x EXECUTIVE SUMMARY peoples in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia, and the conceptual and legal framework of indigenous peoples’ land rights. The Report of the Inquiry contains the findings, conclusions and recommendations taking into account the information acquired during the public hearings, research, consultations and submissions. In terms of the scope of the Inquiry, the focus is on the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia, and the natives in Sabah and Sarawak. It is also the aim of the Inquiry to create and promote more public awareness on the indigenous peoples’ rights to land and their way of life. Towards this end, the Inquiry facilitated media involvement to promote transparency, and to play an educative role. The Inquiry was also seen as an important empowering platform for the indigenous communities, who mobilised themselves to prepare historical evidence that could substantiate their testimonies and claims to their traditional land presented before the Inquiry. CHAPTER 2 - INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF MALAYSIA The majority of the indigenous peoples of Malaysia still live in rural and in many cases, remote areas, although more and more now live in the periphery of the urban areas. Many survive by hunting and gathering, fishing, swidden farming, arboriculture, and by trading forest products. Indigenous peoples of Malaysia have a close relationship to their lands, territories and resources. Their lands and resources are significant not only as a means of livelihood but also as part of their spiritual and cultural life, and form part of their identity as peoples. Thus, the recognition, and the promotion and protection of rights over their customary lands and resources are vital for their development and cultural survival. Indigenous communities have their own adat related to the use and protection of lands, territories and resources. There are 28 indigenous groups making up 71.2 percent of the population of Sarawak; 13 Orang Asli groups in Peninsular Malaysia numbering 178,197 (2010 estimate) or constituting 0.79% of the population of the Peninsula. In Sabah, the 39 ethnic groups apparently make up 61.22 percent of the State’s total population. CHAPTER 3 - INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ PERSPECTIVE OF LAND As elaborated in this Chapter of the Report, indigenous peoples of Malaysia have clear systems of land tenure – whether individual or collective – that is based on the adat (customary systems), and the understanding and maintenance of these traditional systems is handed from one generation to the other. Statutory laws related to land in Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia that give recognition to traditional land tenure systems however, fall short in many ways due to the lack of understanding of the systems and because such laws were conceptualised during the British colonial period to achieve economic growth through the exploitation of the territory’s natural resources. CHAPTER 4 - LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS TO LAND International law on the rights of indigenous peoples has explicitly and implicitly recognised the importance of indigenous peoples’ lands, territories and resources, and their significance in the enjoyment of other human rights. These international laws include the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP); international human rights treaties; ILO Convention No 169; regional human rights treaties; and interpretations of international law by authoritative bodies such as courts, commissions and UN human rights treaty bodies. Provisions in other international human rights treaties such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms Report SUHAKAM i-xx_a4.indd 10 7/5/13 6:39 PM