Indonesian Civil Society Organizations which includes YLBHI, KontraS, WALHI, ICW, JATAM, Trend Asia, AGRA, SAINS, Forum Asia, and PUSAKA have submitted Shadow Reports regarding Indonesia’s Government report on The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) regarding the issue of National Strategic Projects. It is hoped that this report will be able to provide additional information for OHCHR in viewing, assessing and comparing the actual human rights situation in Indonesia.
In our shadow report for ICESCR that was submitted on January 13, 2024, we give a brief explanation about the National Strategic Project (PSN), economic impacts, socio-cultural impacts, environmental impacts, and corruption issues in PSN. With all the findings and curated reports on economic, social, and cultural issues, we conclude that, First, public space for accessing information about PSN is quite limited, from the planning to implementation stages. For example, corruption on the Jakarta-Cikampek elevated toll road section occurred during the planning process. Second, the preparation of national strategic projects is not participatory so that the government tends to abuse its power, especially during the land acquisition process. Third, there are provisions that give discretion to public officials to administratively follow up on citizen complaints related to national strategic projects. This has the potential for abuse of discretion held by public officials so that citizen reports containing allegations of abuse of authority are resolved internally without a transparent and accountable process.
In the ICCPR shadow report that was submitted on February 5, 2024, we focused on the violation of freedom of assembly and expression; violation of access to justice; violation of the right to life; and rights to public participation. In general, the impact to civilians is trauma and excessive fear, resulting in the emergence of a climate of fear that circulates among those who wish to express their concerns regarding the enforcement and implementation of public policy which are detrimental to their livelihood as well as their everyday life.
We believe that this report is our sign of protest and demands towards the government on the international level. We urge the OHCHR Committee to underline and assert all the visible and factual human rights violations that the Indonesian Government has done under the name of National Strategic Project.
For those who wish to read the full report documents:
