[Kabar-indonesia] 1 of 2: DtE: Indonesia's Indigenous Peoples and Forest Management

[Joyo at aol.com]

-1 of 2-

Down to Earth -- the newsletter of the International
Campaign for Ecological Justice in Indonesia
Newsletter No. 70, August 2006 

Indigenous Peoples / Forests

- Indigenous groups hail declaration breakthrough

- Indonesia and the Human Rights Council

- IFI standards fail on indigenous rights

- Indigenous Peoples / Forests: A portrait of
  indigenous forest management in Sungai Utik

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Indigenous groups hail declaration breakthrough

Indigenous peoples have warmly welcomed the adoption
by the newly-established United Nations Human Rights
Council of the UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples.

The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
which will now be forwarded to the UN General Assembly
for approval before the end of the year, was adopted
on June 29th, with 30 members in favour, two against
and twelve abstentions. The Declaration is widely
viewed as an important tool to eliminate human rights
violations against over 347 million indigenous people
worldwide as well as gain recognition and protection
for their rights. 

Such tools are desperately needed in countries like
Indonesia, where indigenous peoples have been
marginalised for decades by top-down development, and
resource exploitation schemes which have a devastating
impact on their lives.

Victoria Corpuz, chair of the UN's Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues, described the adoption of the
Declaration as a "momentous occasion". In a statement
for the Indigenous Peoples' Caucus, the indigenous
grouping which helped draft the declaration, she said:

"One of the most important outcomes has been that
throughout all of our expressions, sometimes in our
own languages, we have succeeded in educating the
international community about the status, rights and
lives of Indigenous peoples in every corner of
world…The true legacy of the Declaration will be the
way in which we, the Indigenous peoples of the world,
in partnership with states, breathe life into these
words...

...The real test will be how this will affect the
lives of our people on a daily basis."

(Indigenous Peoples' Caucus Closing Statement, 29
June, 2006)

The Declaration, which took eleven years to negotiate,
sets a new standard for indigenous peoples' rights.
These include:

-   the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or
as individuals, of all human rights and fundamental
freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the United
Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
international human rights law.

-   the right to be free from any kind of
discrimination.

-   the right of self-determination and, by virtue of
that right "they freely determine, their political
status and freely pursue their economic, social and
cultural development".

-   the right to autonomy or self-government in internal
and local affairs.

-   the right to the lands, territories and resources
which they have traditionally owned, occupied or used.

-   the right to redress for the lands, territories and
resources which they have traditionally owned or
otherwise occupied or used, and which have been taken
or damaged without their free, prior and informed
consent.  

-   the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation
or destruction of their culture.

-   the right to participate in decision-making in
matters which would affect their rights, through
representatives chosen by themselves in accordance
with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and
develop their own indigenous decision-making
institutions.

Under the Declaration, indigenous people are not to be
forcibly removed from their lands or territories and
there is to be no relocation without their free, prior
and informed consent and after agreement on just and
fair compensation and, where possible, with the option
of return. 

The Declaration contains a series of measures for
states, including the obligation to: 

-   obtain indigenous peoples' free, prior and informed
consent before adopting and implementing laws or
administrative measures that may affect them.

-   take measures, in conjunction with indigenous
peoples, to ensure that indigenous women and children
enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all
forms of violence and discrimination.

-   give legal recognition and protection to indigenous
lands and resources with due respect the customs,
traditions and land tenure systems of the indigenous
peoples concerned.

-   undertake effective consultations with the
indigenous peoples concerned, through appropriate
procedures and through their representative
institutions, prior to using their lands or
territories for military activities.

-   in consultation and cooperation with indigenous
peoples, to take the appropriate measures, including
legislative measures, to achieve the ends of the
Declaration.

In their pre- or post-vote statements, several Council
members 'clarified' their position on certain elements
of the Declaration, reflecting the difficulties during
the long drafting process. Among the most problematic
were the issues of self-determination and collective
rights. Several states, including the UK and Germany,
observed that the Declaration was not legally-binding,
and interpreted the right of self-determination as one
to be exercised within the territory of a state,
without impact on the state's territorial integrity.
The UK reiterated that it did not accept the concept
of collective rights under international law - a
position that has long been strongly criticised by
indigenous groups and NGOs. Japan's representative
also stated that it did not recognise collective
rights.

