ID :
15924
Fri, 08/15/2008 - 01:11
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/15924
The shortlink copeid
RALLY DEMANDS END TO VIOLENCE AGAINST FARMERS
Jakarta, Aug 14 (ANTARA) - Hundreds of people coordinated by farmers' advocacy groups rallied outside the National Police Headquarters in south Jakarta on Thursday to demand that law enforcers stop using violence against farmers defending their right to own or till land.
The demonstrators also criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for having done little to improve the life of farmers although farmers were the "backbone" of the nation.
One of the rally's speakers said the government had yet to introduce "genuine and comprehensive agrarian reform" although it was led by a president who had been elected directly by the people.
Led by activists of the Alliance of Agrarian Reform Movemnents (AGRA) and the People's Struggle Front (FPR), the protesters punctuated their action by yells in effect demanding a halt to law enforcers' violence against and prosecution of farmers.
A demomstrators' delegation was eventually allowed to meet officers in the National Police Headquarters' public relations unit.
Meanwhile, according to a press statemet issued by FPR, 12 major agrarian conflicts occurred in different parts of the country in the period January-July 2008.
The conflicts were between farmers on the one hand, and state-owned as well as private plantation and mining companies, the military, and other parties in need of land for development projects on the other. The development projects included dams or water reservoirs, airports, hydropower plants.
The front in its statement called on parties involved in land disputes with farmers to stop robbing farmers of their land and to let farmers work on abandoned or neglected land lots or on land not being used efficiently.
It also demanded a stop to all forms of repression, arrests and prosecution of farmers who were defending their land ownershp rights and firm measures against perpetrators of acts of violence against farmers.
The demonstrators also criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for having done little to improve the life of farmers although farmers were the "backbone" of the nation.
One of the rally's speakers said the government had yet to introduce "genuine and comprehensive agrarian reform" although it was led by a president who had been elected directly by the people.
Led by activists of the Alliance of Agrarian Reform Movemnents (AGRA) and the People's Struggle Front (FPR), the protesters punctuated their action by yells in effect demanding a halt to law enforcers' violence against and prosecution of farmers.
A demomstrators' delegation was eventually allowed to meet officers in the National Police Headquarters' public relations unit.
Meanwhile, according to a press statemet issued by FPR, 12 major agrarian conflicts occurred in different parts of the country in the period January-July 2008.
The conflicts were between farmers on the one hand, and state-owned as well as private plantation and mining companies, the military, and other parties in need of land for development projects on the other. The development projects included dams or water reservoirs, airports, hydropower plants.
The front in its statement called on parties involved in land disputes with farmers to stop robbing farmers of their land and to let farmers work on abandoned or neglected land lots or on land not being used efficiently.
It also demanded a stop to all forms of repression, arrests and prosecution of farmers who were defending their land ownershp rights and firm measures against perpetrators of acts of violence against farmers.
