The implementation of the Ogiek judgment is in the hearts and the spirits of the Ogiek people and the indigenous peoples globally. On 26 May 2017, we received the judgment at the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights (ACtHPR) in Arusha Tanzania, after a 12-year process that started in Kenyan courts and involved the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR), The Gambia, besides the Court.

This publication is the outcome of our research on the socio-environmental impacts of large pulp and paper, timber tree and oil palm plantations in Sarawak. It contains two case studies on plantation affected indigenous communities in Batu Niah and Bakong in the Miri Division. It stresses on the importance of understanding the context of large monoculture plantations in Sarawak accurately, as it entails two destructive factors. First, it involves deforestation, as it is clearly a post-logging development.

This publication is the outcome of our research on the socio-environmental impacts of large pulp and paper, timber tree and oil palm plantations in Sarawak. It contains two case studies on plantation affected indigenous communities in Batu Niah and Bakong in the Miri Division. It stresses on the importance of understanding the context of large monoculture plantations in Sarawak accurately, as it entails two destructive factors. First, it involves deforestation, as it is clearly a post-logging development.

Defenders of Indigenous land in Malaysia are targeted, singled out and face opposition from state authorities and private individuals when they speak up. These abuses have further disenfranchised Indigenous communities in Malaysia, marginalising them socially and harming them economically. The report examines the struggles human rights defenders of Indigenous peoples have endured as they have sought to claim their right to Indigenous lands, and the steps that should be taken by the government to ensure that they are given the protection they deserve.

Although the Orang Asli are the original, indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia, they have been largely excluded from the country’s economic growth of recent decades. Rather than protect this marginalized community, state officials and private agencies regularly exploit the Orang Asli and their ancestral lands. Given that many of the Orang Asli’s prevailing challenges stem from their lack of customary land ownership, systemic change must come from the legislative level.

In this paper, we use an actor-oriented perspective to explore the nature and extent of conflict and negotiation with regard to land use and tenure among the Iban of Sarawak. The Iban are shifting cultivators who have long been involved in smallholder cash crops.

This paper briefly explains the unique relationships of Orang Asli with the customary land. It further demonstrates the common views that there is a collision between the Orang Asli notion of land ownership and that of the state. In particular the discussion highlights the interpretation of customary tenure under section 4 (2) (a) of the National Land Code, 1965 and it significance with the Orang Asli customary land.

The webinar Multifaceted Challenges of Land and Climate Change explored the interconnection of land rights and climate responses at micro, meso and macro level. The webinar aimed to explore the following question: What kind of land governance will foster adequate climate response actions? Oxfam and partners in many countries are confronted with this two-sided problem while dealing with both land and climate justice interventions. Oxfam is currently investing in deepening the analysis of land & climate nexus at both country and global level.

Tropical forests in Indonesia are subject to major transformation processes from native forests to other land uses, including rubber agroforestry as well as rubber and oil palm plantation systems. Using content analysis of policy documents, this paper aims at (i) analysing the formal administrative responsibilities related to the four rainforest transformation systems and (ii) based on the informal motives of the competing bureaucracies involved generating hypotheses on their future course of action and related research.

Coming two years after a political transition from post-war authoritarianism, this Shadow Report to the United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights is framed in the backdrop of two concurrent processes of ‘transformation’ currently underway in Sri Lanka. The first is the process of constitutional reform initiated by the Government that was elected on the platform of restoring democratic, inclusive and accountable governance.

ABSTRACTED FROM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Since its establishment in 1999, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) has been dealing with allegations of violations to indigenous customary rights to land, many of which have not been resolved. SUHAKAM in 2010 therefore decided to conduct a National Inquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Inquiry) in Malaysia as it is of the view that the issue could not be resolved using piecemeal approaches or addressed on a case by case basis.

Land has been one of the major concerning factors in escalating disputes and conflicts between ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, including the violation of minority rights. This paper examines the impact of land policies and land-based development programs on the rights of ethnic minorities in eastern Sri Lanka by analyzing selected major policies and projects. The analysis is interpretive and descriptive in nature. Secondary literature was the primary source for the analysis.