Indonesia's representative, Gusti Agung Wesaka Puja,
said his country had followed the negotiations closely
over the past 11 years and supported the adoption of
the declaration. He added that Indonesia was a
multicultural nation that did not discriminate against
its population on any grounds. This view is not shared
by Indonesia's indigenous peoples' alliance, AMAN,
which says the majority of indigenous peoples in
Indonesia are still living in poverty and suffering
from human rights violations because their rights to
land and natural resources have not been recognised.
In a joint statement issued a day before the Council's
vote, AMAN and the environmental group, WALHI,
criticised Indonesia's lack of support for the
Declaration and urged the Indonesian member to support
its adoption. AMAN and WALHI also called for Indonesia
to make political steps to "respect, fulfil and
acknowledge the existence and rights of indigenous
peoples in Indonesia."  

(Sources: AMAN & WALHI Press Release 28/Jun/06;
Indigenous Peoples' Caucus Closing Statement
29/Jun/06; http://www.iwgia.org/sw248.asp; Human
Rights Council Press Release 29/Jun/06, via AMAN.)

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Indonesia and the Human Rights Council

Indonesia was elected to sit on the UN's new Human
Rights Council along with other members in May this
year. The Council, which replaces the UN Human Rights
Commission in Geneva, has seats for 47 of the UN's 191
member states. Unlike the Commission, the Council
meets throughout the year and has its membership
restricted to countries that "abide by the highest
human rights standards". Indonesia was one of 11 Asian
nations officially listed as candidates for the
Council's membership. 

In addition to the Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, the Council also adopted the
International Convention for the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

In his statement to the final session of the Human
Rights Commission, Indonesia's Ambassador to the UN in
Geneva, Makarim Wibisono expressed his hopes that the
new Council would not engage in the "politicisation,
selectivity and double standards" of which the
Commission had been accused.  

Indonesia could itself be accused of double standards.
Last year, it opposed Secretary General Kofi Annan's
proposal to establish the Council. Also, at
international level, Indonesia pledges support to the
work of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights. However, Indonesia told the OHCHR to wind up
its mission in Jakarta last year and has not extended
any further invitation.

In comparison to other Asian candidates, Indonesia
submitted the most elaborate plan of actions to be
undertaken at national and international level.
Nevertheless, Indonesia suffers from serious
credibility crisis because of the systemic impunity
provided to the security forces, especially in armed
conflict situations. 

Amnesty International has launched a new website
listing the human rights records of all candidates to
the UN Council. The Indonesia page draws attention to
reports of arbitrary arrests, unlawful killings,
torture and ill-treatment in West Papua and the fact
that independent human rights monitoring there is
hampered by tight restrictions on access to the region
by foreign journalists and other international human
rights monitors, as well as by harassment and
intimidation of local activists. 

It also points out that: 

"Members of the police have used excessive force on
various occasions, including against demonstrators and
detainees. In September 2005, 37 people were wounded
when the police shot into a crowd of around 700
peasant farmers in Tanak Awuk, Lombok Island. The
gathering was organized to commemorate National
Peasants' Day and to discuss land issues. The police
said they were responding to people attacking them." 
(http://www.amnesty.org/un_hrc/indonesia.html)

(Sources: Indonesia's permanent mission to Geneva:  
http://www.mission-indonesia.org/modules/news.php?lang=en&newsid=47

Asian Centre for Human Rights
http://www.achrweb.org/Review/2006/123-06.htm
UN News service, 
29/Jun/06)

The Human Rights Council website is at:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/

-------------------------

IFI standards fail on indigenous rights

NGOs and indigenous peoples have called for greater
attention to be paid to the impacts of lending by
international financial institutions (IFIs) on
indigenous rights. They want IFIs - including
multilateral banks like the World Bank and Asian
Development Bank, as well as UN funds, bilateral donor
agencies and private commercial banks - to recognise
the fundamental importance of respecting indigenous
peoples' rights to lands, territories and resources
and to free, prior and informed consent in their
development-related activities. 

A statement by UK-based NGO, Forest Peoples Programme
(FPP), and indigenous organisations to the May 2006
session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
highlighted the fact that IFI projects and sectoral
loans often have serious negative impacts, which are
not necessarily avoided simply because IFIs have
policies on indigenous peoples1. 

A number of IFIs have recently revised or are
currently updating their safeguard policies, including
the World Bank, the Asian and Inter-American
Development Banks and the IFC (see below). Most of
these, says the statement, fall below international
human rights standards applying to indigenous peoples,
while certain loans, particularly technical
assistance, sectoral and structural adjustment loans,
have no specific guarantees applicable to indigenous
peoples. Some institutions, including the Global
Environmental Facility, most bilateral donors and
export credit agencies, and a number of large
commercial banks, have no formal policy on indigenous
peoples whatsoever. 

The FPP and indigenous groups who submitted the
statement believe that indigenous peoples and the
Permanent Forum - an advisory body to the UN, set up
in 2002 at the instigation of indigenous peoples
organisations - should actively participate in the
revisions of these IFI policies to ensure they are
consistent with indigenous rights. 

