Progressive People’s Lawyers’ Union as an Alternative Law Movement: Working with the People for Legal Reform in Indonesia
By:* Agussalim
Chairman of the Indonesian Progressive Lawyers’ Union (SPHP)
There is nothing worse, than a leader who allows his people to suffer.
(Agussalim- Chairman of SPHP)
I am Agussalim, Chairman of SPHP, who attended this Confederation of Lawyers in Asia Pacific (COLAP) Executive Meeting, in a beautiful country, namely the land of a thousand temples. This is my first visit to Nepal, but in my heart that I have kept for many years, I pray to God, to be given the opportunity to visit Nepal, Nepal is a small plural country sandwiched between two large countries, India and China, I have heard before, that Nepal has renewed its constitution, what’s more, this is done on the basis of the needs of the people of Nepal who feel the need to reformulate their constitutional rights which have been violated.
Nepal also has innovations that even Indonesia has not been able to surpass, namely in the judiciary, Nepal has formed a Local Judicial Committee led by a deputy mayor. It should be noted that the number of deputy mayors is occupied by women. This happens because in the provisions of Nepal that if in a government leadership the chairman is led by a man, the deputy must be a woman. Thus, the opportunity for women to occupy government positions is quite large. This is what caused me to really want to come to Nepal. Give Applause to Nepal.
All right, I want to tell you about the condition of law enforcement in Indonesia which is currently experiencing a crisis and is “sick”. This phenomenon occurs because law enforcement officials who are an important element in the law enforcement process are often involved in various kinds of criminal cases, especially corruption cases. The real implication of this condition is that the law loses its soul, namely justice. Therefore, it is common knowledge that at present the law is like a knife which is very sharp when used downwards but very blunt when used upwards. If this phenomenon is not immediately addressed and cured, in the long run it will result in a weakening of law enforcement in Indonesia.
In Indonesia, currently there are so many unresolved legal cases, especially the conflicts caused by the authorities to the people, as is often heard, when court proceedings are ongoing, efforts to appeal are protracted, issues of judicial mafia and accusations of bribery arise which can free punishment from the snares of the law and so on. There are always cliché reasons from the court, which is that it has been decided in accordance with the applicable legal procedures, so that formally it is not wrong, making it difficult to seek legal justice for the people of Indonesia.
It is the Progressive People Lawyer Union of Indonesia which has worked with the people for years, advocating, providing legal assistance, both advocating in court, as well as outside claims for people who are in conflict with companies, state institutions and parties who commit crimes systematically and consistently who have committed robbery and control of natural resources in Indonesia. There is no visible serious effort by the Indonesian government to defend the civil society movement, which has worked in suffering with the people only to protect their land, their ancestors and their source of life.
I, Agussalim, as Chair of the Progressive People Lawyer Union of Indonesia (SPHP), would like to explain the situation we have faced for many years as people’s lawyers who still survive to defend and assist people’s law cases. The bad situation that we often face, both threats and attempts at violence by the authorities, both towards me and my fellow advocates at SPHP.
I would like to convey one case that we are investigating at the moment, namely regarding the arrest of workers at PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI) in Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. PT GNI is a nickel ore processing company owned by a mining entrepreneur from China, Tony Zhou Yuan.
PT GNI’s operations center is in Bunta Village, Petasia Timur District, North Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi with a production capacity of 1.8 million tons per year. there were 13,650 tonnes of ferronickel exported to China. Its export value reached US $ 23 million. With such a large production, how can PT GNI not achieve an absolute profit?, and how can there be no inflow of funds indicating an oligarchy in Indonesia.
In Indonesia at this time there are so many unresolved legal cases, especially conflicts arising from the authorities to the people. As is often heard, when the court process is ongoing, appeals are protracted, issues of judicial mafia and accusations of bribery arise which can exonerate defendant from legal snares and so on. There are always clichéd excuses from the court, that is, it has been decided in accordance with the applicable legal procedures, so that formally it is not wrong, so it is difficult to seek legal justice for the people of Indonesia.
Is a Progressive People Lawyer Union of Indonesia which has worked for years with the people, advocating, providing legal assistance both in court and outside court for people in conflict with companies, state institutions and parties who commit crimes systemically and consistently who have committed robbery and control of natural resources in Indonesia. There is no visible serious effort by the Indonesian government to defend the civil society movement, which has been working within.
In fact, by operating on a massive scale, PT GNI has had a negative impact on natural resource governance, how much natural resources and the environment have been damaged by nickel mining, coupled with the impacts that have arisen as a result of PT GNI’s operations, such as bad health for the community, impaired fertility for women and children, and loss of self-esteem for the indigenous people of North Morowali, who so far their ancestral land has been able to provide them with life, but was destroyed and the state handed it over to foreign colonials to ally themselves in exploiting Indonesia’s natural resources and achieving maximum profits.
Evidence of poor law enforcement in Indonesia is when the Central Sulawesi Regional Police named 17 suspects who were local workers, following the riots that occurred between PT Gunbuster Nickel Industri and the GNI Factory workers. The low commitment of PT GNI’s workforce to fulfill the basic rights of workers and protection of workers, which culminated in causing death for GNI workers who were working, this riot was used by PT GNI which so far had carried out an oligarchic syndication with the government, so that the fulfillment of labor rights was neglected was not processed into PT GNI’s fault, but it was the riot that was published to the public so that it became the workers’ fault, and released PT GNI from any guilt and legal obligations.
Crime after crime that has been committed by the Government of Indonesia in protecting its citizens from the repressive actions of foreign investment powers, has confirmed Indonesia as a country that is subject to capital interests, whereas allowing PT GNI to carry out massive nickel production on Sulawesi soil, will result in the destruction of people’s income from the agricultural, plantation and fishery sectors, nothing worse is a leader who allows his people to suffer.
I and my fellow people’s advocates in Indonesia are accustomed to receiving inhumane treatment, simply because we defend and provide legal assistance for people who experience legal conflicts, it is commonplace, we are only paid for with handshakes and warm hugs and repeated thanks, when we succeed in helping them in the legal process, not a few of us also experience depression and pressure due to terror and threats received because we have dared to fight for the farmers, workers, fishermen, urban poor who have experienced acts of violence by the state.
There are too many rent seekers in Indonesia, who play with the people as their main product in carrying out oligarchic syndication, so that they fight against the owners of capital, in the midst of a neoliberal situation, by strengthening capitalistic economy and the poor legal system and democracy in Indonesia, SPHP is like walking in a desert, thirsty and probably will die, only because of the great enthusiasm that has caused us to survive to this day and are still fighting and working with the people in need.
We believe, what we have done to assist and defend people’s rights in law, will never be in vain. We are like getting strength from COLAP as an umbrella that blocks rain and heat and something bad happens to us.
What I convey, is a small part of the story of our assistance to people who receive bad treatment in the eyes of the law..for that help us realize legal justice for them. What Marx said about that the fundamental criterion that distinguishes classes is the position they occupy in social production, and the consequences determine their relationship to the means of production, no one is able to distinguish one human being from another human being, simply because capital capital is different from one another. Capita is a tool to achieve mutual justice, not to alienate fellow human beings.
I also convey greetings from fellow lawyers at SPHP to COLAP friends who are present in Nepal..Keep united and fight for legal justice together, because the best human being is he who is useful for the people.
Agussalim. SH
Chairman of the Progressive People Lawyer Union