Human rights body to probe land dispute in Kutai
Human rights body to probe land dispute in Kutai
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights has
pledged to solve a prolonged land dispute in East Kalimantan that
is punctuated with human rights abuses.
Villagers from Menamang, in the Muara Kaman district, Kutai
regency told the commission yesterday that they have been
victimized by local military personnel.
"We will write a letter to the government asking for an
investigation," secretary-general of the commission, Baharuddin
Lopa, said after a meeting with three Menamang villagers.
"We were asked to perform absurd things like changing bullets
to water. When we could not do the tasks we were either beaten or
forced to bear the weight of a rifle with our teeth or burned
with cigarette butts," one of the villagers said.
The three villagers said they were among 14 people who had
been ill-treated by military personnel from the 611 Samarinda
battalion and the 0906 Kutai military district on Jan. 13 when
they went to the base camp of PT Surya Hutani Jaya, a private
forestry concession company.
They went to the camp to ask for the settlement of
compensation for their whole village encompassing a land area of
1,663 hectares which was appropriated by the company in 1992.
The company offered Rp 240 million but the 294 families in the
village, demanded Rp 2 billion.
Signs of physical abuses were shown by the villagers including
include traces of severe beatings and cigarette burns. However,
they were not able to present medical evidence.
Lopa said physical scars and pictures were not convincing
enough to be a legal basis for an immediate investigation.
The villagers were accompanied by NGO activist Abdul Hakim
Garuda Nusantara.
"We need to hear from both sides, the commission cannot be
biased," Lopa told the group yesterday.
Lopa lamented reports accusing the commission of being passive
and not active enough in handling such situations.
"Just because we don't publicize our work does not mean that
we are inactive," said Lopa. (14)