In Occupied Mesuji, a Land Long Riven by Power and Politics

December 27, 2011 | News | The Jakarta Globe

Locals in Mesuji, southern Sumatra, gather on Dec. 26 to hear testimony of victims of plantation companies that sponsored a campaign of terror in their villages. © Daniel Pye

Mesuji, Lampung. “We need to make a new model for how we distribute power in the countryside,” retired Maj. Gen. Saurip Kadi told a crowd of people huddled under a tent where their village meeting hall once stood.

The former general was leading a delegation to Mesuji, Lampung, on Monday to publicly record for the first time testimony from the relatives of villagers killed in a land dispute with palm oil and rubber companies.

The relatives of villagers allegedly killed by police and paramilitary forces in the pay of those firms met with representatives of religious groups, human rights activists and media to demand a dialogue with the central government and the companies.

They say palm oil companies Bangun Nusa Indah Lampung and Silva Inhutani, among others, have carried out a systematic campaign of violence and intimidation since 2008 which has led to 32 deaths and the destruction of their livelihoods, forcing them from their lands.

The companies deny the allegations. Police have countered the release of a gruesome video showing a company-ordered raid on the villages by releasing footage they claim shows the destruction of company property.

The delegation, which included a member of the House of Representatives, Nudirman Munir of the Golkar Party, attempted to visit the BNIL factory but was prevented from entering by several dozen police officers.

Previously, residents of Mesuji’s scattered villages and camps had been afraid to speak out, they said. But the presence of Saurip, television cameras and a lawmaker from the central government visibly bolstered their resolve.

Occupy Mesuji

They have vowed to occupy the site of their former homes, bulldozed by a palm oil company, until their demands for justice are heard. © Daniel Pye

Following the killings and subsequent exodus from parts of Mesuji in April, villagers returned to find their houses destroyed. The only permanent structure remaining in Register 45 is the burnt shell of a mosque, perched on a hill overlooking what is now a small displaced persons camp.

Villagers have pledged to continue occupying land held by palm oil firm BNIL in the Register 45 area until the central government holds those responsible for the violence to account.

Some 20 families are now living in tents on the site, and the local branch of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) has helped build a clinic where Occupied Mesuji’s first baby was born on Sunday.

“We will continue to occupy our traditional lands, the lands of the Megou Pak,” said Surdi, 42, an elder of Kampung Banjar, in reference to Lampung’s indigenous tribe. “There are few of us here, but if BNIL does not return the land to us according to our customary rights, we will bring more people to occupy our land.”

“We are willing to die to demand our rights,” he continued. “We are Indonesian citizens who have the same right to life as everyone else.”

The Megou Pak have lived in the area for generations and claim land rights under customary law, known as adat, which isn’t fully recognized by the courts. Members of the tribe were evicted from the Tunggal Jaya hamlet on Sept. 8 and some now live in the Register 45 camp.

BNIL and Silva were granted plantation contracts under recent laws, such as the 2004 Law on Plantations, that extended local governments’ power to issue concessions. Those powers were limited under the 1960 Agrarian Law, the basis for many land transactions in the past.

A history of violence

The conflict over land in Mesuji began long before 2008. One woman who wished to remain anonymous said that in 1999, her hamlet — which is situated less than a kilometer from Register 45, down a pot-holed road flanked by palm oil trees — was bulldozed along with six others to make way for coconut and palm oil concessions.

“I had four children, and two of them went missing during the time of aggression of the owners of that plantation,” she said, pointing behind the tent where she now lives with her husband.

Saurip, who spearheaded the latest investigation into the killings, blames a lack of political will on the part of the president for the tortuously slow progress on the case, which has been taken up by “all of the human rights groups in the country.”

He said the government’s move to blame National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo for rising violence against civilians across the country was misguided and showed a lack of understanding of the issues.

“What happened in Lampung goes back to the Suharto era. Now that Indonesia is democratic, people can see what is going on. It is very simple. Nothing has changed in the way land is managed,” he said. “It all comes down to who can pay the most.

“Capital is king in today’s Indonesia, as it was under Suharto. There is no justice and the government is more supportive to business than to the people.”

Saurip, along with other members of the delegation, spoke of a growing need to address the issue of land rights in Indonesia.

“The case of Mesuji is just one case out of many abuses across Indonesia. Companies are granted land licenses by the central government, but in most cases the people who live there have done so for many years,” he said.

Confession

Trubus, centre, says palm oil firms paid him to spy on his people, which led him to videotape a massacre where villagers were beheaded and left as a warning to others in the streets. © Daniel Pye

A member of PAM Swakarsa, the private militia of the plantation companies, has come forward to refute claims made by the police that a video showing officers shooting and then decapitating villagers was faked.

