Human Rights Abuses in Plantation and Land Rights Conflict in Bulukumba

http://www.indonesiaalert.org/article.php?id=38

Human Rights Abuses in Plantation and Land Rights Conflict in Bulukumba, South Sulawesiby Abdul Wahib SitumorangMay 27th, 2004

On July 21, 2003, 1,500 people in the Kajang district of Bulukumba regency, in the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi, gathered at the PT Pan London Sumatra (Lonsum) plantation. The villagers started to clear land in Bonto Maringin that they claimed the company took from them in 1982. Twenty Mobil Brigade (Brimob) officers went to the scene and ordered villagers to disperse. Jusuf Manggabarani, Commandant of the South Sulawesi Police, has since admitted that the police did not follow proper procedures. They opened fire, and according to Ridha Saleh, Deputy Director of the Indonesian Forum on the Environment (WALHI), three people were killed, dozens hurt, and many more detained, including activists who had helped the villagers with their land claims.

According to news reports, the South Sulawesi Police interrogated 11 Bulukumba police officers, including the Commandant of Bulukumba district, Tigor Situmorang. Various NGOs, including WALHI, the Legal Aid Association (LBH), and the Indonesian Indigenous Peoples Alliance (AMAN) have protested the police violence, intimidation of protestors, and actions taken against activists who helped local people organize; M.M. Billah of the National Human Rights Commission pointed to serious human rights violations of those attacked in Bulukumba. But little came of these protests or the official investigation of the incident. On October 3, 2003, the police again opened fire on demonstrators; one person was shot, more were hurt, and four people were detained.

Lonsum: The Bulukumba plantations are owned by Lonsum, which has plantations in North and South Sumatra as well as in Sulawesi and was originally a subsidiary of the British company Harrison & Crosfield. According to Idham Arsyad, Deputy Director of WALHI South Sulawesi, the Indonesian consortium PT Pan London Sumatra Plantation (PLSP), owned by Anry Pribadi from the Napan group, Ibrahim Risyad from the Rijadso group and Henry Liem, bought Lonsum for $273 million in 1994. PLSP has sold 25 percent of its holdings to Happy Cheer Limited and 6 percent to Commerzbank. Lonsum has faced protests by the local community and environmental activists in Lubuk Linggau, South Sumatra, where fires set to clear land for planting spread out of control in 1997. Protests also dogged Lonsum over land conflicts and damage to the environment in North Sumatra. According to the newspaper Fajar, Lonsum has not paid taxes to local government.

Origins of the Conflict: In the 1980s Lonsum, given land use concession rights (Hak Guna Usaha, HGU) to 5,784,000 hectares to develop a rubber plantation by the government, removed indigenous Kajang people from South Sulawesi villages and destroyed their homes and gardens, with support from Bulukumba district government officials and military personnel. Like some other ethnic groups in South Sulawesi, the Kajang have traditionally claimed rights to forested lands where they gather non-timber forest products and plant fruit trees to increase their income. Maddoro, a Kajang villager, reports that his parents had grown crops in the area since 1953.

In 1982, 172 Kajang families therefore went to court to establish land rights against Lonsum. In 1988, the Supreme Court directed Lonsum to return 200 hectares to local villagers. While this decision validated Kajang land claims, it did not resolve the dispute, because the Kajang claimed rights to 564 hectares of land, an area determined by natural boundaries rather than evidence of cultivation. During the Suharto era, intimidation from local officials and military officers kept Bulukumba villagers from fighting for land rights. President Suharto’s fall in May 1998 opened a window of opportunity for villagers to reclaim their land. Hundreds went to the Bulukumba district legislature and government offices to present claims.

In 1999, the district court delegated Abdi Karo to confirm Kajang land claims. He validated the claim of 564 hectares based on natural boundaries, as the establishment of the plantation had eliminated all evidence of Kajang cultivation. Lonsum then demanded that the court abide by the original decision granting 200 hectares to Kajang villagers, and in 2000, the district court handed down a decision supporting Lonsum, directing that 200 hectares be returned to Kajang villagers and compensation be paid to villagers who did not receive land.

The Cycle of Escalating Violence:

Some Kajang villagers accepted payment for their land claims, but others refused. Between March 5 and 9, 2003, Lonsum employees attacked homes of the holdouts, burning down several houses and intimidating people with gunfire. Police who witnessed this violence did not stop it or detain the attackers. Subsequently 700 Kajang villagers demonstrated at the Bulukumba district legislature to demand that police confiscate the illegal guns of Lonsum employees. The Kajang people also accused Lonsum of forging signatures on documents agreeing to compensation and demanded that police investigate.

The government agreed to proceed with an investigation, but between April 1 and 15, 86 Kajang villagers were summoned to police headquarters and intimidated. On May 28 and 29, 2003, the police and Lonsum destroyed homes in the villages of Bonto Mangiring and Bonto Baji and detained four residents. This led to further protests by the Kajang, with hundreds demonstrating at the district legislature between June 1 and 10, 2003. Protestors demanded that police remain neutral in the dispute between the Kajang and Lonsum, and that those taken into custody be released. Negotiations between the Kajang and the police and district legislature of Bulukumba led to an agreement that the detained Kajang would be released, but the authorities subsequently reneged, saying that the district police of Bone did not accept the agreement.

Unresolved Police Abuse

This triggered a further attempt by Kajang villagers to reclaim their land, ending in the killing of three villagers described at the beginning of this article. As of May 2004, no police officer has been brought to court or punished, even though there is clear evidence that police used excessive force and did not follow procedures. Instead, WALHI South Sulawesi and the Popular Education Institute (YPR) have been attacked as provocateurs. In August 2003, the South Sulawesi Police Chief accused Indah Patinaware, the Director of WALHI South Sulawesi, of defamation because she demanded that he resign after failing to curb police abuse of power in Bulukumba. She is now being prosecuted.

The Kajang-Lonsum conflict is only one of countless land conflicts in Indonesia. According to the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), the Indonesian government has made no serious effort to deal with land issues, although there are hundreds of ongoing land conflicts. Instead, as in Bulukumba, the government uses police and lower-level officials to protect the interest of big corporations, and activists who become involved are labeled provocateurs. Sources: 1. Amnesty International August 4, 2003. 2. Arsyad, Idham Personal Interview December 17, 2003. 3. Down to Earth “Dibalik Peristiwa Penembakan Masyarakat Adat: Awal Sebuah Tragedi Berdarah.”

dte.gn.apc.org/AMAN/kasus/bkgrkjg.html. 4. Kompas “Kapolres Bulukumba Tersangka Kasus PT Lonsum,” September 2, 2003. 5. LBH Palembang and WALHI Sumatera Selatan “Daftar Kasus-Kasus Pertanahan Di Sumatera Selatan,” 1998. 6. Ridha, Saleh Personal Interview, December 18, 2003. 7. Sinar Harapan “Diduga Terlibat Kasus Bulukumba 11 Anggota Polisi Diperiksa,” September 3, 2003. 8. Tempo Interactive “Komnas HAM Temukan Indikasi Pelanggaran Hak Asasi Manusia di Bulukumba,” August 8, 2003.