The WikiLeaks Hijinks
This is a reproduction of comments made on Sarawak Report’s facebook page using one of our facebook avatars that has not yet been blocked, 9Q4SARAWAKREPORT. Our associate, Krisna Mukerjee’s and our 9Q4SR fb avatars have been blocked by Sarawak Report, just as this presence on Medium and our secondary account on this same service.
Do you know why is it that Sarawak Report has only succeeded in making accusations and illegally branding someone a criminal but nothing more?
Refer to one of Sarawak Report’s strongest ‘evidence’ against Taib Mahmud, which is the sole WikiLeaks transmission that mentions his name and supposedly incriminates the Governor.
The other supposedly ‘solid evidence’ may be the Global Witness staged video. The Panel will explore that topic in depth in future posts. Please bear with us. We also have dayjobs and the economy outside of Malaysia where some of the Panel members live is not doing too well either.
In the WikiLeaks transmission by the US embassy attaché to homebase, the capitalised and bracketed words explain {EXACTLY} why these allegations citing this leaked document are merely smoke and mirrors designed to topple a legitimately elected government through illegitimate means — which include persistently false propaganda, served up as solid facts to the general public who is expected not to analyse the data closely enough to spot anything amiss.
Note that when denoted with [?!?!?] these are certainly fabricated information, which are proven to be factually wrong today.
The undenoted parts concerning the supposed criminality of the Governor and/or his family members will be regarded as unconfirmed until legitimate documentation from sources other than Sarawak Report and affiliates can be provided, unless they are formal findings by legitimate investigative bodies and/or courts of law.
The whole transmission below will show exactly why Sarawak Report and friends could never use it in a legitimate court of law (just like the staged video) — rich in hearsay, zero in substantiated facts.
The contents also solidly point to the fact as to why Sarawak Report and affiliates would never print and had never printed the document in whole, as it contains even more damning assessments about the opposition that Sarawak Report is openly and loyally supporting, but never criticising.
Something that they had selectively and carefully kept out of view.
We shall begin:
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUALA LUMPUR 001935
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS AND DS/IP/ITA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/11/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM KISL MY
SUBJECT: SARAWAK: OPPOSITION ADRIFT; INDIGENOUS PEOPLE LACK SERVICES; POLICE REJECT CRITICISM
REF: A. KUALA LUMPUR 942
¶B. 05 KUALA LUMPUR 1955
Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark for reasons 1.4 b, d.
Summary
¶1. (C) We met with political opposition leaders, human rights advocates and police during an October 2 visit to Sarawak’s state capitol of Kuching. While the nationally active ethnic Chinese opposition party DAP performed well in the May 20 state assembly election, we found the party has not yet articulated its political priorities or legislative goals in Sarawak. Through a combination of the governing coalition’s media ownership and control, political and financial patronage, and the DAP’s apparent lack of a coherent political agenda, the Barisan Nasional-affiliated governing coalition will likely remain in firm control of Sarawak.
With regard to protecting the rights of the state’s most vulnerable citizens, one of the 16 commissioners from Malaysia’s government-funded national human rights commission (Suhakam) condemned the state’s “insufficient support” for impoverished, rural, indigenous persons. Echoing comments we have heard from other Suhakam commissioners, {HE SAID} the government largely ignores Suhakam’s recommendations. The state’s second highest ranking cop {TOLD US} that police leaders remain vehemently opposed to the contents of last year’s police commission report, and they see no need for establishment of an independent oversight body. {HE SAID} the government has heavily criticized the police without providing the funding necessary to build a more effective police force.
End Summary.
The Drifting Chinese Opposition
¶2. (C) In Sarawak’s May 20 state assembly election, the ethnic Chinese party DAP increased its representation from one seat to six, thereby establishing itself as the main opposition party in the state’s 71 seat assembly (ref A). We met with two of those DAP representatives, lawyers Chong Chieng Jen and Violet Yong. {CHONG AND YONG STATED} that during the run-up to the May 20 election, while the English-language media acted almost entirely as a mouthpiece for the state’s long-governing National Front constituent parties, the Chinese-language media “provided a surprising amount of coverage” for opposition candidates. {THEY CLAIMED} the primary campaign issue among their constituents was “corruption by Chief Minister Taib and his cronies.” {CHONG SAID} over 1,500 postal votes were recorded in his district by military men posted outside Sarawak, and {HE CLAIMED} “about 99% of them voted against me.” When asked why the National Front coalition didn’t simply increase the number of postal voters to ensure victory for its candidate, {HE STATED}, “They only have a limited total number of postal votes to apportion to the various electoral districts, and they simply misallocated.”
¶3. (C) {CHONG AND YONG SAID} the Sarawak state assembly meets for only 16 days per year. {THEY QUESTIONED} the state government’s ongoing RM300 million ($82 million) construction project to build a 27-storey [?!?!?] state assembly building. The new structure will remain largely empty [?!?!?] during the 349 days when the assembly is not in session. {THEY SAID} Sarawak’s Chief Minister Taib Mahmud ensured the construction contract was awarded to Cahaya Mata, a large holding company that is majority-owned by Taib’s family [?!?!?]. Upon being awarded the construction contract for RM300 million, Cahaya Mata hired a subcontracting firm to complete the construction for RM220 million; Cahaya Mata (and the Taib family) pocketed the RM80 million ($22 million) difference. {THE DAP POLITICIANS TOLD US} that Taib, whose liver cancer was reportedly brought into remission earlier in 2006, “will likely die in office.”
