Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI), a global indigenous organization, strongly condemns the recent arrest of and trumped-up charges against six indigenous villagers in Kinipan village in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Amid the pandemic, six Indigenous villagers which include Laman Kinipan chief Effendi Buhing and two Indigenous youth, were arrested by the Central Kalimantan Police for defending their customary forest against the expansion of PT Sawit Mandiri Lestari (PT SML), a palm oil company. Buhing was arrested on August 26, while the other five were arrested on August 15.
With strong global support and media attention, all six were released by authorities but they were reportedly charged for stealing from the palm oil company that forcibly evicted the members of Laman Kinipan community from their ancestral land.
According to reports of Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara – AMAN (National Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago – Indonesia), the Laman Kinipan community found out that their forest was being encroached on PT SML in April 2018. Consequently, the community imposed customary sanctions against the company after it destroyed their customary territory. They also filed complaints to the Lamandau Regent, Lamandau Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat Daerah (DPRD), and Central Kalimantan governor.
AMAN Secretary General Rukka Sombolinggi said that representatives of Laman Kinipan community had complained to the national government in Jakarta several times but no serious action was taken.
She said that they have been to the Ministry of Agrarian and Spatial Planning, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the National Commission on Human Rights, and the Presidential Palace through the KSP.
“The President must immediately order Chief of Police to stop criminalization of Indigenous Peoples, and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to revoke concession of PT SML in Laman Kinipan’s territory,” Sombolinggi said.
IPRI expressed its solidarity with the Kinipan community in their struggle to defend their customary forests from PT SML, and with AMAN, the world’s largest national Indigenous Peoples organization, in its efforts to protect Indigenous Peoples rights in Indonesia.
“The incident exposed the double standard of the police forces in protecting the vested interest of companies instead of protecting the people while the government turns a blind eye to the plight of the Kinipan community. This is an act of injustice and inconsistent with the human rights obligations and commitments of the government of Indonesia,” IPRI Global Co-Director Joan Carling said.
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