Agrarian Reform, Village Reform and Ecological Justice: Indonesia Way for Social Justice
Joint Secretariat of the Indonesian Movement for Recovering People’s Rights
Jakarta, 12-01-2012
We of the ” Joint Secretariat of the Indonesian Movement for Recovering People’s Rights”, an alliance of Farmers, Workers, Indigenous People, Women, Youth, Students, Village Governance, and NGOs.
Today, Thursday, January 12, 2012 to act in unison in Jakarta and 27 provinces in Sumatera, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Bali and Nusa Tenggara.
Today, we declare resistance and pledge our alliance against land grabbing facilitated by the SBY-Boediono regime throughout Indonesia.
We view that the agraria (land, water, and natural resources) main problem in Indonesia is the concentration of ownership, control and exploitation of agrarian resources including land, forest, mining and water in the hands of a few people and large corporations, in the middle of millions of small holder farmers and landless people. Ironically, in the midst of that inequality, expropriation of people’s land is still happening.
Expropriation occurred because of the malign conspiracy between the government, house of representatives and corporations. They use their power to pass the Laws such as: Law No.25/2007 on Investment, Law No.41/1999 on Forestry, Law 18/2004 on Plantation, Law No.7/2004 on Water Resources, Law No. 27/2007 on Management of Coastal Areas and Small Islands, Law No. 4 /2009 on Mining, and the recent enactment of Law on Land Acquisition. The overall legislation has legalized the expropriation of people’s rights over land, forest, mining, fishing areas, indigenous and villages area and territory, all for the mere benefit of investors.
Expropriation of the people also occurs easily because of the central and local government and corporations do not hesitate to deploy the police and paramilitary to kill, shoot, detain and other forms of violence if people resist and fight the land grabbing.
The current cases in Mesuji and Bima are evidences that police did not hesitate to kill people who resist the land grabbing. The National Police has clearly and openly become a mercenary force for plantations, mining, and forestry companies.
The cases in Mesuji and also Freeport in Papua prove how the police get paid and become companies’ apparatus.
SBY-Boediono administration ways and means in land-grabbing by using the state apparatus, undemocratic law-making to army and national police deployment are in fact congruent with the Fascist New Order regime.
We assess that the current expropriation of people’s rights over land, forest, mining, fishing areas, indigenous and villages area and territory is the real form of deprivation. A clear deprivation of people’s sovereignty.
For us Peasants, Fisher Folks, Indigenous People, and Women, the deprivation has made us lose the land which is the source of our sustainable livelihoods.
For Workers, land grabbing and rural poverty are the source of political catastrophe of low wages and outsourcing system that is continuously oppressing us. Low wages and outsourcing also rely on unemployment that derived from land grabbing. Furthermore, land grabbing in rural areas consequently creates cheap migrant workers because there are no jobs available in the country.
Looking at these facts, we conclude that the main foundation of the implementation of neoliberal policies of SBY-Boediono administration is land and natural resources grabbing with the acts of violence.
We believe that in order to recovering people’s rights we must immediately implement Agrarian Reform, Village Reform for Ecological Justice.
Agrarian Reform is restructuring the ownership, control, and use of agrarian resources, for the interests of peasants, agricultural workers, and the economically weak and people in general, as summarized in UU No. 5/1960 on Basic Agrarian Law article 6,7,9,10,11, 12,13,14,15, and 17. Agrarian Reform is necesary for peasants, small-holder farmers, fisher folk and other vulnerable community groups to manage their land, forest and water and is a cornerstone to national prosperity and sovereignty.
Village Reform is the restoration of the rights and authority in the village or other similar name, which had been crippled and made alike by New Order through Law No.7/1979 on Village Governance. We intend to restore the original institution of rural communities with the priceless “Unity in Diversity”.
Village Reform is restoring the rights and authorities of the village in arranging agrarian resources in by managing agrarian resources for the wealth of the people, providing just proportion from the state budget, and growing the Village-Owned Enterprise in order to accelerate rural economies.
The main framework of Agrarian Reform and Village Reform is toward Ecological Justice. Thus, the overall recovery of the village and agrarian rights of people, is to restore the ecological damage caused by neoliberal policies over the years.
Through this action, we call to all Indonesian people, organizations and movements to occupy and reclaim our land and rights that have been seized by the government and corporations. We invite all the people of Indonesia to form organizations of resistance to all forms of land-grabbing.