IFC new safeguards critiqued

One institution that has completed its policy revision
is the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the
World Bank Group's private sector lending arm, which
provides businesses with loans, equity, investment
services and technical assistance. The IFC has
committed financing of $2.6 billion to 81 projects in
Indonesia since 1968, including investments in oil
palm plantations - a sector which is notorious for
violating indigenous peoples' rights and destroying
forests.
    
The IFC's new policy on Social and Environmental
Sustainability, plus eight new performance standards -
including one on indigenous peoples -  was approved by
the World Bank Group's Board in February this year. 
An initial assessment by FPP has pointed to some
potentially positive elements, but also to serious
flaws in the standards - both in their content and the
rushed process for developing and adopting them.

Potentially positive elements include a safeguard for
'high risk' projects located on indigenous lands or
using their resources, which indirectly establishes
that the IFC will not fund projects where negotiations
with affected indigenous peoples do not end in
agreement. There is also an indirect safeguard against
forced relocation because 'good faith' negotiations
must be successfully concluded before any physical or
economic displacement of indigenous peoples takes
place. In addition, IFC clients must release annual
implementation reports to the public.

However, FPP has also identified a weakening of
standards in several instances and found that concerns
raised about loopholes in the policies have not been
adequately addressed. The weaknesses include a lack of
commitment in the performance standards to uphold
international law, including human rights law in IFC
investments and operations; the failure to adequately
recognise the accepted international standard of Free
Prior and Informed Consent for IFC-financed plans,
decisions or activities that may affect indigenous
peoples; dropping the exclusion of industrial logging
operations in tropical moist forests from IFC finance;
and a failure to include human rights impact
assessments as part of the social and environmental
assessment process. 

The new IFC standards are particularly important
because they have a significant knock-on effect beyond
the IFC. They are expected be adopted by around 40
large commercial banks that have signed up to the
'Equator Principles'2. These banks provide an
estimated 80% (US$125 billion) of private sector
international project finance. They include banks with
a history of investment in Indonesia, such as
ABN-AMRO, Rabobank (Netherlands), Fortis
(Netherlands/Belgium); HSBC, Barclays (UK), Citigroup,
and JP Morgan (US). 

Notes

1.  The statement was submitted by the Forest Peoples
Programme, Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander
Research Action Aboriginal Corporation, Na Koa Ikaika
o Ka Lahui Hawaii, Saami Council and Tebtebba
Foundation. The full version is at
http://www.forestpeoples.org/documents/law_hr/pfii_fpp_statement_may06_eng.pdf

2.  See www.equator-principles.com

(Source: A brief and preliminary assessment of the
IFC's new safeguard policy framework, FPP, 3/May/06 at
http://www.forestpeoples.org/documents/ifi_igo/ifc_safegd_fpp_brief_may06_eng.
shtml)

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Indigenous Peoples / Forests
 
A portrait of indigenous forest management 
in Sungai Utik

The following is adapted from an article by Yuyun
Indradi which first appeared in Forest Watch
Indonesia's publication Intip Hutan in February 2006
and was written after a visit to this West Kalimantan
indigenous community in May 2005 

Getting there

Visiting Sungai Utik is an unforgettable experience.
The journey is not easy and needs a lot of stamina. It
is a rough ride, whether you travel by air, land or
river. I was fortunate in taking the easy route: a
two-hour plane trip from Pontianak to Putu Sibau,
followed by 3-4 hours by road from Putu Sibau to
Sungai Utik. Going overland can take two days; going
via the Kapuas River can take as long as a week by
boat. Back on land after the flight, the sight of
tropical rainforest on either side of the road offered
calm and comfort, although it was sad to see
occasional piles of logs by roadside, which had been
confiscated under the government's anti-illegal
logging operations. We were relieved when the heavy
downpour of rain didn't last long enough to affect the
road. We reached Sungai Utik towards early evening.
The first thing we saw was an impressive long house
(rumah panjae) and several dump trucks, excavators and
bulldozers parked alongside it.

The general picture

Sungai Utik is in the administrative area of Embaloh
Hulu subdistrict, Kapuas Hulu district, West
Kalimantan province. To the north, Sungai Utik borders
directly with Sarawak; to the east is East Kalimantan
province and to the west is Sintang district.

In indigenous terms, Sungai Utik belongs to the Jalai
Lintang customary area (Ketemenggungan), along with
four other areas, Kulan, Ungak, Apan and Sungai
Tebelian. The majority of the inhabitants are Iban
Dayaks. Most Iban in Jalai Lintang make a living as
farmers, both from dry-field (umai pantai) and
wet-rice (umai payak) farming. They maintain customary
rituals connected to the relationships between people
(birth, marriage, death) as well as the relationship
between people and nature. This relationship with
nature is vital as it forms the basis of Iban
management and use of natural resources to sustain
their lives.

