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DTE's quarterly newsletter provides information on ecological justice in Indonesia.

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DTE publications

Down to Earth Special Issue, October 1999

The 1999 Congress was the result of a three year period of planning and organising involving indigenous peoples' groups and local and national NGOs which had supported indigenous communities' fight for their rights over a number of years.

By the mid-1990s there were an increasing number of opportunities for indigenous peoples to express their own views at

Down to Earth Special Issue, October 1999

As over 200 participants of the first Indigenous People's Congress in Indonesia prepared to leave Jakarta, they were asked to express their thoughts on the event. The response was overwhelmingly positive, despite certain reservations. These are some of their opinions.

"I feel honoured to have taken part in the Congress. "
Agustina K.

Down to Earth Special Issue, October 1999

Through the Congress and subsequent events, indigenous peoples have presented their demands to government officials, political parties and the National Human Rights Commission. They have done this directly and through demonstrations, press statements and delegations. Such action was impossible in the Suharto years when open discussion of land rights was branded communist or subversive.

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Down to Earth No. 42, August 1999

A long-running land dispute between oil palm plantation company PT London Sumatra and indigenous Dayak landowners has resulted in large-scale military and police repression in East Kalimantan.

Down to Earth No. 42, August 1999

Down to Earth No. 42, August 1999

The indigenous people of Yamdena Island in the Tanimbars, Maluku, have resumed protests against the destruction of their forests after the government withdrew from an agreement to halt commercial logging on the island.