Farouk Arnaz & Ulma Haryanto – The National Police said on Friday that it would investigate an incident on Thursday in which officers shot and wounded six farmers in the latest in a string of violent land disputes.

Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said an evaluation of "how they performed their duties" would be carried out.

Six villagers from Batang Kumuh village in Riau had to be hospitalized on Thursday following a clash with Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers and security officials involving a long-standing dispute with plantation firm Mazuma Agro Indonesia.

Two security employees and four Brimob officers were also injured in the clash. None of injuries were serious, a police spokesman said, as the officers only used rubber bullets.

"None of the victims' [wounds] were severe and all have been treated," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saud Usman Nasution said. "North Sumatra Police together with their internal affairs unit are already at the location."

According to the Riau Palm Oil Farmers Union (SPKS), farmers at Batang Kumuh have been protesting MAI's activities since 1998. Although the company has a permit from the North Sumatra administration, the farmers say the land is part of Riau province.

"The villagers filed a suit against MAI in 2009 and won a high court ruling," the SPKS's Nasir Sihotang said. Despite the ruling, he said, MAI never ceased its activities on the disputed land.

The National Police had a different story. According to Saud, the dispute was not with the plantation company but rather with a neighboring village, and it had been ongoing only since 2004.

"The border between the villages is not clear. On one side, the people of Padang Lawas [in North Sumatra] claim [the plantation area] as their ancestral land, while on the other side [the Batang Kumuh villagers] claim it as theirs," Saud said. "MAI was granted a permit by the North Sumatra authorities," he continued.

North Sumatra Police Chief Insp. Gen. Wisjnu Amat Sastro said that as of Friday, all activities on the disputed land had been brought to a halt pending the outcome of the police investigation.

He also defended the use of Brimob officers. "I don't understand why the people always question us about [Brimob's presence]," he said. "Whatever we do, our duty is to protect the whole community."

Indriaswati Dyah Saptaningrum, executive director of the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam), questioned the police's commitment to internal reforms in light of the recent spate of incidents involving excessive force against civilians.

"From the Mesuji case there were recommendations for the National Police to immediately review their policy on dispatching Brimob officers, especially in plantation areas," she said, referring to a land dispute in Lampung in which several farmers were killed.

"If [the North Sumatra Police] say they only want to protect the community, then how come it's the people who become the victims? Are they protecting assets or people?"