Jakarta, 17 Mei 2023. Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakyat dan Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI) hari ini mengajukan gugatan intervensi di Pengadilan Tata Usaha Negara (PTUN) Jayapura dalam perkara Hendrikus Woro melawan Kepala Dinas Penanaman Modal dan Pelayanan Terpadu Satu Pintu (DPMPTSP) Provinsi Papua, atas terbitnya Surat Keputusan Kepala DPMPTSP Nomor 82 Tahun 2021 Tanggal 2 November 2021 tentang Kelayakan Lingkungan Hidup Rencana Pembangunan Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit dan Pabrik Pengolahan Kelapa Sawit dengan Kapasitas 98 Ton TBS/Jam seluas 36.094,4 hektar oleh PT Indo Asiana Lestari di Distrik Mandobo dan Distrik Fofi, Kabupaten Boven Digoel, Provinsi Papua.
Kedua organisasi ini memiliki kepentingan di pengadilan untuk membela hak masyarakat adat dan lingkungan hidup di Papua. Pemberiaan izin-izin kepada perusahaan untuk usaha perkebunan kelapa sawit dan mengkonversi kawasan hutan Papua dalam skala luas telah melanggar hak masyarakat adat dan tidak sesuai dengan komitmen pemerintah Indonesia dalam mengatasi perubahan iklim.
Penerbitan objek gugatan menunjukkan belum adanya rasa keadilan, penghormatan terhadap Hak Asasi Manusia, mengandung cacat hukum, kekeliruan, penyalahgunaan, serta ketidakbenaran dan/atau pemalsuan data, dokumen, dan/atau informasi.
Wilayah yang ditetapkan menjadi konsesi PT Indo Asiana Lestari, merupakan Ekosistem Hutan Adat Awyu Woro memiliki peran penting terhadap peradaban masyarakat lokal yang tinggal di sekitar hutan. Keberadaan hutan ini menjadi sumber air bersih bagi masyarakat adat dan masyarakat lokal di dua belas kampung, yaitu kampung Bangun (Yare), Kampung Kowo, Kampung Kowo Dua, Kampung Afu, Kampung Hello, Kampung Kaime, Kampung Memes, Kampung Piyes, Kampung Watemu, Kampung Obinangge, Kampung Uji Kia, Kampung Metto. Hutan dan aliran sungai juga menjadi ruang produksi untuk berburu / memancing ikan, menangkap buaya, dan meramu sumber pangan.
Hal yang paling mendasar adalah secara filosofi dan pandangan masyarakat adat Papua, konsep tanah dan sumber daya alam yang terkandung didalamnya memiliki kedudukan dan posisi yang penting yang mempengaruhi gerak hidup komunitas masyarakat adat. Tanah diyakini sebagai harapan bersama, dan tanah sebagai relasi iman. Konsep ini amatlah penting dan merupakan sebuah landasan kehidupan bagi masyarakat adat Papua. Tanah sebagai harapan bersama. Artinya, tanah bagi masyarakat adat Papua adalah sebuah harta yang abadi dan terakhir. Tanah mengandung nilai-nilai yang transendental yang absolut. Di dalamnya juga terkandung kemuliaan dan keagungan yang memberi arti, makna, manfaat, ataupun tujuan hidup yang baik dan benar bagi masyarakat adat Papua.
Sementara mengenai konsep tanah sebagai harapan hidup berkaitan erat dengan harapan hidup masyarakat asli Papua. Masyarakat adat tidak bisa hidup tanpa tanah. Masyarakat adat hidup, bekerja dan tinggal di atas tanah. Tanah menciptakan dan melahirkan orang asli Papua sebagai manusia sejati. Oleh karenanya, tanah juga dianggap sebagai Mama sejati, karena masyarakat adat hidup dan dibesarkan oleh tanah milik mereka.
Pengambilan wilayah adat secara sepihak sama artinya dengan mengambil seluruh kehidupan mereka. Sehingga sudah seharusnya Majelis Hakim dapat membuat keputusan yang memihak kepada masyarakat adat Papua dengan mengabulkan secara keseluruhan apa yang menjadi tuntutan masyarakat.
Dalam persidangan E-Court yang telah berlangsung majelis hakim telah menerima gugatan intervensi kedua organisasi, persidangan akan dilanjutkan dengan agenda jawaban dari Pihak Tergugat Dinas Penanaman Modal Dan Pelayanan Terpadu Satu Pintu Provinsi Papua dan pihak Tergugat Intervensi PT Indo Asiana Lestari.
