Severianus Endi, Pontianak – Forty-seven people, including children, stayed the night in the National Commission on Human Rights office in Pontianak in West Kalimantan on Thursday because they were

Indra Budiari, Jakarta – Three women emerged out of their tents, and despite the scorching sun that day they ran toward a truck full of cardboard and scrap metal that was coming down from the main

Apriadi Gunawan – Hundreds of residents of Sari Rejo subdistrict in Medan, North Sumatra, blocked an access road to the Soewondo Airbase in Medan on Wednesday in protest against the Air Force's cla

Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The people of the Kendeng Mountains in the northern part of Central Java can now breathe a temporary sigh of relief following an order from President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo tha

Severianus Endi, Pontianak – Hundreds of residents from several hamlets in West Kalimantan have fled their homes to avoid arrest over their alleged involvement in a conflict with an oil palm compan

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-097-2016

Dear Friends,

Jakarta – Dozens of residents staged a protest over state-owned railway company PT KAI's plan to evict residents from their houses in Manggarai, South Jakarta, on Sunday.The residents, mostly retir

Jakarta – Activists and fishermen voiced on Friday their concern over newly appointed Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan's plan to review the Jakarta Bay reclamation project, w

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – Local residents and activists will continue to challenge land reclamation around Losari Beach, South Sulawesi, after a court rejected a lawsuit against the issuance of a

Evi Mariani, Jakarta – "This is disobedience," said Sukarti, 40, a resident of the demolished Pasar Ikan area in North Jakarta. Her expression hardened when she said that.

Venidora Oliveira – Communities are continuing to build houses on protected land, even though it has been banned by the government.

Jakarta – Social tension has escalated in Bali as local people opposed to the reclamation project in Benoa Bay in southern Bali have threatened to use violent measures if the government extends the

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-069-2016

Dear Friends,

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – A leading human rights activist has cited the 2012 Law on Yogyakarta's special status as the source of agrarian conflict and injustices in Yogyakarta and has called f

Suherdjoko, Semarang – About 1,000 residents of Kebonharjo Kampung in Tanjung Emas district, Semarang, Central Java, clashed with police officers deployed to evict them on Thursday to make room for

Paulina Quintao – The government has been criticized for failing to properly control communities building permanent homes on state-owned land and for issuing warning notifications too late.

Ni Komang Erviani – Following several large rallies against the planned Benoa Bay reclamation project, the Bali Police have called on people not to stage demonstrations on weekends as protests may

Ni Komang Erviani – The Indonesian Hindu Religious Council's (PHDI) Sabha Pandita (high priests) have issued an edict declaring Bali's Benoa Bay a sacred area.

An environmental group and residents are intensifying their efforts to pressure the government into canceling a US$4 billion coal power plant project in Batang, Central Java as they fear the plant

Jewel Topsfield, Jakarta – Allegations of bribery and corruption will further mire controversial land reclamation projects across Indonesia, already hotly contested by locals and environmentalists.

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-023-2016

Johnny Langenheim – The battle over a controversial land reclamation project in Bali is reaching crisis point, with an official decision due any day on an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) that

Pekanbaru – Hundreds of people attacked security officers and employees of forestry firm PT Rimba Lazuardi in the Peranap district, Indragiri Hulu regency, in Riau on Wednesday, burning down the co

Kupang – Residents of Kolhua subdistrict of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, have rejected the municipality's plan to develop a dam worth Rp 285 billion (US$20 million), saying that the project would ev

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan – Indigenous rights activists have called on the government to immediately complete the drafting of a long-awaited indigenous people's rights protection (PPHMA) bill to preve

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-017-2016

Dear Friends,

Nethy Dharma Somba, Sorong – Indigenous communities in Klamono district, Sorong regency, West Papua, have called for the formulation of a regency bylaw on customary forests to provide greater legal

Nurul Fitri Ramadhani, Jakarta – The Alliance of Indigenous People (AMAN) has criticized the House of Representatives for not listing the recognition and protection of the rights of indigenous peop

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Yap Thiam Hien Foundation has named lawyer and activist Handoko Wibowo the 2015 recipient of the rights accolade for his relentless effort to fight for the land ri

Jakarta – President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is set to hold a limited Cabinet meeting to review land-use rights in Papua at his office on Tuesday at 2 p.m.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Companies in land-use conflicts have turned increasingly hostile towards local communities, a year-end report from the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) found.

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang – The West Sumatra provincial administration has expressed optimism that it can complete a plan to hand over the management of 500,000 hectares of protected forests to

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Constitutional Court (MK) has granted a petition to allow indigenous people to cultivate forests for their living in the 1999 Forestry Law, while it re

Jakarta – The land-distribution system in Jakarta, as well as in other Indonesian cities, which is based on price rather than social benefits is unfair to the poor and therefore violate

Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – The Alliance of Indigenous People (AMAN) has reminded President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo of the importance of his promise to establish a Presidential task force to pro

Venidora Oliveira – The Coordinator of Rede ba Rai (Network for Land) organization Roberto Aleixo da Cruz said land disputes continue to be a source of social conflict because a land law has not ye

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – Two years after a landmark ruling in 2013 by the Constitutional Court on the 1999 Forestry Law that invalidated the government's claim to customary forests, red tape c

Jakarta – The Indonesian government plans to move nomadic forest tribes into reservations as part of its solution for "empowering" communities threatened by massive loss of forests in southern Suma

Jakarta – Several Indonesian farmers' associations and activists on Tuesday submitted to the Constitutional Court a motion for a judicial review of the country's 2014 Plantations on Law, claiming i

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has warned the Yogyakarta administration not to violate residents' rights in its development of the Parangtritis

Jakarta – A petition for murdered activist Salim Kancil has been supported by 50,000 people and Rp 42 million (US$3,138) has been raised for his child's education.

Jakarta – A village chief in East Java has admitted to paying off three officers for protecting an illegal sand mining operation in his village.

Fedina S.

Jakarta – The National Police have launched an investigation against three police officers from a Lumajang precinct in East Java for their alleged role in last month's brutal death of local anti-mi

Jakarta – A team of House members have alleged that the Lumajang Police did not respond correctly to threats received by Samsul, or Salim Kancil, a 52-year-old villager from Pasirian district, Luma

Bambang Muryanto, Yogyakarta – In the long-running dispute about land rights in Yogyakarta, Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Ferry Mursyidan Baldan has supported the position of the province'

Jakarta – Some 2,500 people took part in a demonstration in front of the State Palace on Tuesday, calling on President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to reform agrarian law and set up a team to handle land d

Jakarta – The involvement of police and Indonesian Military (TNI) officers has exacerbated thousands of land conflicts in regions across the country, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas

Ryan Dagur, Jakarta – Plans to revive a massive commercial agribusiness and biofuel plant in the Indonesian province of Papua violate the land rights of the indigenous and local communities who hav

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-115-2015

Dear Friends,