Trubus, 34, said he had replied to a job advertisement under the impression that he would be working in forest preservation. Instead, he was told to spy on the people of Mesuji.

“All the events shown in the video were in Mesuji,” Trubus said. “I know, because I was holding the camera.

“There has been conflict over the land for many years, but then the company formed what they called an ‘integrated task force’ to clear the villages.”

Trubus (not his real name) said at least two palm oil and rubber companies had paid the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), Forestry Ministry officials, the local police and PAM Swakarsa a total of Rp 7 billion ($770,000) to force transmigrant communities and the Megou Pak from lands they had farmed for many years.

“In April, I saw bodies lying in the street and as I walked through the streets I found two severed heads on top of a jeep,” he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has appointed the Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana to lead a joint fact-finding team to investigate the allegations of systematic murder for profit.

But the campaigners expressed little hope that the probe would help ease Mesuji’s pain.

“The main problem here is a lack of political will at the top,” Saurip said. “This is about justice and empowering the poor people of the countryside.”

The land around Register 45 is fertile and can sustain healthy crops, but several villagers said they may be forced to move to land five kilometers down the road.

“I may have to leave with my family if something doesn’t happen soon,” said Wayan, 48, a lanky man with mournful eyes. “The land over there is virtually worthless. This is completely unsustainable.

“Under our Constitution, the land is sacred and belongs to the people. That doesn’t include already wealthy foreign firms that come here to exploit and care nothing for the people who rely on the land to survive.”

‘We will remove Bashar’

Commentary | New Internationalist | Issue 446

A view of the Syrian protest movements

In the five months I have reported from Syria I have seen the country change dramatically. I witnessed how the grievances of generations were catalyzed by the unchecked carnage of the militarized state under the Assad firm. And how a diverse and determined resistance movement eroded the paralyzing fear that permeated society for years, while the calculated brutality of the regime accelerated.

Syrians have a deep and poetic historical memory. I remember a friend, after hearing that his cousin had been arrested, reciting the poetry of the 11th-century bard Abu Ala al-Maari of Maarat al-Numaan, one of many towns besieged by the army and Shabbiha militia in the hunt for the ‘armed gangs’ the regime blames for the unrest. Shabbiha means ‘those who make ghosts’. They are a brutal group of mercenaries from the ruling Alawite élite.

‘You’ve had your way a long, long time, you kings and tyrants; and still you work injustice hour by hour,’ he sang. ‘Could the king his governors around him save – Or Caesar his patricians from the grave?’

The crisis in Syria was prefaced by four decades of nepotism and graft. For years the regime eroded its base among the rural poor and working class by land grabs, Orwellian propaganda and Machiavellian politics. The so-called silent majority includes millions of these people.

Human rights groups say at least 2,000 civilians have been killed in the uprising and more than 20,000 have disappeared into prisons. But journalists from the state news agency, who have close contacts in the security forces, told me the real death toll is probably much higher, as many of those arrested have been killed and buried secretly.

One protester from Homs summed up the battle for Syria shortly after being released from prison, tears streaming down his face. ‘They kill people without thought – this is normal, and we resist in peace because our cause is just. But when they torture you they don’t just want to hurt your body, they take your mind. They break you.’

There are a few possible outcomes to the current conflict. Civil war is one. There are signs the army may split, though it remains unlikely that enough soldiers will defect to cause the regime real problems. One colonel called for the creation of a Syrian Free Army in July. There is already armed resistance in some areas and I am told by a reliable source that Katyusha rockets on their way to Hizbullah in Lebanon have been intercepted in Hama. Defecting soldiers have set up brigades with names like Brigade of Free Officers. There have been attacks on oil pipelines near Deir ez-Zor and Homs, though the opposition blames the regime.

But what has impressed me about the protest movement is how peaceful it has been under such strain. I have seen 50 protesters armed only with slingshots stand up to 300 heavily armed troops as they opened fire – a scene that Palestinians would surely recognize. Groups organizing protests are amorphous and loosely affiliated with each other, if at all. This is in part for security and, although it makes a well-organized revolution unlikely, it also makes the uprising harder to suppress.

