Jakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) will be sending an investigation team to Ogan Ilir in South Sumatra, the scene on Friday of possible rights violations, with the shooting of Limbang Jaya residents by police, which left one 12-year-old boy dead.
"[An investigation] team, led by Komnas HAM deputy chairman Nur Kholis, will depart to Ogan Ilir on Monday to investigate both the land dispute between local residents and a state-owned company and the shootings. We will find out who is responsible for this incident and whether legal violations occurred," Komnas HAM member, Ridha Saleh, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Komnas HAM also called on the National Police to launch their own investigation into the events that took place. "We urge the National Police to investigate the clash and review the performance of their Mobile Brigade [Brimob] personnel and their security policy in areas prone to natural resource conflicts," Ridha said.
Komnas HAM also urged the National Police to stop using violence when dealing with agrarian conflicts but to engage local communities in dialogue instead.
In the latest incident, hundreds of Brimob officers allegedly shot at civilians in Limbung Jaya vilage in Ogan Ilir to prevent them from staging a demonstration. Amid the ensuing chaos, 12-year-old Angga bin Darmawan was fatally shot in the head.
The clash broke out when Brimob personnel were ransacking locals' homes, looking for thieves who allegedly stole fertilizer from the warehouse of state-owned plantation firm, PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) VII Cinta Manis.
Angered by the operation, locals responded by throwing rocks at the Brimob personnel, who retaliated by firing live rounds into the crowd. Spokesman for the South Sumatra Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Djarot Padavoka, said Brimob personnel were merely following standard operating procedures in crowd control.
Djarot said Angga had been hit by a stray bullet. He vowed that the person guilty of committing the shooting would receive severe punishment.
Komnas HAM said the Limbang Jaya shooting was only the latest in a series of violent incidents that have rocked Ogan Ilir. Komnas HAM records show that in December 2009, PTPN VII destroyed farm land controlled by residents in Rengas, Ogan Ilir. This incident also resulted in Brimob personnel using their firearms against civilians.
To end the cycle of violence, Komnas HAM has called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan, who supervise PTPN's performance, to intervene. "We urge the President to form an agrarian conflict-management team as soon as possible so that similar incidents won't happen again," Ridha said.
New data from the Volunteers for Democratic Struggle (Repdem) indicates that 527 agrarian conflicts have occurred during the tenure of President, with 634,291 farmers losing their land and 56 people being killed.
Repdem also said that since 1982, PTPN VII had evicted locals in Ogan Ilir from their land with no compensation scheme in place. Ogan Ilir locals have been evicted from 20,310 hectares of their land by, in many cases, security personnel – including members of the police – who have resorted to intimidation and violence to drive them off their land.
Responding to the clash, the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry recommended that PTPN VII increase the number of security personnel both from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the police. The ministry added that it wouldn't back down in defending the rights of the company, as reported by tempo.co.
The National Police chief, Gen. Timur Pradopo, said that an investigation team from the National Police headquarters had been dispatched to Ogan Ilir. "I can guarantee the accountability and transparency of the investigation," he said as quoted by Antara news agency. (nad)