AMAN, 24 September 2014. Di dalam forum konferensi masyarakat adat se-dunia (WCIP/World Conference on Indigenous People) di New York, AMAN mengeluarkan pernyataan terkait dengan persoalan masyarakat adat di Indonesia. Berikut pernyataan sikap AMAN di WCIP.
World Conference on Indigenous Peoples
22-23 September 2014, UN Headquarter, New York
Round Table 2: Implementing the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the national and local level
Statement of Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara
Delivered by Rukka Sombolinggi
Thank You Chair,
On the theme of “ Implementing the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the national and local levels, Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN) welcome the WCIP Outcome Document particularly the paragraphs 3,7, 8, 20 and 21.
AMAN stands for Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara, the Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance of the Archipelago. AMAN is a representative organisation that consists of a Central Governing Body with 20 Regional/Provincial Chapters, 99 Local Chapters, 3 Wing Organizations representing Youth, Women and Lawyers, and 4 Autonomous Bodies. AMAN represents 15 million individuals from 2,230 indigenous communities across Indonesia. AMAN’s mission is to empower, advocate for, and mobilize indigenous peoples of the Indonesian archipelago to protect our collective rights, and to preserve our cultures and environments for current and future generations.
Across the Indonesian archipelago, approximately 70 million indigenous peoples have lived in harmony with our land, forests and oceans for centuries.
Chair,
1. On behalf of AMAN, I fully acknowledge and appreciate the positive steps in the recognition of the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia. However, hundreds of indigenous leaders are now in jail and facing prosecutions while land conflicts continue to take place in many part of Indonesia.
2. In 2013, the Constitutional Court made Ruling No. 35, legally reaffirming the right of indigenous peoples over lands, territories and resources including “customary forest”. This ruling affects the preservation of at least 40 million hectares of forest in Indonesia. It is an immense achievement for indigenous communities whose rights to own and manage their territories have been denied for decades. We urge the Government of Indonesia to implement the Ruling.
3. A draft Bill on the Recognition and Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is currently undergoing review in the House of Representatives. It is a long awaited law to translate the Constitutional Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We urge the Parliament to immediately adopt the Indigenous Peoples Law.
4. The Government has also recently embarked on creating a single map and integrating maps of indigenous territories is a key part of the One Map effort. Up to 6,9 million hectares of indigenous territories has been mapped and 2,4 million hectares has been already been included in the Indonesia’s One Map Policy. We urge the government of Indonesia to legally acknowledge these maps and scaling up the mapping of the remaining indigenous lands in Indonesia.
5. In the 1st September 2014 the Government of Indonesia launched a national initiative on the Recognition and Protection of Indigenous Peoples. The action plans and strategies must focus on addressing the needs and priorities of indigenous peoples from their own perspectives and aspirations, with due consideration to their specific conditions.
6. The OP 21 of the Outcome Document provides a basis to the Government of Indonesia especially the incoming President Joko Widodo to immediately establish mechanisms for resolving and transforming cases and conflicts over the lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples. This must be based on the result of the on-going National Inquiry concerning violations of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples within forest areas that is currently conducted by the National Commission on Human Rights.
7. We urge the government of Indonesia to create a National Commission on Indigenous Peoples to serve as a bridge between indigenous peoples and the state.
AMAN wishes to offer our continuing support to the Government of Indonesia in making sure our rights as indigenous peoples at the local and national levels reality.
Thank You Chair