West Papuan activists have won a landmark legal victory against the extraction of palm oil on their ancestral lands [File: Courtesy of Ambrosisus Klagilit]
An Indonesian court has delivered a landmark victory for Indigenous rights in a case that pitted West Papuan activists against several palm oil companies.
The Jayapura Administrative Court in West Papua Province on Tuesday ruled in favour of a district head who had revoked permits allowing more than a dozen palm oil companies to operate in Indigenous forest areas and turn them into plantations.
Johny Kamuru, head of Sorong Regency, cancelled the permits after Indigenous groups said they had not consented to the conversion of their ancestral lands into palm oil concessions and a review by the provincial government recommended they be revoked in February 2021.
Three of the companies affected took legal action against Kamaru, including PT Papua Lestari Abadi and PT Sorong Agro Sawitindo, whose bid to have their permits reinstated was rejected by the court.
Kamuru has also been sued by PT Inti Kebun Lestari in a separate, ongoing case.
Under authority granted by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in 2018, palm oil permit reviews are supposed to be undertaken by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Neither ministry commented publicly on the case in Sorong.
In 2019, Jokowi issued a moratorium on the development of new palm oil estates as part of a push to end deforestation in the country. The moratorium expired in September of this year and was superseded by Indonesia’s controversial jobs creation law.
The law allows companies that have been operating illegally to apply retroactively for permits within three years and escape legal sanctions if they do so.
The land involved in the dispute belongs to the Moi people, one of more than 250 ethnic groups in Papua.
The terrorist has been identified as Marten Belau, the task force's chief, Senior Commissioner Ahmad Musthofa Kamal, said in a statement that ANTARA received here on Monday.
The gunfight broke out while the Nemangkawi Task Force personnel were conducting a search to identify the whereabouts of Papuan separatist terrorists operating in the area, he added.
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"In the aftermath of the gunfight, Intan Jaya district's situation is conducive," he said without elaborating whether Belau died or survived with gunshot wounds.
Police officers and army personnel are jointly conducting routine patrols and strengthening safeguards in high-risk areas to restrict separatist terrorists' movements, he disclosed.
"We urge all members of the local community to assist efforts to keep Intan Jaya's situation safe and secure," Kamal said.
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He also asked members of armed groups operating in Papua to surrender if they do not want to be hunted down by security personnel.
Papua has borne witness to a spate of violence against civilians and security personnel in the past few years.
Intan Jaya recorded its bloodiest month in September 2020, with notorious armed groups launching a series of attacks that claimed the lives of two soldiers and two civilians and left two others injured.
The armed groups have continued their acts of terror this year, too.
On April 25, 2021, Papuan separatists, operating in Beoga, ambushed State Intelligence Agency (Papua) chief I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha and several security personnel during their visit to Dambet village.
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Nugraha died of gunshot wounds.
On Sunday (December 5, 2021), several Papuan separatist terrorists torched senior high school buildings in Oksibil.
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According to Kamal, members of the Papuan group that set the buildings ablaze do not want the education system in Papua to become well-developed.
The task force's personnel and their counterparts from the Pegunungan Bintang police precinct received reports on the incident that took place in Esipding village, Serambakon sub-district, at 5:30 a.m. local time on Sunday, he noted.
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The region was liberated from Dutch colonial occupation on December 1, 1963 which is considered by many Papuans to be their ‘independence day’. Commemorating the event, students marched to the Papua Police Headquarters and raised the flag at Cenderawasih Sports Center in Jayapura City.
The independence of Papua and West Papua has for long been mired in controversy. In a UN-sanctioned referendum, Papua and West Papua fell under Indonesian governance in 1969. The “Morning Star” flag is used to symbolise Papuan sovereignty by those who contest that decision’s legitimacy. Indonesia’s government maintains that the original vote reflected the will of the people.
Ahmed Musthofa Kamal, head of public relations of the Indonesia police, has stated that the eight suspects were involved in an illegal act of treason and could face imprisonment for life or a maximum of 20 years. Treason is punishable in Indonesia under Articles 106 and 110 of the Criminal Code. Previously, Papua independence activist Felip Karma served an 11 year sentence for raising the outlawed flag.
A banner seized after the protest read “Self Determination for West Papua! Stop militarism in West Papua. Welcoming UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua”, local news outlet Suara Papua reported.
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