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Activists slam police's handling of Bengkulu anti-mining protest
Jakarta Globe - June 13, 2016
The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon (11/06) when hundreds of local residents attempted to force their way into a mining area operated by Citra Buana Sentosa to deliver a memorandum containing their objections, after a series of negotiations ended in deadlock.
The protesters rejected the 800-meter-deep underground coal mining development, which has negatively affected residents in the districts of Merigi Melintang and Merigi Sakti.
Four residents – Marta Dinata (20), Yudi (28), Alimuan (65) and Badrin (45) – were shot by officers while trying to break through a police barricade. They were rushed to local hospitals with severe bullet wounds. Two officers were also injured during the altercation between police and around 500 protesters.
Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) executive director Nur Hidayati said the incident showed that besides damaging the environment, extractive industries, such as coal mining, also handle conflicts with local residents in a militaristic fashion.
"The violence against people who care about the environment is a violation to the human rights principle contained in the 1945 Constitution and Law No 32/2009 on Environmental Protection," Nur said in a statement on Sunday.
Ki Bagus Hadi Kusuma of the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam) said the residents were exercising their democratic rights when protesting against the development of the underground coal mine after a series of failed discussions with the local government.
"Police should have taken preventive action and communicated with local the government to respond to the residents' demands. But they did the opposite; they chose to confront the residents with violence," Ki Bagus said.
The four gunshot victims are still receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.
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