Narahubung :
Uli Arta Siagian (Manager Kampanye Hutan dan Kebun WALHI Nasional): +62 821-8261-9212
Tigor Hutapea ( Staff Advokasi Yayasan PUSAKA): +62 812-8729-6684
Jayapura & Jakarta, 23 Nov. 2021 – NGOs are stepping up calls for Indonesia’s national government to show support for Indigenous rights in West Papua as a landmark court case enters its final week of hearings. The Jayapura Administrative Court is scheduled to conclude hearings on Thursday in the case which involves three palm oil companies in Sorong regency, West Papua Province fighting to overturn the cancellation of permits which had allowed them to convert forest areas into plantations, in the face of opposition by Indigenous landowners.
“Indigenous peoples’ organisations, the Sorong regency government and national NGOs have all taken a stand to rescue these Indigenous forest lands from conversion for palm oil production. These permit revocations are the only concrete outcome so far from President Jokowi’s palm oil moratorium and permit review process,” said Wirya Supriyadi, Advocacy Coordinator at WALHI Papua. “But when the chips are down, Jakarta is silent on the case, allowing cashed-up companies to take a bullying court case to retain control of Indigenous lands they were never morally entitled to,” said Wirya.
Years of Indigenous peoples’ complaints about plantation industry land-grabbing in West Papua province, and concerns about the vast area of tropical rainforest slated for clearing, lead the provincial government to undertake a review of oil palm plantation permits, recommending in February this year that over a dozen plantation concessions be revoked, and the forest areas be returned for sustainable management by their Indigenous owners.[1] The head of Sorong district, Johny Kamuru went ahead and revoked the recommended permits, but three of the companies affected, PT. Inti Kebun Lestari, PT Papua Lestari Abadi, and PT Sorong Agro Sawitindo are suing Kamuru and the head of Sorong’s investment agency in Jayapura Administrative Court to reverse the decision.
The palm oil permit review process falls under a mandate provided by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in 2018, administered by the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.[2] Yet neither ministry has made public comment, formal representations or provided expert evidence to support Sorong district’s permit revocations.
The valuable forested land claimed by the three companies covers 90,031 hectares, an area larger than New York City. Greenpeace Indonesia’s Papua Forests Campaigner Nico Wamafma said “Considering the influence of power and money in the justice system, and the importance of this case for Indigenous rights in West Papua, a coalition of NGOs has requested the national Judicial Commission to monitor proceedings.”[3]
On 18 November a joint public interest amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) brief was lodged by the Sorong chapter of the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), the Papua office of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), Pusaka Foundation, and Greenpeace Indonesia.[4] Pusaka Foundation’s Tigor Hutapea said “In our submission, we asked the court to appreciate the wider implications of this case. This is not a commercial dispute about permits. It is about the public interest in protecting Indigenous land rights, biodiversity and environmental sustainability in Papua.” AMAN’s Fecky Mobalen added: “In the amicus curiae brief we called on the court to respect publicly stated Indigenous opposition, and provide justice in recognition that permits were issued without their consent.”
Notes:
[1] See Joint Press Release by Papua Barat Province and Corruption Eradication Commission
[2] Presidential Instruction 8/2018 Concerning Postponement And Evaluation Of Oil Palm Plantation Licenses And Increasing Productivity Of Oil Palm Plantations.
[3] Submission (available on request) dated 22 Sep 2021 received by Judicial Commission (Komisi Yudisial) with ref. no. 1092/X/2021/S.
[4] Link to amicus curiae brief
[5] Greenpeace Indonesia in collaboration with Watchdoc will release a movie about deforestation in Papua later this month, watch the teaser here
Photos & map:
- Location map
- Indigenous Moi people demonstrate in front of the Sorong district government office in support of the Sorong district head, who is being sued by palm oil companies after his decision to uphold Indigenous land rights (Photo 1 and Photo 2, credit: AMAN Sorong)
- Indigenous Moi men and women protest on International Indigenous Peoples Day August 9, 2020, in front of the Sorong district government office, calling for the cancellation of palm oil permits over their ancestral lands. Credit: Natalia Laurensia Carmelia Yewen / Mongabay Indonesia.
Contacts:
- Igor O’Neill, Greenpeace Indonesia Forests Campaign. [email protected] +61-414-288-424
- Tigor Hutapea, Pusaka Foundation: +62-812-8729-6684
- Fecky Mobalen, Sorong chapter of the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN): +62 822-4863-6709
- Wirya Supriyadi, Advocacy Coordinator at WALHI Papua: +62-812-1858-508
