T

he National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has lambasted an eviction in Luwuk district, Banggai regency, Central Sulawesi, which resulted in clashes between residents and security personnel on Monday.

“This was a forced eviction [ordered] by the Luwuk District Court. We have seen evidence of maladministration and serious human rights abuses during the so-called extended land repossession,” Dedi Askary, head of Komnas HAM’s Central Sulawesi office, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Monday’s eviction resulted in a physical confrontation between residents who refused to move and police and military personnel.

At least 26 residents, including a lawyer, a lecturer, students and children, were arrested by the police after the clash. Most of them were arrested for allegedly throwing stones at the police and military personnel. The police also claimed the residents were armed with Molotov cocktails and bladed weapons.

Meanwhile, lawyer Julianer Aditia Warman from the Central Sulawesi Legal Aid Institute (LBH) and University of Muhammadiyah Luwuk lecturer Ade Putra were accused of inciting the residents to defy the police and military. Muhammad Sidik Djatola, a lawyer, said Julianer was arrested after a press conference. “He was there as the residents’ lawyer. There was no reason for the police to take him.”

“They [the residents] are currently being questioned at the Banggai Police office,” Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comm. Hery Murwon said on Tuesday.

The rights commission called on the police to release the residents immediately.

Before his arrest, Julianer said the dispute was initially over 600 square meters of land. However, the title holder submitted a land repossession request to the court for 6 hectares of land and the court issued the order, he added.

The Luwuk District Court subsequently ordered the repossession, affecting over 1,400 people in 343 families living in 200 homes.

The clash began when the eviction team, comprising thousands of police and military personnel, was intercepted by a group of women who protested against the demolition of their homes.

An officer of the Banggai Police, Comr. Djamaluddin Darise negotiated with the residents but they reached an impasse, said Julianer.

The women recited prayers, and other groups of residents yelled “Allahu Akbar! [God is great]”.

Later, the residents and the police and military personnel jostled each other. The residents also threw rocks at the police, prompting them to retaliate with tear gas.

The tear gas failed to stop the residents, who went on to burn tires on the streets. A local police officer was injured during the clash.

Human rights and environmental activists in Palu said they would protest against the eviction and the arrests.

The lawyers claimed the land repossession order was flawed. They said the order originated from a dispute that did not involve the protesting residents’ land.

Supporting the lawyers’ argument, a letter issued by the National Land Agency (BPN) in Central Sulawesi stated that the repossession order had expanded from the original disputed land and thus affected land belonging to other residents.

Regarding the alleged maladministration and flawed land repossession order, Komnas HAM has called on the relevant institutions to take action.

“We call on the Judicial Commission and Ombudsman to investigate the alleged maladministration in the land dispute and sanction the judges who issued the order.

“We [also] call on National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian to investigate the Central Sulawesi Police and the Banggai Police [chiefs] for agreeing to take part in executing a land repossession order beyond the disputed plot without thorough consideration,” Dedi said.