Human rights

Land claims in Lore Lindu result in deaths

Down to Earth No. 55, November 2002

A bitter dispute between the Lore Lindu National Park authorities in Central Sulawesi and local communities has resulted in the deaths of a local man and a forest ranger.

On 8th October, a forest patrol clashed with illegal loggers near Kalukubula. A local man was shot dead by a forest ranger and a ranger suffered serious knife wounds in the incident. The following day, hundreds of Dongi-dongi people burnt a park information office, rangers' posts and park staff housing.

After Bali…

Down to Earth No 55 November 2002

editorial

military clamp-down is bad news for communities struggling to defend rights

October's bomb atrocity in Bali, which killed nearly 200 people and injured hundreds more, is an appalling tragedy - for the victims and their families as well as the wider Balinese community. There will be a huge impact on local people who depend upon tourism for their livelihoods.

The logging of West Papua

Down to Earth No 55 November 2002

Human rights abuses connected to the logging industry will increase in West Papua as more forests are destroyed and the Indonesian security forces continue their business activities in a climate of impunity.

In July 2002, West Papuan human rights group ELSHAM reported a series of logging-related human rights abuses committed between February and June 2002 by members of the Indonesian armed forces stationed in sub-districts around Jayapura.

Freeport killings spark clamp-down on human rights defenders

Down to Earth No 55 November 2002

Human rights workers, witnesses, their families and friends are coming under intense pressure following the August 31st killings of three people near the Freeport/Rio Tinto mine in West Papua.

The three victims - one Indonesian and two Americans - were killed when gunmen opened fire on the school bus that was taking them back to the mining town of Tembagapura. Twelve others were reported injured in the attack.

Dayaks take court action against Australian mining company

Down to Earth No 55 November 2002

Australia's Aurora Gold has closed its notorious Kalimantan gold mine, but indigenous Dayaks want compensation for the negative impacts they have suffered.

On July 30th 2002, indigenous Siang, Murung and Bakumpai Dayak communities from Central Kalimantan filed a lawsuit at the South Jakarta state court, against PT Indo Muro Kencana (IMK), the gold mining company owned by Australia's Aurora Gold.

A visit to BP's Tangguh project, West Papua

Down to Earth No 55 November 2002

This report is by Katie Wilson, president of the Oxford West Papua Friendship Society, who visited Bintuni Bay earlier this year with an expedition from Oxford University.

BP's Tangguh liquid natural gas project in West Papua will make BP Indonesia's largest single foreign investor. It will also profoundly affect the environment and social structure of Bintuni Bay, one of West Papua's most remote and undeveloped regions.

Peasants demand right to livelihood

Down to Earth No 55 November 2002

Peasant farmers across Indonesia are protesting against government policies which deprive them of land and livelihood. They are demanding a new, pro-poor approach to national development which promotes peasants' rights. In the meantime, violence and intimidation of peasants involved in land disputes continues.

Hundreds of peasant farmers from West Java tore down the gates to Indonesia's national parliament in Jakarta in September, during a protest to mark Farmers Day 2002.