Media Indonesia, 31 January 2012, Page 22

S Rahma Mary H (Coordinator of Legal Reform Program and Conflict Resolution at the Association for Community-Based and Ecological Legal Reform)

Noer Fauzi Rachman (Expert Council of the Agrarian Reform Consortium)

On January 16, 2012, the Fact Finding Joint Team (TGPF) on the Mesuji Case presented their findings. This team, formed on December 17, 2011, was tasked with finding relevant and accurate facts related to legal events in Ogan Komering Ilir Regency, South Sumatra, and Mesuji Regency, Lampung. TGPF found several important issues in the Register 45 case involving residents and PT Silva Inhutani, the case in Sri Tanjung Village involving residents and PT BSMI, and the case in Sungai Sodong involving residents and PT Sumber Wangi Alam.

First, TGPF found agrarian conflicts in these three areas that led to violence. Second, TGPF asked the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to investigate alleged human rights violations in the case of the death of a resident, namely Made Aste in Register 45, Mesuji, Lampung. Third, TGPF requested assistance for injured victims still in need of medical care. Fourth, TGPF recommended that local governments help the children of the victims, especially in the education sector. Fifth, TGPF recommended that the Ministry of Law and Human Rights provide protection for witnesses and victims. Sixth, TGPF recommended that the government take action against and regulate security companies, responsible parties, and the companies utilizing such security. Lastly, to enforce the law against those who distribute violent video footage in the Parliament that contradicts TGPF’s findings at the three crime scenes.

Concerning the police, TGPF also recommended that the Indonesian National Police (Polri) enhance their capacity to handle conflicts and promote a ban on receiving funds from third parties to maintain neutrality and professionalism. In terms of agrarian policy, TGPF recommended to the President to consider issuing a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) on Agrarian Reform monitored by the President’s Working Unit.

Emergency Response

The findings of TGPF deserve recognition. Because TGPF handled the Mesuji case as a single case, we can understand their recommendations. To address the cases at hand, what must be prioritized is emergency response, ensuring the basic needs of clothing, food, and shelter that guarantee the survival of the affected people are met. The government (including local governments) must promptly and accurately handle this. Moreover, the affected people must be free from fear of potential intimidation. Any abuse of power and oppression must be legally processed to create a deterrent effect. This not only prevents perpetrators from repeating their actions but also shows that the state is present to protect all its people. In this emergency situation, categorizing between original (indigenous) and migrant populations—done by companies and the government—will not help the victims. Such categorization will only lead to exclusivity and new problems.

Agrarian conflicts like the Mesuji case cannot be solved through temporary solutions because of their chronic and structural nature. What can we learn from handling the Mesuji case? It is important to note that while TGPF found the root cause of the three Mesuji cases to be agrarian conflicts, their recommendations did not cover auditing the policy of granting land use rights (HGU) issued by the National Land Agency and industrial forest plantation rights (HPHTI) issued by the Ministry of Forestry. This is what truly needs to be studied, examining how authority is used (and abused) in granting concessions to these companies, which hinders local people from benefiting from their land and natural resources. In resolving the cases, the government should correct the issuance of HGU and HPHTI by ensuring land availability for the settlement and agricultural activities of the affected local people, rather than perpetuating exclusion.

Towards Agrarian Reform?

To complement our previous article, ‘Mesuji, Chronic Agrarian Conflict,’ in Media Indonesia (December 26, 2011), we propose that the government conduct a comprehensive audit of land concession policies and their consequences on the availability of agricultural land and settlements for rural poor people. Essentially, government bodies are obliged to protect, respect, and fulfill the rights of their citizens, including the rights to land, adequate living standards, as part of economic, social, and cultural rights. The progressive fulfillment of these rights is a state obligation, and conversely, allowing land grabbing by giant corporations is a form of human rights violation by omission, occurring due to the state’s failure to protect