appointment to the top post of the judiciary has been one of the highest recognition to the vulnerable and minority indigenous communities in Malaysia.
He believes the Sabahan’s top judge’s appointment has also been one of the many positives under the new government of the country.
But with many issues still plaguing them, especially concerning their right to their customary land, Lasimbang, who is also an indigenous rights advocate, says time has come for a meaningful communication between the UN expert and the country’s Chief Justice.
“I think its high time for the Special Rapporteur to give some direct input to the CJ on what can be done. Maybe she might give him a tweak on the ear such as in the case of Tuai Rumah Sandah (Tabau in Sarawak),” he said when met during the Asia Preparatory Meeting held at the Institute of Native Affairs.
The case refers to the landmark Federal Court ruling in 2016 that the native custom of ‘pemakai menoa’ (territorial domain) and ‘pulau galau’ (communal forest reserve) had no force of law in Sarawak. Civil society groups in the state, expressing disappointment with the decision, had said it would only “create further conflicts between the indigenous communities and the private sector and authorities.”
Lasimbang noted that in Sabah, many poor indigenous communities have also been forced to fight their land cases in court.
The current UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous People is Victoria Tauli-Corpuz who has been holding the mandate since 2014.
She had announced last year that Malaysia had accepted her visit in the first quarter of 2019. But there has yet to be any official confirmation coming either from her or Malaysia on her intended official visit.
Hoping the visit would happen, Lasimbang said it would paint a positive image for Malaysia in the eyes of the international community in line with the new government’s commitment to implement reforms and be a clean as well as corruption-free new regime.
In the fulfilment of her mandate, Tauli-Corpuz conducts fact-finding missions and reports on the human rights situation in specific countries, addresses cases of alleged violations of the rights of indigenous peoples through communications with governments and others.
She also promotes good practices to implement international standards concerning the rights of indigenous peoples and conducts thematic studies on topics of special importance to the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples.
About 80 indigenous representatives from Asia are participating in the ongoing preparatory meeting on UN mechanisms and other processes relating to indigenous peoples.
The main objective of the meeting is to discuss key issues and concerns of the indigenous peoples in the region and to prepare common positions and statements, strategies and specific activities and plans for, among others, the forthcoming session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) In New York and the Experts Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva in May and July this year, respectively.
They are also preparing for the Working Group on Business and Human Rights at the end of the year.
The meeting is organised by Thailand-based Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) and hosted by Pacos Trust and Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS).
