Aerial bombardment of peasants in Sumatran village

Press releases by Watch Indonesia! and WALHI (Friends of the Earth
Indonesia)


Aerial bombardment of peasants in Sumatran village

Berlin, 23rd December 2008:

On Thursday, 18th December, hundreds of police and paramilitaries
attacked the Sumatran village Suluk Bongkal in Riau Province with tear
gas and guns. A helicopter dropped incendiary devices on the village,
with eye witnesses alleging that napalm was used. Hundreds of houses
immediately went up in flames. Two young children were killed and many
people were injured. Most of the villagers have fled into the forest.
Others have been arrested. Two days later, a helicopter flew at low
height over the tents of homeless villagers and bombarded them with stones.

The news sounded so unbelievable that Watch Indonesia! was initially
hesitant to disseminate them, however the information has now been
confirmed, except that the type of bombs dropped still has to be
verified. The environmental organisation WALHI (Friends of the Earth
Indonesia) has identified the attack on poor villagers as the result of
struggles over raw materials and land, which are so common in Indonesia.

In this case, the conflict was over paper and in particular a pulp and
paper plantation by PT Arara Abadi, a subsidiary of Asia Pulp and Paper
(APP) which, in turn is a subsidiary of the Indonesian company Sinar
Mas. PT Arara Abadi/APP used the police and hired paramilitaries in
order to evict villagers with pure force. The Indonesian Human Rights
Commission has now taken on the case.

Watch Indonesia! protests against the attack on Suluk Bongkal and the
extremely brutal violence against the civilian population. We demand an
immediate investigation of this new human rights abuse, compensation for
the local population and a guarantee of their safety and rights, as well
as punishment of those responsible for the violence. We demand that
European governments and companies examine their links to companies such
as Sinar Mas which are responsible for human rights abuses. Europe’s
excessive consumption bears some of the responsibility for the growing
use of violence in land conflicts over paper, palm oil, gold and other
raw materials. Sumatra is not the only place where people are being
violently evicted for mass production of paper.

Contact: Marianne Klute, watchindonesia@snafu.de, klute@snafu.de

WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia): End the violence on pulp and
paper plantations.

Jakarta, 22nd December 2008

Once more, state forces have used violence against people in the
conflict over natural resources. The settlement of Suluk Bongkal,
Beringin, in the district of Bengkali, Riau Province, Sumatra has been
attacked by security forces. Two toddlers have been killed. 400
villagers have fled into the mountains and 58 people remain in the
village. They are under extreme psychological pressure. On Thursday,
18th December 2008, mobile police brigades in Riau, together with
ordinary police officers and 500 paramilitaries stormed the settlement
of Suluk Bongkal in order to evict the population. The background is
the claim which the plantation company PT Arara Abadi is making on the
land, and the company’s support by sectors of the government.

“WALHI is strongly opposed to any use of state violence against the
population for the purpose of defending industry interests” says Berry
Nahidan Forgan, director of WALHI. “This police and paramilitary action
constitutes a violation of human rights”, he states.

This is not the first incident in the conflict between PT Arara Abadi
and the population. The conflict began in 1984, when PT Arara Abadi
destroyed 200 graves of the indigenous Sakai people. Since since, 26
conflicts have been registered. The main cause is land rights
conflicts. People are losing the right to their land, without receiving
fair and timely compensation. This is escalating conflicts and violence
between PT Arara Abadi and the local population.

Arara Abadi, a subsidiary of the Sinar Mas Group, a company owned by Eka
Tjipta Wijaya, to which Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) also belongs, supply
wood to the pulp and paper factory Indah Kiat. Arara Abadi operates the
largest pulp and paper tree plantation in Indonesia. In Riau alone,
Arara Abadi has concessions over more than 350,000 hectares. Most of
those tree plantations were set up in contravention of Indonesian
legislation: Forestry legislation has been ignored, monocultures have
been established on steep slopes which are at an angle of more than 30°,
in water catchment areas, in areas with high biodiversity and on land
belonging to local communities.

State security forces, which are supposed to serve the population, have
committed a crime against human rights with their attack on the
population of Suluk Bongkal. There are strong indications that the
violence was planned: Police and paramilitaries even used a special
incendiary bomb in order to burn the village, they used fire arms and
tear gas and a helicopter which appears to belong to PT Arara Abadi.

„WALHI demands that the Indonesian government withdraws the licence
from PT Arara Abadi, ends the violence against people and all measures
to isolate the village, releases those who have been detained and
returns all property stolen from the people“ says Berry Nahdian Forquan.
“WALHI also demands strong measures against those responsible for the
violence.”

WALHI believes that the violence in Suluk Bongkal, Bengkalis-Riau
reflects the way in which natural resources are being treated in
Indonesia, in a way which creates ever more conflicts and removes
essential resources from the Indonesian population. People are becoming
ever poorer as they lose access to and control of the country’s natural
riches. The government must immediately address agrarian conflicts and
conflicts over natural resources. The people must be given back
sovereignty over the resources on which their livelihoods depend. The
government must restructure the pulp and paper industry as well as
reviewing licenses for large-scale tree monoculture.

Contact: Ade Fadli (adefadli@walhi.or.id)
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