The call emerged over the weekend following the death of a 12-year-old junior high school student, Angga Dharmawan, during a clash between local residents and South Sumatra Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) personnel in Limbung Jaya on Friday afternoon.

“The central government has to get involved and the police have to withdraw their personnel from the site so clashes do not keep recurring,” said Anwar Sadat, director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment’s (Walhi) South Sumatra branch, which has been supporting residents in the case.

Apart from claiming Angga’s life, the clash in Limbang Jaya village, Tanjungbatu district on Friday also left a number of other residents injured. They are currently being treated at Bhayangkara Hospital in Palembang.

“Angga was playing at home with friends when the clash occurred. He wanted to see what was happening outside and ended up being shot in his head,” said Nanang bin Rifai, Angga’s uncle, while waiting for the autopsy results on Angga’s body at the Bhayangkara Hospital on Friday night.

The clash occurred as Brimob personnel were conducting a sweep of people’s homes in their search for thieves, who allegedly stole fertilizer from PTPN Cinta Manis. Locals responded to the sweeping operation by pelting stones at the police, which in turn led to shots being fired by police.

“The police were firing at people indiscriminately,” one local, As’at bin Mahmud, said.

The South Sumatra Police’s public relations head, Adj. Sr. Comr. Djarot Padakova, said the police had acted according to standard procedures.

He stressed that Angga was accidentally shot by a stray bullet. “We are continuing to investigate the case. If we find that our personnel committed any wrongdoings, they will face due process of the law,” he said.

The conflict between Limbung Jaya residents and the state-owned company flared up following a demand by the residents that the company should relinquish and return 15,000 of its 20,000 hectares of land, accusing the company of having illegally acquired the land from local people since 1982.

Separately on Saturday, the Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam) issued a release, stating there were indications in this case that police procedures had been violated.

This, according to Elsam, extended the already long list of similar cases in which police methods employed to deal with clashes over land disputes – many involving farmers – had led to civilian injuries and deaths, such as in Bima and Mesuji a few months ago.

Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) chairman Neta S. Pane said police siding with companies instead of civilians was an old story, but this latest clash between the police, who deployed hundreds of Brimob officers, with Limbung Jaya residents was over the top.

“The operation should have focused on dialogue or it should have been a closed operation, not a raid,” he said.

Neta urged the National Police to recall the Brimob officers who were still present in the village and take stern action, not only against the shooters but also against the operation’s commander who deployed Brimob to the village in the first place.

He also recommended that the government should send independent investigators to Limbung Jaya to seek a solution to the conflict. (cor)

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