While the {DAP REPRESENTATIVES DESCRIBED} election fraud in great detail and articulated their opposition to government corruption, {THEY COULD NOT} ({OR WOULD NOT}) tell us of their political agenda. Although we asked them several times to define their political goals, we left the meeting with the impression that the {THE DAP HAS NO LEGISLATIVE PLANS OR DETAILED POLITICAL PRIORITIES — OTHER THAN MAINTENANCE OF THEIR SEATS IN THE NEXT ELECTION}
Enfeebled Suhakam Fights Losing Battle
¶4. (C) Dr. Mohammad Herman Ritom Abdullah, Suhakam
KUALA LUMP 00001935 002 OF 003
Commissioner for the state of Sarawak, {TOLD US} that most of Suhakam’s work in the state focuses on the rights of indigenous persons. {HE SAID} no specific state ministry looks after their affairs, and state assistance is provided on an “irregular, ad hoc basis.” {HE DESCRIBED} a recent visit to villages of the Penan tribe near Brunei. {ABDULLAH STATED} that approximately 15,000 Penan tribe members there lack electricity, water treatment and schools. {HE CRITICIZED} the federal and state governments for not fulfilling their promises to provide access to primary education for all citizens. For many Penan children, {ABDULLAH SAID} the nearest school is more than two hours away by foot or boat. To provide basic services on a centralized, more efficient basis for the Penan and other indigenous peoples, {THE GOVERNMENT HAS ESTABLISHED SEVERAL “SERVICE CENTERS”} that attempt to draw rural indigenous families from remote villages.
{ABDULLAH CRITICIZED} these efforts as ineffective, {SAYING} the service centers “are not vibrant and self-supporting.” {HE SAID}, “All the young people end up leaving, as there are no jobs, and only elderly residents remain.”
¶5. (C) Indigenous persons account for over half of Sarawak’s population, but they lack political power. {ABDULLAH EXPLAINED}, “There are plenty of indigenous leaders in the state government, but they can’t do anything without the consent of the Chief Minister.” {HE SAID} Taib appoints “compliant local leaders” from various tribes into “financially rewarding” government positions as a means to stifle potential opposition. Taib belongs to the Melanau indigenous tribe and has been in power for the past 25 years. Embassy {SOURCES} outside the government uniformly {CHARACTERIZE} him as highly corrupt. {ABDULLAH SAID} Taib has done little to assist the state’s indigenous peoples as they attempt to establish legal ownership of their ancestral lands and defend themselves against encroachment by logging companies. Taib and his relatives are {WIDELY THOUGHT} to extract a percentage from most major commercial contracts — including those for logging — awarded in the state.
Abdullah’s efforts to represent the concerns of Sabah’s [sic.] impoverished indigenous peoples have fallen on deaf ears. {HE STATED} flatly, “The government doesn’t listen to us or act on our advice.”
All Stick and No Carrot for Police
¶6. (C) Sarawak’s Deputy Police Commissioner, Kuik Alias Harris, told us on October 2 in Kuching that the federal government “has done little for us other than to criticize our work.” We discussed the government-sponsored police commission report published in May 2005 that was highly critical of police corruption, incompetence and prisoner abuse (ref B). Waving his finger in the air and leaning forward for emphasis, he said police leaders “are 101 percent against (the report’s) findings.” National police leaders have been highly critical, both privately and publicly, of efforts to establish an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) that would investigate reports of police abuse, use of deadly force during apprehension of suspects, deaths in police custody and the generally high level of corruption that pervades the force. While Harris welcomed public comments by government officials that salaries, living quarters and equipment for police must be improved, he said little had been done thus far by the government in these areas.
¶7. (C) The head of Sarawak’s Special Branch, Khariri Jaafar, added, “The country’s police stations are falling apart.” He criticized the lack of funding for police facilities and equipment, calling the situation “demoralizing.” He told us to visit the police station in Dang Wangi that handles the center of Kuala Lumpur. He said, “I wouldn’t spend one day working there.” Harris concluded, “It’s hard for us to do our jobs. The current situation is frustrating.”
Comment
¶8. (C) Comments from the DAP politicians and Suhakam reinforce what we have heard from other Sarawak state leaders and national politicians. {BY THESE ACCOUNTS}, the Sarawak state government remains highly corrupt and firmly in the hands of its chief minister. The $82 million state assembly building now under construction serves as perhaps the most obvious and extreme example of the self-enrichment of the state’s chief minister and other senior government officials.
Through a combination of financial and political patronage, media ownership and control, and a seemingly unfocused opposition party, no serious challenge exists to the governing coalition’s longstanding grip on political power in the state. The deputy police commissioner’s strong negative reaction to the police commission report mirrors comments from the national police leadership in Kuala Lumpur. Despite the prime minister’s earlier publicly stated support for an independent oversight body, the police have thus far won the stand-off.
SHEAR
— -END TRANSMISSION — -
So, as you can see, not only had this sole document from WikiLeaks been hocked about as if it was Gospel Truth, it also qualified every information and conclusions as based on the unsubstantiated opinions and hearsay of a person about another, as opposed to a confession — such as the one we are hearing coming out about Xavier Justo, which is incredibly damning against Clare Rewcastle Brown, as her devious claim about Justo being a whistle-blower had been flatly refuted by Justo himself, who admitted that he is certainly not one.
Now, Clare Rewcastle Brown is running around trying to avoid addressing the ever more incriminating questions that are turning back her way, with solid documentation, and not merely documentation that is full of hearsay and politically tainted commentary as basis of one’s criminality.
Now, Justo…do address the question of where the US$2m that you promised Justo went to, and also what have you been doing with the other monies you have been collecting from the public and that wealthy “non-political European”?
Transparency, anyone? Looks like the ones who had been calling out for transparency are turning out to be the murkiest ones of all.
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