Sumatra: 700 villagers firebombed and beaten for corportate ag’s forest rights re-interpreted as complete ownership

On Thursday (18/12/08), two helicopters flew in circle and used
napalm, the kind used by the US troops in Vietnam, against farmers’
settlement in Dusun Solok Bongkal, Beringin Village, Sub-District
Pinggir, Bengkalis, Riau. In seconds, about 700 citizens’ houses were
burnt down, along with the farming lands, productive tools, and
furniture that could not be saved by their owners. Furthermore, about
a thousand thugs and five hundreds armed police personnel were
deployed to evict the citizens.

Police opened fire not only to scare
the citizens, but also aimed at them, so that two citizens were shot.
Ironically, a toddler named Fitri (2 y.o.) was so frightened that she
fell into a well and died. During the incident, about 200 citizens
were arrested and detained at Mandau Police station, and about 400
more are hiding in the forest of Kampung Dalam, while surrounded by
hundreds of police and thugs who hunt them like outlaws. Apparently,
the Indonesian Police cooperation with the US military results in the
former’s use of napalm in a scorched earth against people’s houses.
This inhuman and brutal act was carried out by the state apparatus,
that is the The Police of the Republic of Indonesia, whose shoelaces
were bought by money from the people. In the meantime, the police and
a thousand of thugs evicted citizens without carrying any court’s
order, only an order (obviously with bribes) by a company, PT Arara
Abadi. How can police serve the Law, if they easily ignore the Law to
please big businesses? According to the permit given by the
government, PT Arara Abadi only holds management right, instead of
ownership right, of the forest in the location. But in the
development, PT Arara Abadi claimed ownership of the land, while the
government turned a blind eye; therefore the affiliate of Sinar Mas
Group has tried to evict the citizens many times, including sending
thugs to do it. In reality, the five thousand hectares of land is
under the settlers’ customary/indigenous right (tanah ulayat), which
historically has been recorded in formal documents; the majority of
citizens own the proves of ownership of that land.
http://pulpinc.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/napalm-dropped-on-villagers-in-riau-province/

Posted via email from Deane’s posterous