'Pecalang' thwart NGO rally in Bali
The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
As government delegates were negotiating an action document on sustainable development in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Saturday morning, hundreds of activists from non-governmental organizations and civil society groups staged a peaceful rally nearby.
During the rally, the activists criticized developed countries' delegations to the ongoing preparatory committee meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The activists accused these delegations of siding with multinational corporations at the expense of sustainable development.
"We see that governments, when legislating and preparing agreements, think more about the benefits to international corporations, and they don't care about the social and environmental problems in the world," said Ricardo Navarro, the president of Friends of the Earth International, in his speech at the Chandra Loka Amphitheater.
The speech was followed by a number of performances, including the traditional kuda lumping (prancing horse) dance and a gamelan performance.
The rally, however, soon lost steam with the arrival of Balinese traditional security guards, or pecalang.
Dozens of pecalang, with their black attire with signs of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), blocked the exits of the amphitheater when activists from various countries attempted to march to the complex in Nusa Dua where the UN meeting was being held.
There was no violence reported, but a number of the activists sat down in the amphitheater and refused to leave.
The chairwoman of the Indonesian People's Forum (IPF), Emmy Hafild, was extremely angry that the pecalang interrupted the rally.
Emmy met with representatives of the Bali Police and the pecalang, during which she accused the police of deliberately trying to pit the traditional security guards against the protesters.
"They (pecalang) said so themselves. They said that they had received instructions from Bali Police Headquarters," she charged angrily.
In response to the charge, the chief of Bali's riot police, Sr. Comr. Ismail, replied: "It was just a misunderstanding."
Nevertheless, the police agreed that they would not interfere in the activities of the activists during the UN meeting, as long as they conducted themselves according to the law.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened around the venue for the UN meeting ahead of the ministerial meeting on June 5 that will be opened by Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
The police were checking cars and screening visitors to the Bali International Convention Center. Only those with UN-issued ID cards were being allowed into the complex.
Mounted police were seen patrolling the complex, and K-9 units were also checking the venue.
The number of police officers and security personnel in Nusa Dusa has also been increased.
Security personnel are also screening people arriving in Bali. At least 12 people attempting to attend the IPF rally were arrested in Kuta and another IPF participant was arrested in Denpasar on Saturday, all for carrying sharp weapons.
They were brought to Denpasar Police Headquarters on Saturday for questioning, according to Kuta Police chief Adj. Com. M. Anwar.
"They are not being formally detained or arrested. I must make the point clear that we just brought them in for questioning.
"They said that the weapons were for a cultural exhibition to be held by the IPF in Nusa Dua. We are waiting for a letter from the IPF that will verify their claim," Anwar told The Jakarta Post.
Thousands of security personnel, including police officers, military soldiers and hundreds of pecalang, have been deployed to secure the first UN event in the country for the past 10 years.
While inside the venue for the meetings, government delegations worked overtime on Saturday to deliberate the numerous contentious issues involved in the action plan for the implementation of sustainable development.
Those issues that were not resolved on Saturday included what if any actions to take in order to move toward renewable energy; the establishment of a world solidarity fund for poverty eradication; how to prevent desertification; and how to change unsustainable patterns of consumption and production.
The unresolved issues also included time-bound measures to implement those actions, as well as an institutional framework to monitor the implementation of sustainable development principles by countries.