PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP) expresses solidarity with the villagers of Parigi Moutong and Wadas, Indonesia facing death, arrests, threats, and harassment for rejecting mining projects on their land. We join calls to hold accountable the state forces repressing community resistance amid the increase of questionable infrastructure projects in the country.
From February 7-9, over 67 villagers, including 13 minors, were reportedly arrested as the Indonesian National Police (POLRI) and elements of the Indonesian Mobile Brigade Corps (Brimob) forcibly entered the Wadas community with tear gas, shields, and police dogs to intimidate residents contesting an andesite mining project. State forces violently cleared banners and posters in the area opposing the construction of the mine and the Bener dam.
Threats and attacks on the Wadas community have increased since 2018 when the village was listed as one of the quarry sites for materials needed to build the Bener Dam. The dam, one of 201 national strategic projects set by the national government, requires clearing the community for andesite—the main material to be utilised for construction.
Despite government approval of the mining site, villagers report that they never consented to the project or consulted about it. In April 2018, Indonesian authorities invited community members to a supposed public consultation; a sheet which bore their signatures was unknowingly used as a document to confirm their approval of the project.
The recent February attacks on villagers follow successive attempts of state forces to silence and repress the Wadas community; in 2019 and 2021, state forces arrested Wadas villagers for resisting the dam’s construction.
Wadas is among several communities facing threats and intimidation from the Indonesian government. Only days after the arrests in Wadas, around 700 residents of the Parigi Moutong district of Central Sulawesi blocked roads last February 11 to protest the PT Trio Kencana gold mining company’s continued presence in the area. One protester was shot and killed by police gunfire.
The PT Trio Kencana’s gold mining activities have threatened farmers’ livelihoods; villagers believe large-scale gold mining will destroy their soil, water, and crops, depriving them of income and stability.
Impunity over anti-mining resistance has become prevalent since 2020 when the Indonesian state amended the Mineral and Coal Law No. 3. The controversial amendment allows for the central government’s direct intervention between stakeholders and mining corporations.
The targeting of villagers in Wadas and Parigi Moutong is part of a larger trend of systemic violence as government institutions and private mining corporations work together to prioritise large-scale projects over community livelihood in the name of false development.
We support demands for the prompt intervention of concerned government units and call for an immediate end to the targeted harassment of community members and farmers in Indonesia. We also unite with the villagers of Wadas and Parigi Moutong in defending their land against exploitative resource grabbing and join the communities in their struggle for land rights and livelihood.
For more updates and more information on the Parigi Moutong and Wadas mining cases and how you can support the communities, please visit the Twitter page of Wadas Melawan and AGRA – Aliansi Gerakan Reforma Agraria ).
Reference: Ms. Sarojeni Rengam, Executive Director (nolandnolife@panap.net).
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