Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Around 20 people equipped with rattan batons reportedly assaulted a group of farmers holding a land-conflict strike at the municipal legislative council in Medan early on Tuesday.

The farmers from four villages in Padang Lawas regency had been in the council since early June to file complaints that they had suffered intimidation in their land conflict with plantation companies.

Some of them protested by stitching their mouths. The incident occurred 12 hours after chairman of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Ifdhal Kasim had met the protesters.

Based on their testimonies, the assault took place around 2 a.m. when they had already turning into their makeshift tents. Five of them suffered injuries on their legs and arms. They said they were beaten up and trampled on.

Lisma Derniati Tamba, 25, a resident of Tobing Tinggi village, said she was awakened by the rampage, the intruders breaking into the tents with rattans in their hands. She said she was about to rush out to check fellow protesters in other tents but she was apprehended by one of the assailants.

"I was shoved to the ground when I was about to sneak out. I was trampled on by them on the arms and thigh," she told The Jakarta Post. She said she could not identify the assailants because she was just half-awake from her sleep.

The assailants also seized the posters the farmers had used in their protest. The posters carried a message of protest over PT Sumatera Riang Lestari (SRL) and PT Sumatera Silva Lestari (SSL) "stealing their land".

However, Sugianto, an activist accompanying the farmers, said he was not sure if the assault had a link to the protest. He only said the farmers had endured a string of terror acts since they launched their protests. The previous terror, according to Sugianto, took place on June 22 by different perpetrators from Tuesday's incidents.

"In the first act of terror, the perpetrators showed physical features of strongly-built bodies, crew-cut hair and carried sharp weapons. But they did not resort to violence. On Tuesday, the perpetrators were mostly made up of youths around 20 years of age on average. They brought rattan and physically assaulted the farmers," he said.

The conflict between the farmers from four villages in Padang Lawas flared up in 2008 when PT SRL and SSL claimed 1,500 hectares of land. The farmers insisted the land belonged to them. They said they purchased the land in 2004 facilitated by village heads and a district head.

Both sides have since been at odds with the latest incident braking out in May. The incident, in which a number of farming tools and several houses were damaged, prompted the farmers to camp at the legislative council. They said they had been intimidated by a number of people on instruction by PT SRL and SSL. The police said they would develop the case and bring the perpetrators to justice.