Natural resources management in the Sungai Utik
Indigenous area

The Iban of Sungai Utik have followed rules for
managing their customary (adat) area, and have managed
and benefited from their natural resources for
generations. The community divides the area into 15
allocation and management categories as follows:

1.  Rumah Panjae: The residential area

2.  Taba': Area allocated/chosen as the location for
the rumah panjae

3.  Temawai: Former location of a rumah panjae or hut
(langkau)

4.  Damun: A former field. There are several types of
damun, based on appearance and how long the field has
been left. Ownership is individual and it may be
bequeathed

5.  Tanah Mali: Forest area which may not be opened for
fields. Nothing in this area may be harvested or
taken. Usually this area is used as a place for
slaughtering chickens/pigs for funeral ceremonies.

6.  Kampong Puang: land/forest owned collectively by
the Iban Dayak community.

7.  Pendam: an area reserved as a funeral/burial
ground.

8.  Penganyut Aek: area allocated and managed as a
source of water. Usually located along a river.
Usually also used for transport.

9.  Pulau: an area of forest reserved for its special
qualities. Includes fruit, honey trees, timber and so
on. Ownership status may be individual or collective.

10. Hutan Simpan: customary forest area protected as a
reserve, no fields may be opened. Ownership is
collective.

11. Redas: area allocated for growing vegetables.

12. Tapang Manye: Honey tree (the person who finds the
tree owns it and may bequeath it)

13. Tanah Kerapa: Wetland or swamp area, usually
allocated as wet fields.

14. Tanah Endor Nampok: sacred area for meditation.

15. Umai: allocated for dry-field farming, usually
called umai pantai.

Types of customary forest 

Their customary forest is of the utmost importance to
the Iban of Sungai Utik. They have developed the
system of zoning customary forests to maintain the
balance in the relationship between people and nature
and to safeguard the sustainable benefits. There are
three types of forest area under the Sungai Utik Iban
system:

Kampong Taroh:  a forest area that may not be used for
fields or collecting/cutting timber. Kampong taroh are
protected forests, aimed at protecting the water
supply and the breeding of wildlife. Kampong Taroh are
usually in upriver areas.

Kampong Galao:  a forest reserve, where medicinal
plants, firewood and timber for making sampan boats
may be collected. Forest exploitation is highly
restricted and is closely controlled. Customary fines
are payable if the rules are violated. 

Kampong Endor Kerja: a production forest area managed
in a just and sustainable way. Trees with a diameter
over 30cm may be taken. The forest also serves as a
source of seedlings.

Developing customary forest management initiatives

A range of external pressures is threatening the
Sungai Utik community's forests. These include illegal
logging, financed by Malaysian entrepreneurs from
across the border, and oil palm plantations planned
under the Indonesian-Malaysian border mega-project.
These have the potential to devastate the people of
Sungai Utik's forests and livelihoods.
    
In response, the Iban community in Sungai Utik,
together with several local groups (PPSHK, LBBT,
Pancur Kasih) have developed various initiatives and
alternatives to defend the forests. The synergy
developed between local groups working in Sungai Utik
has had a positive impact on the Iban Dayak community.
The initiatives developed in Sungai Utik with these
supporting groups include:

-   A credit union (CU) developed with Pancur Kasih to
strengthen the local economy and reduce internal
pressures on the customary forests;

-   An initiative developed with LBBT to build and
strengthen the political position of the Sungai Utik
Iban community. A study to identify their
customary/ancestral rights (hak ulayat) has been done.
This has provided material for drafting a Perda (local
government regulation) which recognises the existence
of the Sungai Utik community and their customary area.
(The Perda has not yet been passed.)

-   Several years ago, PPSHK Kalbar started a forest
resources management activity together with the Sungai
Utik community. This began with participative
community mapping of the customary area, area planning
and the development of a furniture-making business.
The idea is to capture more of the profit for the
community. 

-   The Sungai Utik community, together with AMAN and
PPSHK Kalbar, are trying to widen the scope of
benefits - not only political and economic, but also
ecological benefits and skills in aspects of forest
management - by combining principles of conservation
with a community logging initiative. This initiative
requires high quality natural/forest resources,
indigenous communities who have maintained their
forest resources management values oriented towards
conservation, plus the potential and capacity of
supporting organisations. By the end of this community
logging project, hopefully the production model of
community-based forest management applied in Sungai
Utik will be recognised by the market through the
Indonesia Ecolabeling Institute's forest management
certification scheme.

-end/1 of 2... continues...

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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