“Respect Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Withhold Consent for Malaysian Dam, Says New Report”, 18 August 2014

A newly released fact-finding report reveals systematic human rights violations are being committed against the indigenous peoples of Sarawak by the proponents of the proposed Baram Dam in Malaysia…Marion Jew from the village of Long Apu testified, “When SEB’s [Sarawak Energy Berhad] consultants [conducting the social and environmental impact assessment] came to my village, they brought a form for us to fill out. They threatened us by saying that if we didn’t fill in the form, we wouldn’t get compensation when the Baram Dam is built. They didn’t explain about the dam or the survey they were doing, but they filled all of our answers in for us with pencil. The last question they asked was: ‘Do you agree or not agree with the Baram Dam?’ We said we did not agree. Then we were asked to sign the form in pen.”…