The government is increasingly being urged to consider people’s rights when formulating regulations on natural resource management and plantations, with both sectors become increasingly synonymous with cases of land grabs, environmental damage and violent clashes. “The government must be able to formulate regulations of exactly how much land can be converted into oil palm plantations because they can cause 20 years of damage, not just to the environment but also to the livelihood of the people living there,” Mohamad Choirul Anam, deputy executive director of the Human Rights Working Group, said on Tuesday.
He said the government should be held accountable for the many cases of conflicts linked to land disputes, arguing had failed to ensure people were fairly compensated for their land or for anticipating overlapping claims before issuing permits for plantations and mining concessions. The Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA) has recorded that at least 25 farmers were shot and three killed last year across Indonesia as a result of land disputes and agrarian conflicts. Although 2011 was a more deadly year for agrarian conflicts, with 22 deaths linked to land disputes, the total number of conflicts rose in 2012, from 163 to 198, the KPA said.
The group highlighted cases over the last two years in South Sumatra and Lampung, where bloody conflicts persist between farmers and large oil palm plantations. Tensions first erupted in 2011, but a lack of government commitment to addressing the problem’s root causes prompted the conflict to resurface again last year, Anam said. In July, police, who many believe were siding with plantation owners, opened fire on a group of protesting farmers in Ogan Ilir district, South Sumatra. The victims of the shooting had accused private plantation companies of encroaching on their lands.
A child was fatally shot by police during the protest. The KPA also claimed that 156 farmers were arbitrarily arrested for protesting against land encroachment by big businesses, while none of the land dispute cases were ever investigated. Agrarian conflicts have also resulted in 55 farmers sustaining injuries from heavy-handed policing and alleged torture, the KPA says. Anam said Indonesia could be a driving force for global change in how extractive and plantation industries did business with developing countries. “Indonesia must be at the forefront of improvements to international business conduct.
Although several countries have rejected the issue of balancing business with human rights as part of market liberalization, Indonesia must propose a declaration on this,” he said. The Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) said political parties had also become complacent in cases of land grabs, especially when party officials were involved in awarding concessions. “There are at least seven parties involved,” said Hendrik Sinaga, the Jatam coordinator. “The practice is usually done in the run-up to regional elections. Natural resources have become a huge source of funding for political [parties] across the country.”
A total of 10 parties will participate in the 2014 legislative and presidential elections, as well as three local parties which will contest the legislative election in Aceh. Siti Maimunah, coordinator of the Civil Society Forum for Climate Justice, agreed that the practice would only worsen as next year’s polls drew closer. She predicted that many politicians would provide businesses with permits and favorable legislation in exchange for campaign donations. “There are many culprits. National and international corporations are the main actors behind the series of conflicts, violence and natural destruction, but they remain protected by policymakers and politicians,” she said.
“It’s no secret that political parties get much of their funding from natural resource firms controlled by their own officials, supporters or benefactors.” Siti said that in the last three years, nearly 70,000 families had fallen victim to the conflicts and land grabs linked to natural resources and plantations. Chalid Muhammad, coordinator of the Indonesian Green Institute, said politics were one factor contributing to the rampant corruption inside the sector. He highlighted the point that companies owned by politicians were rarely prosecuted for environmental damage, allegations of land grabs or cases of bribery.
In a rare exception, Siti Hartati Murdaya, the main benefactor of the Democratic Party, was arrested for authorizing bribes for a district head in Central Sulawesi in exchange for a plantation permit. On Monday, prosecutors from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) demanded the maximum sentence of five years for Hartati during a hearing in her trial at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court. But Chalid said that such prosecutions were rare, with many cases going unreported and unpunished by law enforcement officers. “It will become worse in 2013, because in 2014 there will be the legislative election and the presidential election,” he said. “This will translate into an increase in mining permits being issued, because there’s a lot of money to be gained by parties contesting the elections.”
source : the jakarta globe
source : the jakarta globe
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