We also invite scholars, humanists, religious leaders, and professionals to condemn and oppose all forms of serious violations of human rights carried out systematically by the government in land-grabbing.
The Joint Secretariat of the Indonesian Movement for Recovering People’s Rights demand:
1. To stop all forms of land grabbing and to return and the land for the people.
2. To implement genuine agrarian reform in accordance with the 1945 Constitution and UU No. 5/1960 on Basic Agrarian Law
3. National Police/ Army to retreat from agrarian conflicts, release the people who are detained in land grabbing cases.
4. To conduct legal audits and socioeconomic against permits and the rights to use agrarian resources both to private corporations and state enterprises.
5. To disband The State-Owned Forest Enterprise (Perhutani) and give broader rights to the small-holder farmers, landless people, village inhabitants and indigenous communities in managing forest.
6. To recognize and protect the rights of peasants through passing the Law on Protection of Peasants’ Rights and the Law on Food Sovereignty as per people’s demand.
7. To recognize and protect the rights of Indigenous People through legalization of the Law on Protection of Indigenous People
8. To restore the village rights and authority by immediately drafting the Law on Village.
9. To enforce workers’ rights by stopping cheap wages politics and outsourcing system, and to build the national industrialization.
10. To enforce the rights of artisanal fisher folk through the protection of fishing areas.
11. To revoke several laws that facilitate land grabbing, namely: Law No.25/2007 on Investment, the Law No. 41/1999 on Forestry, Law No. 18/2004 on Plantation, Law No. 7/2004 on Water Resources, Law No. 27/2007 on Management of Coastal Areas and Small Islands, Law No. 4 /2009 on Mining, and the currently-enacted Land Acquisition Law.
General Coordinator of Action:
Agustiana, +6285223207500
Spoke persons:
1. Henry Saragih , +62811655668
2. Idham Arsyad, +6281218833127
3. Rahmat Ajiguna, +6281288734944
4. Berry N Furqon, +628125110979
The Joint Secretariat of the Indonesian Movement for Recovering People’s Rights:
Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI), Aliansi Gerakan Reforma Agraria (AGRA), Serikat Petani Pasundan (SPP),Parade Nusantara, Wahana Lingkungan Hidup (Walhi), Persatuan Pergerakan Petani Indonesia (P31), Serikat Petani Kelapa Sawit (SPKS), Asosiasi Tani Nusantara (ASTANU), Serikat Nelayan Indonesia (SNI), Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN), Serikat Hijau Indonesia (SHI), Paguyuban Petani Hutan Jawa (PPHJ), Serikat Petani Merdeka (Setam- Cilacap), Rumah Tani Indonesia (RTI), Gabungan Serikat Buruh Independent (GSBI), Konfederasi Serikat Buruh Indonesia (KASBI), Federasi Perjuangan Buruh Jabodetabek (FPBJ), Konfederasi Serikat Buruh Seluruh Indonesia (KSBSI-Tangerang), Asosiasi Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (ATKI), Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum (YLBHI), KPO- PRP, Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria (KPA), GreenPeace, KONTRAS, Koalisi Rakyat untuk Keadilan Perikanan (KIARA), Sawit Watch, Konfederasi Pergerakan Rakyat Indonesia (PERGERAKAN), Persatuan
Perjuangan Indonesia (PPI), ELSAM, LBH Jakarta, JKPP, IHCS, Koalisi Anti Utang (KAU), KpSHK, Formada NTT, Jaringan Advokasi Tambang (JATAM), Front Mahasiswa Nasional (FMN), Himpunan Mahasiswa Indonesia (HMI), Serikat Mahasiswa Indonesia (SMI), Pergerakan Mahasiswa Muslim Indonesia (PMII), Liga Mahasiswa Nasional Demokratik (LMND), Perhimpunan Mahasiswa Katolik Republik Indonesia (PMKRI), Front Aksi Mahasiswa (FAM Indonesia), Liga PemudaBekasi (LPB), GMPI, Repdem, INDIES, Serikat Rakyat Miskin Indonesia (SRMI), Punk Jaya, PPMI, SBTNI, Serikat Buruh Migran Indonesia (SBMI), SBTPI, Gesburi, Serikat Pekerja Kereta Api Jakarta (SPKAJ), SPTBG