Indigenous Communities Push for Enactment of Indigenous Legal Communities Bill in HKMAN Commemoration

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Several indigenous community leaders are calling on the House of Representatives (DPR RI) to accelerate the enactment of the Indigenous Legal Communities Bill (RUU MHA) in a statement commemorating the Indigenous Peoples’ Awakening Day (HKMAN). In a statement from the Coalition Monitoring the Indigenous Peoples Bill received in Jakarta on Wednesday, Abah Yoyo Yohenda, the Custodian of the Cisitu Indigenous Unity in Lebak Regency, Banten, stated that HKMAN, observed every 17 March, is not merely a celebration but a collective spirit of awakening for the indigenous peoples’ movement. “The Indigenous Peoples’ Awakening Day, commemorated since 17 March 1999, serves as a unifying platform and communication channel among indigenous activists across the Archipelago. This is intended to determine the future stance towards the government regarding the implementation of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, not only in state legal provisions but also in the Second Amendment to the Constitution in 2000, Article 2 letter B,” he said. Abah Yoyo Yohenda added that HKMAN is also a moment to strengthen the nation’s commitment to uniting indigenous communities across the Archipelago, as regulated in Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights in Articles 6 paragraphs 1 and 2, and Law No. 5 of 2017 on the Promotion of Culture. All of these represent recognition of indigenous communities in the Archipelago. What is needed now is not just the administrative declaration of a day, but full protection from the seizure of natural resources through the enactment of the Indigenous Peoples Bill. In a similar statement, Romba’ Marannu Sombolinggi, as the Acting Regional Chairman of the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN) Toraya, described the HKMAN commemoration as a reminder that development must not erase the rights of indigenous communities who have guarded their territories for generations. He referred to HKMAN as a reminder to revive the values of indigenous sovereignty, to rise and defend land, forests, water, and the future of their generations. “HKMAN reminds us of the 16-year struggle to push for the prompt enactment of the Indigenous Peoples Bill, which has had serious impacts on indigenous communities who are vulnerable to criminalisation, dependent on changeable regional policies, thus making indigenous peoples victims and criminalised on their own territories,” Romba stated. HKMAN itself was initiated on 17 March 1999 when hundreds of indigenous leaders met during the Indigenous Peoples’ Congress of the Archipelago (KMAN). From that congress, AMAN was also formed. In a statement on its official social media posted on Wednesday, the Minister of Forestry (Menhut) Raja Juli Antoni extended congratulations on the HKMAN commemoration. “We from the Ministry of Forestry are ready to collaborate and work together to accelerate the process of designating customary forests,” he said.