The ravishing of the native women in the deep recess of the Sarawak jungles has not been taken seriously by the police who were only too eager to put an end to this controversy, one way or another.
The latest development on the issue has been a disappointment, no thanks to the lack of interest shown by the police and the powers-that-be in making sure that the rapists are at the receiving end of the law.
Why the difficulty in accepting that these rapes did happen? Why the denial and refusal in wanting to help the Penan women and girls seek justice? Does the remote interior serve as an excuse to ignore that a crime like rape did take place?
Women Aid Organisation's executive director Ivy Josiah (left) who was among those in the national action committee to investigate the allegations of sexual abuse made was reported to have said:"The findings were basically that there was indeed sexual exploitation of the girls - especially where school children who, during the journey back and forth from schools, have to use the transport provided by the lorries and lorry drivers of the timber companies.
"They were open to exploitation either sexual harassment or sexual molestation and even rape. From what we understand this became the norm - it has been happening over a period of 10 years - and it is systemic in the isolated areas like the jungles of Sarawak."
Timber and politics
It is no hidden secret that the former minister for environment and tourism James Wong was also one of the state's largest logging concessionaires.
And it was not too long ago that it was reported that a company linked to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud's family is under investigation by the Tokyo tax authorities for corruption over RM32 million in timber kickbacks allegedly paid by Japanese shippers to help lubricate timber shipments.Malaysia's rate of deforestation is the highest in the tropical world, losing 14,860 square kilometers since 1990.
The lowland tropical rainforest, which is the primary habitat of the Penan and has the most valuable trees, has all but gone.The Penan population is about 10,000 and about 350 to 500 are nomadic. And they live deep in the jungles, cut off from the outside world because they chose it that way.
The Penan females, however, did not choose to be raped each time they reluctantly asked for help for transport from the logging companies inside the jungle.
Rapists must be punished
But the fact of the matter is that the rapes took place and the perpetrators must be brought to face the wrath of the law.
Unfortunately, the culprits are getting away scot-free, thinking that having sex with women and girls who turned to them for help is no big deal, much less a crime.
Let this be clear - sex without the woman's consent is regarded as rape by the law and sex under duress or aggravated situation is still a criminal offence. And sex with a minor is considered rape under the law.
In April this year Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung told Dewan Negara that 4,959 rape cases were reported in 2008 compared to 1,241 cases in the previous year, a jump of 300 percent.
In the first two months of this year alone there were 769 rape cases. Meanwhile, there were 4,586 rape suspects detained this year compared with 4,770 in 2008.
Chor attributed the rise in rape numbers to suspects and victims being drunk and suspects abusing the trust of victims.
Perhaps the task force from the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and the women's groups should also educate the loggers on women's rights and the penalties that await them should they think little about respecting the dignity of a woman or girl.
Too bad that Malaysia does not have a Phoolan Devi better known as India's Bandit Queen or a Jhansi Ki Rani (Queen of Jhansi) also known as India's 'Joan of Arc' due to her resistance to British rule in India to seek justice for abused women.
There is only the unreliable human rights commission Suhakam to turn to for help.
Lame lack of evidence excuse
Evidence, evidence, evidence - it is on this pretext a rape case is
The Penan native women have cried rape and mind you, they had cried about it not just recently but as far back as seven to eight years ago.
Did anyone hear their cries? Not the police, not the government and not even Malaysia's very own human rights commission, Suhakam.
Why? Because the Penan tribe constitutes a minor group? Or is it because the rights of the Penan people are not recognised as such? Or is it because someone has a vested interest to protect and that too at the expense of the Penan natives?
Rape is a crime, period. There should be no haggling over such a traumatising incident, much less finger pointing at who should shoulder the blame.
Just like any rape survivor, the victims too came forward after realising what happened to them is a crime for which they can seek justice.
The Penan tribe may not be an enlightened group of people where the topic of basic rights or human rights goes.
But if they are bullied, harassed and stripped of their dignity, they, just like any other Malaysian have all the right to turn to the judicial system for justice. It is another matter when the country's judicial system is there for them or not.
Being forced to have sex under threat or in the face of duress is still a crime because the perpetrator has taken advantage of the situation that serves as a weakness to the woman or girl concerned.
With the Penan rape issue the talk of town, one wonders whatever happened to the memorandum on amendments to the rape law where the woman's groups had approached the government to re-look at that legislation and redefine rape besides acknowledging other forms of the crime like marital rape and rape under aggravated circumstances.
Penan people's rights dismissed
It is very disheartening to note the manner in which the government has handled the Penan women's cases.
And just as frustrating is to realise yet again of the existence of an impotent human rights commission, one which does not have the courage to stand up for the rights of the people, be they natives or the everyday people of this country.
For the Sarawak government, responsible for signing the logging licences, has conveniently dismissed the federal government report as interference from outside.
To add insult to injury, Sarawak cabinet minister for land use James Masing, when told of the rapes, barked that "Penan are very good story tellers, changing their stories and when they feel like it".
Now, what exactly does Masing and the police need to confirm that the rape of the Penan girls and women did happen? Nothing, because they know that the incident did take place, but have been ordered to play dumb and close the case.
To ask for a corroborative evidence in an incident like rape is an outright insult to the survivor for rape is no 'event' for the masses to witness. And to dismiss the cries of rape from the Penan girls and women because they have no identification documents rubs raw against a person's basic rights.
Should the government decide to ignore their cries, it will only go down in history as a government without the will power to reflect its commitment to defending the rights of its female citizens.
If that was the case, then there is little need for a ministry on women, for in the end all these will smack of nothing but government hypocrisy.
Rape is a form of torture and this has yet to ring a bell among the law makers, pathetically.
Dec 10 is the day when the world commemorates World Human Rights Day.
The sad truth is that looking at this country's human rights record, there is little indeed for the government to speak about each year when Dec 10 arrives.
Its failure to provide justice to the Penan women will further add a dent to the country's dismal human rights track record.
As it is, Malaysia is already has a blithe in the manner in which it has mistreated refugees, domestic helpers and migrants.
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