On Friday (November 24, 2023), the Djojodigoeno Center for Customary Law Studies (PUSKAHA) held a discussion on the topic “Tracing the Struggle of the Awyu Customary Law Community for Papua’s Forests.” This discussion addressed the Amici Curiae Brief prepared by PUSKAHA regarding the Environmental and Climate Change Lawsuit filed with the Jayapura Administrative Court by Greenpeace Indonesia in collaboration with the Save Papua’s Customary Forests Coalition, represented by Hendrikus Woro, who also serves as the Customary Chief of the Woro Clan. The lawsuit concerns an environmental permit issued by the Papua Provincial Investment and One-Stop Integrated Service Agency (DPMPTSP Papua) to the palm oil company PT Indo Asiana Lestari (PT IAL).
This discussion is one form of support for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically Goal 4 (Quality Education) and Goal 15 (Life on Land).
For this event, PUSKAHA collaborated with the Environmental Law Society (ELS) at the Faculty of Law, UGM. The discussion went well, with participants responding enthusiastically to the issues raised by the discussion facilitators, Daisyta Mega and Alfatania Sekar, who represented PUSKAHA. The fulfillment of the rights of indigenous communities and environmental rights are two issues that are strongly interrelated in this case. Therefore, in this Amici Curiae Brief, PUSKAHA focuses on several central points: first, the legal status of the Awyu indigenous community and their customary lands; second, the procedural aspects of environmental rights; and third, Indonesia’s commitment to addressing global climate change.
The background to this administrative lawsuit is the issuance of an Environmental Feasibility Decision (SKKL) by the Papua DPMPTSP to PT IAL on November 2, 2021. This SKKL overlaps with part of the Awyu Tribe’s customary territory located in Mandobo District and Fofi District, Boven Digoel Regency, Papua Province. Objectively, the portion of the territory included in the delineation of the Awyu Tribe’s customary forest has been legally established and can be verified through the Participatory Map of the Awyu Tribe’s Customary Territory, which was compiled by the Awyu Tribe community in collaboration with the Pusaka Foundation. The permit held by PT IAL disrupts the social space inhabited by the Awyu Tribe—covering an area of 36,094.4 hectares—and has the potential to result in the loss of access by the Awyu Tribe’s customary law community to their land rights, as well as a broader impact: the degradation of Papua’s customary forests due to deforestation.
The issuance of the permit became a source of controversy in this case because it was, in fact, granted without the consent of the Awyu indigenous community. This is, of course, counterproductive to the Province of Papua’s commitment, as clearly stated in several of its regulations, which explicitly require local governments to consistently and progressively fulfill the rights of indigenous communities. It is true that the permit granted to PT IAL was issued in 2021, at a time when the Awyu Tribe had not yet been formally and legally recognized as an indigenous community in Papua. However, in July 2023, Boven Digoel Regency Local Regulation No. 2 of 2023 on the Recognition and Protection of Customary Law Communities was issued, affirming the Awyu Tribe as part of the recognized and protected customary law communities. The existence of this Boven Digoel Regency Regulation essentially indicates a shift in local government policy toward recognizing and protecting customary land rights. Consequently, it should also serve as a dominant factor worthy of consideration as a legal reference in assessing the legality of PT IAL’s permit—which was also issued by the Papua DPMPTSP in this case.
The struggle of the Awyu Indigenous Community to pursue these rights through litigation cannot be separated from the dynamics of “climate change litigation,” as reflected, among other things, in Decision No. 82/G/2023/PTUN. This ruling explicitly dismissed the lawsuit filed by PT Megakarya Jaya Raya (PT MJR) as the plaintiff and served as the basis for the government to revoke the forest area release permit held by PT MJR. Furthermore, this legal battle is also influenced by Judgment No. 52/G/LH/2022/PTUN. This landmark ruling in the context of climate change litigation heard the case between Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI) and the Head of the West Java Provincial DPMPTSP regarding the failure of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to consider the impacts of climate change on the Tanjung Jati A coal-fired power plant project.
With this line of reasoning, it is hoped that the panel of judges will go beyond the letter of the law in responding to the genuine concerns faced by the Awyu indigenous community. This is because the rights and interests of the Awyu people are of such great significance that they must be protected. The Awyu Tribe’s customary territory, which is traversed by PT IAL, must at the very least be viewed as a source of livelihood for the community, possessing strong spiritual connections, and serving as a means for the continuation of local customs and traditions.
The Puskaha Djojodigoeno Amici Curiae Brief can be accessed here: http://ugm.id/AmiciMHAAwyu
Author : Pusat Kajian Hukum Adat Djojodigoeno
