[Jakarta, September 9, 2020] The CSO and Civil Society Coalition to Guard the Indigenous Peoples Bill has requested that the Indonesian Government and the House of Representatives immediately ratify the Indigenous Peoples Bill. Government representatives represented by the Ministry of ATR/BPN RI, the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries stated their support for the accelerated ratification of the Indigenous Peoples Bill in their presentation at the Indigenous Peoples Bill Talkshow with the theme #SahkanRUUMyarakatAdat held on September 9, 2020.
Rukka Sombolinggi, Secretary General of AMAN, said that the Indigenous Peoples Bill is intended to bridge the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the state so that there will be no more cases of criminalization, such as that experienced by Effendy Buhing in Laman Kinipan Lamandau for defending his traditional rights.
" Especially during this pandemic, it has proven that indigenous communities are capable of contributing to development ," said Rukka.
However, the draft Indigenous Peoples Bill still falls short of expectations, as it fails to address issues related to Indigenous Peoples. " It's necessary to add restitution and rehabilitation clauses related to reparations for past rights violations, which could be implemented through a presidential or government regulation, and implemented through a permanent institution ," Rukka added. " It's also crucial to ensure that this bill includes provisions for the protection of Indigenous women ."
The government is obliged to protect, respect and fulfill the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their territories, rights to citizenship status, rights to governance, rights to cultural and spiritual identity, rights to development, rights to the environment, rights to free, prior and informed consent, and the rights of indigenous women.
Likewise, the government must prevent the eviction of Indigenous Peoples from their living space, protect Indigenous Peoples from land grabbing by corporations and government policies, and provide recognition of their existence and rights.
Recognition of the existence of Indigenous Peoples and their territories, as well as other rights, should not require the issuance of Regional Regulations. Recognition must be made easier to encourage the protection of Indigenous Peoples.
Devi Anggraini, Chairwoman of PEREMPUAN AMAN, emphasized the need for disaggregated data based on ethnicity and gender to clearly identify Indigenous Peoples. " Furthermore, it's also important to specifically address the collective rights of Indigenous Women in the Indigenous Peoples Law ," Devi said.
Dahniar Andriani, Director of the Huma Association, asked the government to review MPR Decree No. IX of 2001 concerning Agrarian Reform and Natural Resource Management, which mandates the resolution of agrarian conflicts, including in Indigenous Peoples' areas.
Abdon Nababan, Deputy Chairman of the National AMAN Council, stated that Home Affairs Ministerial Regulation No. 52 of 2014 was the result of an agreement across ministries and institutions, the process of which was facilitated by the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare at the time. " This Home Affairs Ministerial Regulation is an agreement to bypass the enormous costs and complicated political processes at the regional level, by simply through a Regent's Decree or Governor's Decree to determine the existence of Indigenous Communities and their Customary Territories. Therefore, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry should follow this agreement ," Abdon said.
" Furthermore, the One Map Policy should include maps of indigenous territories alongside other maps. With the One Map Policy, all overlaps should be visible. Unfortunately, the One Map Policy itself is currently closed and accessible only to government officials. Similarly, there is still no clarity regarding the Data Guardian for indigenous territories. Therefore, the ratification of the Indigenous Peoples Bill will clarify the mechanism for providing maps and Data Guardians ," Abdon added.
To date, 11.1 million hectares of customary territories have been mapped, consolidated by the Participatory Mapping Network (JKPP), and submitted to data trustees at the relevant ministries. These maps and data are the result of participatory mapping conducted by indigenous and local communities.
" This proves that Indigenous Peoples are truly pushing for the One Map Policy as a basis for restructuring national development, which has been riddled with conflict, overlapping spatial plans, and environmental damage, " said Deny Rahadian, National Coordinator of JKPP.
" For this reason, the Coalition also demands that the Ministry of ATR/BPN prioritize the principle of transparency by opening up HGU data in resolving agrarian conflicts in customary areas, as well as returning customary lands seized by corporations ," said Khalisah Khalid, Head of WALHI's Political Desk.
To realize the recognition and protection of indigenous peoples and all their constitutional rights, the drafting of the Indigenous Peoples Bill, in collaboration with the community, is a current priority for the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI). The Indigenous Peoples Bill, proposed by the Coalition of CSOs and Civil Society Monitoring the Indigenous Peoples Bill, not only assists the DPR RI in the drafting process but also builds democratic processes for the people in the formation of better legislation.
" Delaying the ratification of the Indigenous Peoples Bill means the state has failed to protect indigenous peoples. The government must understand the importance of customs in governing the country ," said Laode M. Syarif, Executive Director of the Partnership for Governance Reform.
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The CSO and Civil Society Coalition to Guard the Indigenous Peoples Bill consists of 30 coalitions consisting of AMAN, BRWA, Debtwatch Indonesia, Epistema, Coastal and Small Island Indigenous Peoples Forum, HuMa, ICEL, JKPP, Kalyanamitra, KIARA, Kemitraan, Indonesian Women's Coalition, Agrarian Reform Consortium, Lakpesdam, Sustainable Madani Foundation, Lokataru, merDesa Institute, PEREMPUAN AMAN, Protection International Indonesia (YPII), Indigenous Peoples Defenders Association of the Archipelago, RMI, Sawit Watch, Satu Nama, Walhi, Jurnal Perempuan Foundation, YLBHI, BPAN, Kaoem Telapak, KP-KKC Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI), and EcoNusa.
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