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INDONESIA: About 300 families of indigenous villagers threatened to be forcibly evicted by the government in West Sumatera

December 14, 2007

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ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ¡V URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

14 December 2007
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UA-341-2007: INDONESIA: About 300 families of indigenous villagers threatened to be forcibly evicted by the government in West Sumatera

INDONESIA: Right to land; indigenous groups; displaced persons
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that around 300 families of indigenous villagers occupying a land since 1918 in Lima Puluh Kota Municipality, West Sumatera, had been threatened with forcible eviction by the government. The villagers had been evicted twice before but were forced to return having no other means of livelihood after moving elsewhere. The municipal government and the Government Agency for Top Breeding Cow (BPTU) forcibly evicted them in the past in absence of a lawful court for the latter to occupy the land.

CASE DETAILS:

The Government Agency for Top Breeding Cow (BPTU) is a unit under the Farming Department which claims that the Ulayat land of Nagari Mungo is government land according to the Erfach Deed No. 207. In 1997, the Ministry of Agriculture had issued a Certificate of Right to Use to the BPTU effectively allowing them to claim the land. Ulayat Land refers to rights to collective ownership of land by an Adat community. Adat means traditional or customary which is supervised by a local Adat leadership.

The villagers inherited the land from their ancestors who had been occupying it since 1918. Their ancestors were also able to obtain an agreement with the then Dutch colonial government that lasted for 75 years. However, after Indonesia obtained independence from Holland they declared that the land was owned by the government and have since been trying to occupy it. The land is fertile for livestock farming.

In 2000, the 300 families of the villagers had already been forcibly evicted. Nineteen local villagers had been arrested and accused of destroying the property of the BPTU Office. However, in 2001, the villagers returned to their Ulayat land because they have no means of livelihood since they moved from their land. They had been able to stay there until they were once again forcibly evicted in 2006. For the second time, the villagers had come back to their land for same reasons but they now face threats of another eviction.

This year, for several times the municipal government and the villagers have been engaging in a dialogue to find a solution in resolving the land conflict but they have failed to reach any agreement. The government, however, offered to give livestock as form of compensation in exchange of the villagers' development of the land. The compensation they had offered to them is also inadequate. The villagers have refused to move from their land because it was there where they breed their cows for living; and that they had been occupying the land for many years.

Apart from that, the municipal government and the government agency involved also failed to obtain any lawful order from the court allowing them to evict the villagers as it happens twice in the past. The municipal government also discriminates against the villagers in defending the actions taken by the BPTU since they would be able to gain money from the BPTU's work should they be allowed to continue occupying the land.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please send your letters to the authorities below requesting their intervention into taking appropriate action on the municipal government of Lima Puluh Kota for having been responsible of forcibly evicting the villagers. The forced eviction was illegal as it has no lawful order from the court allowing them to do so. It must also cease plans of forcibly evicting the affected indigenous villagers again in absence of adequate remedies for them.

Sample letter:

Dear __________,

INDONESIA: About 300 families of indigenous villagers threatened to be forcibly evicted by the government in West Sumatera

Number of affected villagers: About 300 families of indigenous villagers living in Nagari Munggo, Luhak Sub-district, Lima Puluh Kota, West Sumatera Province
Responsible for forcible eviction: The municipal government, Government Agency for Top Breeding Cow (BPTU) and Ministry of Agriculture of Indonesia
Date of incident: Since 2000 to present
Place of incident: In Nagari Munggo, Luhak Subdistrict

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding yet another threat of forcible eviction of indigenous villagers in Nagari Munggo, West Sumatera by the municipal government of Lima Puluh Kota. The villagers have been occupying the land where they breed cows for their livelihood since the 1950s. The Ulayat area is known as land owned collectively by the traditional community.

I have learned that the villagers' ancestors had been able to obtain an agreement with the then Dutch colonial government in 1918 over ownership in the land which had given the villagers of Nagari Munggo lawful right to own the land for 75 years. However, I have learned that after Indonesia obtained independence from Holland, the villagers had been the object of forcible evictions by the government.

It is disappointing that the government had failed to take adequate compensation and remedies for the affected villagers. They were only offered livestock in return should they voluntarily vacate and for their development of the land for years since their ancestors. As you are aware, the said land had been the source of livelihood by the villagers and had been their way of life as indigenous communities. I am shocked by the government's disrespect and failure to ensure that the rights of this indigenous are observed.

I have learned that the villagers had been forcibly evicted twice¡Xin 2000 and in 2006¡Xby the municipal government of Lima Puluh Kota even though there were no lawful orders from the court allowing them to do so. The villagers are forced to come back since they have no other means of livelihood aside from the land where they and their ancestors had occupied for many years. The villagers' life had been haunted by fear of these threats of evictions and they have not been able to properly breed their own cows because of uncertainties that should they want to occupy the land again to breed cows, they would be evicted.

Since then, the villagers had been the object of forcible evictions and there are no signs that their plight would be adequately addressed by the government concerned. I am gravely concerned of yet another threat of forcible evictions on the villagers this time; and that they would have to implement this once again in absence of lawful orders.

I therefore urge your intervention to take adequate action on the municipal government and the government agency involved for violation the provision of lawful relocation. Any form of eviction should not be taken unless the conflict is lawfully settled. The dispute regarding ownership of the land should be taken to the court in order to settle the indigenous claim; and that the villagers could also obtain adequate remedies. According to the Indonesian Law, unless there are orders from a competent court allowing the eviction of villagers, this can't be done. To evict them on this condition is a violation of law.

As you are aware, as state party to the International Covenant of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Government of Indonesia must observed the provision of Article 11 which obliges them to recognize the rights of its every citizens to adequate standard of living, including means of livelihood, adequate food, clothing and housing, and to ensure the continuous improvement of their living condition.

I trust you will take prompt action on this matter.

Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

1. Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudoyono
President
Republic of Indonesia
Presidential Palace
Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara
Jakarta Pusat 10010
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 384 5627 ext 1003
Fax: + 62 21 231 41 38 / 345 2685 / 345 7782

2. Mr. Anton Apriyantono
Minister of Agriculture
Jl. Harsono RM No.3
Ragunan, Pasar Minggu
Jakarta 12550
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 780 4056
Fax: +62 21 780 4237

3. Head of Livestock Breeding Directorate
Direktorat Perbibitan, Ditjen Peternakan, Departemen Pertanian Republik Indonesia
Kantor Pusat Departemen Pertanian RI, Gedung C Lantai 8
Jl. Harsono RM No. 3
Ragunan, Pasar Minggu
Jakarta 12550
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 781 5781 / 781 1385
Fax: +62 21 781 5781

4. Mr. Amri Darwis
Head of Lima Puluh Kota Municipality
Jl. Soekarno Hatta No.1 Kota Payukumbuh,
West Sumatera
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 752 92 801
Fax: +62 752 93 275

5. Mr. Ifdhal Kasim
Chairperson
KOMNAS HAM (National Human Rights Commission)
Jl. Latuharhary No. 4B Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10310
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 392 5230
Fax: +62 21 315 1042 / 392 5227

6. Mr. Rumazar Ruzuar
Head of Komnas HAM West Sumatera Representative
Jl. Rasuna Said No. 74
Padang
West Sumatera
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 751 7050 320
Fax: +62 751 7050 528

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-341-2007
Countries :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.