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 Penan leader Kelesau reported missingBy BMF BMF 2007-12-18 | PRESS STATEMENT:Penan lodge police report after one of their leaders has disappeared in the jungle without leaving a trace. -- Communities worried about loss of key plaintiff in pending land rightsclaim. The shocking news reaches us from Long Kerong, the Penan village in the Upper Baram region of the East Malaysian State of Sarawak. Headman Kelesau Naan has disappeared without leaving a trace. The Penan leader, who was in his 70s, was last seen on 23 October 2007 in the vicinity of his village in one of Sarawak's last intact rainforests. After two months, the Penan have decided to break the silence and have lodged a police report. "Starting from his paddy field, Kelesau went hunting but never returned home. In spite of a major search effort, we have no idea about his whereabouts.We are puzzled by Kelesau's disappearal and fear the worst", a Penan source said. Kelesau Naan is one of four plaintiffs and a key witness in a major Penan land rights claim that has been awaiting trial since 1998. He was one of the leading figures in the Upper Baram Penan communities' struggle against the logging of their rainforests by the Malaysian Samling corporation. Long Kerong is one of the few Penan communities that, by fierce resistance, have managed to keep the loggers at bay and preserve parts of their communal forests for hunting and the collection of forest products. In an interview conducted in 2004, Kelesau said the village's defiance had proven its worth and he asked for the Sarawak state government to finally recognize the Penan's land claim. The use of violence cannot be excluded in the disappearance of headman Kelesau. Tensions between loggers and the Penan in the Upper Baram region have intensified in recent months, and the Sarawak government and the lumber companies have increased their pressure. In April and August 2007, Penan from the nearby village of Long Benali reported intimidations by local security forces that had been brought into the area to break up a logging road blockade. In the 1990s, two Penan who were involved in disputes with the timber companies disappeared in a similar way. And the disappearance of Swiss rainforest advocate Bruno Manser in Sarawak in May of 2000 still has not been clarified. For more information, please contact us: Tel. +41 61 261 94 74 Web: www.bmf.ch Email: info@bmf.ch Image Links
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