Divers Paths to Justice - English - Forest Peoples Programme

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Divers Paths to Justice: Legal pluralism and the rights of indigenous peoples inSoutheast Asiamurder, sexual harassment and divorce. State legal officials should prioritisethe gampong goverment in settling disputes in their village. Only if thegampong government fails should the cases be handled by State officials.Complex society and its impact on conflicts and legal pluralism inSigibiromaruWith 70% of its land covered by conservation forests and subject to Statecontrol, the District of Sigibiromaru in Central Sulawesi does not have anample area of land for its adat communities. However, the problem of adatcommunities in this area is not only related to their limited access to landand forest. It is also related to the fact that forest communities are in facthighly complex social groups. These can be sub-divided into three maingroups: indigenous peoples, spontaneous migrants and migrants fromcolonial and national government-sponsored development projects.As a newly established district, Sigi has no legislation yet concerningcommunities’ rights to land and natural resources. However, there is aninitiative from local legislators to draft district regulations concerning themanagement of natural resources based on peoples’ law and to make theforest and local cultural traditions a form of tourism investment. Thisinitiative appears to be in contrast to the existing problems of forestcommunities in this district. Firstly, the complex reality of adatcommunities in Sigi requires a specific legal concept and policy. Secondly,there remain many unresolved conflicts, most of which involvecommunities versus conservation/local forestry offices, and conflictsbetween local communities and resettlement projects for adat communities.In the absence of legislation, conflicts are generally resolved in two ways:by agreements made between the government and the communities, or bylocal communities reclaiming their forest land.Land, forestry and mining conflicts in Lembata: the use and misuse ofadat and State lawA small island district surrounded by seawaters, Lembata, in the province of131
Divers Paths to Justice: Legal pluralism and the rights of indigenous peoples inSoutheast AsiaNusa Tenggara Timur, is inhabited by several tribes. Each can be consideredas an autonomous adat community. The two biggest adat communities areKedang and Lamaholot, each group shaped and defined by different socioeconomicand political structures.Conflicts over land and natural resources in Lembata have involved bothconflicts between adat communities and district government and conflictsamong adat communities. In some respects, adat has been successful inresolving conflicts among communities. In others, adat communities wereunable to put an end to conflictual relations because political groupsaffiliated to their members/leaders had contributed to an escalation of thedisputes.Adat has been used by both district government officials and NGO activistsin the conflicts related to a mining concession plan. The officials have usedtheir traditional kinship connections and co-opted some adat leaders tosupport their plan of mining development in Lembata. NGO activists havealso reactivated adat ceremonies to strengthen the solidarity of adatcommunities’ members in their struggle against the district government.State law has also been used by the district government and NGO activists.In line with their objectives, the district government has enacted regulationsand issued licenses to support their mining policy. NGO activists, throughtheir representation in district parliament, have struggled in trying topromote and implement a district regulation that would protect the rights ofadat communities. They have been partially successful in enacting aregulation for community forestry, but must accept that the regulation doesnot allow the communities to own their land. In line with the national policyof community forestry, the land must be under direct control of thegovernment. Once again, it is clear that customary laws in Indonesia areoften considered of inferior legal importance in comparison with State laws.Furthermore, they risk being instrumentally manipulated by the State orindividuals with ulterior motives, against the wishes and rights of the localcommunities in which adat laws are historically rooted.132
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Divers Paths to Justice - English - Forest Peoples Programme

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