There is much talk of sectarian conflict, but I have seen little evidence to back it up. The current deadlock could continue for some time despite the histrionics of international diplomacy. Hypocrisy frames the international debate. The problem for the West is that the regime killed too many people and it became politically uncomfortable. After all, Syria became an ally in our outsourcing of torture and was to help us pacify the Sunni resistance in Iraq. But it will be Syrians braving gunfire and arrest to demand basic rights who will hold the Assad clan to account in the end. The poets have said as much, and they have the ear of the people. Before he was killed in Hama, the protest singer Ibrahim Qashoosh uttered these words: ‘We will remove Bashar with our strength. Syria wants freedom.’ One way or another, they will get it.

Maire Leadbeater: West Papua’s ‘Arab Spring’

It was not in the headlines, but our neighbourhood has had its own ‘Arab Spring’. The Melanesian people of Indonesian-controlled West Papua, have shown the same determination to pursue non-violent struggle as their counterparts in Egypt and Syria…

Following recent events, Indonesia has sent in yet more police and tried to justify the scandalous actions of its security forces as necessary to deal with “separatism”.

Why has New Zealand made no public statement condemning this latest crackdown? Our Government Superannuation fund and other Crown Financial Institutes invest in Freeport McMoran. Both Government and the Superannuation Fund Board have so far resisted all calls to follow the ethical example of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund which divested from Freeport in 2006.

The New Zealand Minister of Defence recently talked about increasing our defence ties with Indonesia by extending the training we currently offer to Indonesian officers and hosting some ‘higher level’ visits of Indonesian personnel. We also have an NZAID training programme for the mainly migrant West Papua police. We promote community policing’ a non-confrontational model that is about as far from current Papuan police practice as it is possible to imagine!

The buzz word is “engagement” – if we talk nicely the military and police will learn not to open fire on unarmed civilians and Freeport will improve its human rights and environmental standards. Instead we should go with the tide of history, and start listening to West Papuan leaders who want us to support their call for peaceful dialogue.

Read the full article on the New Zealand Herald here.

The Ba’ath Party’s Grip on Syria May Finally be Weakening

23 September, 2011 | Analysis | Comment is Free

If Bashar al-Assad’s regime does cling to power, it may be forced to amend the constitution to allow for greater political pluralism

More than six months of protest in Syria have so far failed to topple the Assad regime and there are no signs that either peaceful protest or armed resistance will do so any time soon.

For years, Syrians opposed to President Bashar al-Assad’s Alawite-dominated regime have sought alternatives to his rule. As a result of the uprising the regime has been forced (albeit torturously slowly) to implement a series of modest reforms first pledged when Assad came to power in 2000. It has approved a series of laws on demonstrations, the media, political parties and elections – the latter scheduled to be held in February next year.

Most Syrians taking part in demonstrations that I have spoken to reject all the regime’s attempts at reform, seeing them as a disingenuous last-ditch attempt to cling on to power.

There are others, however, who think the regime may have dug in enough to prevent its overthrow. Such people may use whatever means are available to open up society as a result of these reforms, while continuing their activism.

Ask Syrians what needs to change before concrete reforms can be taken seriously and they will say that article 8 of the constitution, guaranteeing Ba’ath party rule, needs to be scrapped.

For the first time since 1973 this may be an option, as pressure from the street has forced the regime to convene a constitutional assembly to draft a new document. The new constitution would end presidential appointment of the prime minister and, in combination with the new political parties law, could pave the way for greater pluralism.

Although the parties law restricts the formation of new parties in a number of ways – they cannot be based on religion, tribe, ethnicity, gender or race – it allows, at least in principle, political parties to organise openly against the Ba’ath for the first time in generations. Kurdish and Islamist parties, however, will not be tolerated.

There could be the beginnings of a freer press as more publications are allowed, though it is not clear whether the suffocating state censorship of the media will be toned down or abolished altogether. Private media opening under the new law will probably be the preserve of the wealthy oligarchy that grew up under Assad’s tenure, at least to begin with.

Journalists in Syria are frustrated and angry. In July I had a long conversation about the Syrian media with two editors, one from the 24-hour state news agency, Sana, and another from a prominent daily newspaper.

“I just got back from Daraa, it was horrible. The soldiers are occupying the mosques and writing sectarian slogans on the walls and I can’t report it,” the Sana editor said. “I lie every day.”

“That’s not true,” the newspaper editor replied. “You lie every minute, I lie every day.”

If elections are held in February as planned it seems likely they will enshrine the current ruling powers. The new elections law is based on an archaic law in Egypt. Half of the 250 seats in parliament would be allocated to workers’ and peasants’ representatives. It is revealing that Syria’s richest man, billionaire businessman Mohammed Hamsho (he is Maher al-Assad‘s brother-in-law), has run for a workers’ seat in the past.

But even members of Syria’s street opposition are willing to entertain the idea that the regime’s “reforms” might be the first sign of rain that heralds an end to the drought of political freedom and social justice. It is unlikely that many of the so-called reforms – introduced years ago in neighbouring countries – will be implemented unless the horrific violence stops. But some Syrians are willing to use whatever peaceful means are at their disposal to effect social change.

A previously heretical reality is beginning to be recognised by the rulers of Damascus: that the Ba’ath party cannot survive with the same methods of control it that got it into this mess. Its antiquated propaganda and Siguranta Statului-style shadow government must be dismantled willingly, or be swept away by the anger of the streets.

Monday Reading

• Peter Drysdale of EAF says Indonesia is a ‘robust democracy‘.
• (Some) Freeport workers return to the mine.
• An end to impunity surrounding crimes against journalists.
• Background to the Wa State Army peace agreement.
• China’s secret war in India?
• When Eritrea shut down the independent press.
• I once walked in to the middle of a Yakuza funeral.
• All that glitters.
• US extends Burma sanctions.
• Bad laws have to be broken.
• South China Sea stand-off heating up.
• Around the Arab World.
• China remembers the ‘Mukden Incident‘.
• Erdogan takes center stage.
• Ghosh, what a great read.
• Weetabix is evil.
• Pimps, hookers, and Silvio…again.
• British universities are run like tyrannies.
• Formula not the right baby health formula.
• Combating modern slavery.
• A journey to a forgotten Argentina.
• Cancer on the rise.

Activists Skeptical About APP’s Pledge to Investigate Its Human Rights Record

September 19, 2011 | News | The Jakarta Globe

Asia Pulp and Paper has announced it has commissioned an independent audit of its practices in Indonesia following a UN call for businesses around the world to protect human rights.

But activists said they were skeptical given the company’s record of environmental destruction, links to human rights abuses and the limited scope of the audit.

APP hired international accountancy firm Mazars to conduct the audit in the wake of the UN Human Rights Council’s publication in June of the Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights, a set of guidelines about how companies should act with regards to human rights.

“[Holding companies accountable] could be the next big thing in human rights,” said Marzuki Darusman, director of the Asean Human Rights Resource Center, who will be part of the team carrying out the audit.

“But the audit could be compromised if at any time there is a conflict of interest between Mazars and APP. It does not ensure that there will be no human rights abuses in the future.”

The audit would not be based solely on the UN principles, but James Kallman, president of Mazars Indonesia, said the firm would implement rigorous methods of assessment.

“We will be basing our study on more than 100 indicators including work environment, forced labor, gender equality, community and environmental impact and conflict resolution. We expect to be allowed full access to carry out our audit independently,” he said. “Companies today need to realize that to be sustainable they need to consider factors other than how much money they make.”

But Marzuki said that while they would look into alleged cases of abuse by APP, they were limited to the remit laid out in an APP policy statement provided to them and would not be able to investigate cases documented by third parties.

“This is not the first time APP has commissioned audits by companies claiming to be independent and they eventually always produce positive assessments [of APP], which we think is far from the reality on the ground,” said Hariansyah Usman, head of Walhi Riau, a local environmental NGO.

The company is frequently cited in international and local NGOs’ reports that claim it is involved in numerous cases of abuse and environmental destruction.

A 2003 Human Rights Watch report called “Without Remedy” included evidence of attacks on Malay and Sakai communities in Riau in Sumatra, the hub of Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry. It alleged that an APP sister company, Arara Abadi, sent armed security, or Pam Swakarsa, overseen by Indonesian security forces, to violently intimidate villagers protesting against government-sanctioned land grabs.

The company has always denied the allegations and has recently pledged to abide by a two-year government ban on deforestation.

But Hariasnyah said that Walhi Riau had evidence that APP has continued to clear protected forest outside of its already large concessions.

Norman Jiwan, head of Sawit (Palm Oil) Watch, said the moratorium was ineffective as it was not applied retrospectively, and APP would continue to do “business as usual.”

“APP must go beyond the law, and implement best practices without compromising the human rights of local communities and indigenous peoples,” he said.

At the time of going to print, APP had not responded to interview requests.

ABC Radio: Indonesia contributing to problems at Freeport gold mine in Papua

Hundreds of paramilitary police have been sent to Indonesia’s Papua province after 9,000 mining workers started a month-long strike for higher wages.

They’re employed at the US owned Freeport McMoran copper and gold mine.

Analyst Dr Chris Ballard says the mine has been plagued with problems because of interference from the Indonesian government and massive wage disparities between locals and foreign executives.

Listen to the full interview on ABC Radio Australia.