Human Rights Watch’s (HRW) report reveals that Malaysia’s Sarawak state, Malaysia has failed to protect the rights of an Indigenous community from a timber company that allegedly logged without the community’s consent. The community is also sought to be removed from their land.

In its 54-page report published in May, HRW alleged that the Malaysian company Zedtee, part of the Shin Yang Group timber conglomerate, “logged in the ancestral territory of the Iban community Rumah Jeffery without their consent.” While HRW claimed that the company has not met the requirements of laws and policies of Sarawak state or “the terms of the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme”, the state did not hold the company accountable. Instead, HRW continued that community protesters were threatened to be apprehended while threatening to demolish Rumah Jeffery’s village.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) invited Zedtee, Shin Yang Group, and SIRIM, responsible for auditing, to respond to the allegations. While Zedtee responded to BHRRC with an attachment of their response in its entirety to HRW, Shin Yang Group and SIRIM did not respond.