Find Violence Against Residents Who Refuse Andesite Mining In Wadas Village, Komnas HAM: The Perpetrators Are Officers In Preman Clothes

Komnas HAM Commissioner Choirul Anam/Zoom screenshot

JAKARTA - The National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) revealed that there had been acts of violence against residents who resisted andesite mining in Wadas Village, Purworejo, Central Java. This violence is carried out by police officers who do not wear official uniforms but wear civilian or thug clothes.

Komnas HAM made this disclosure when announcing factual findings from the results of monitoring and investigation of the excessive use of force in the land measurement process in Wadas Village on Tuesday, February 8.

Komnas HAM commissioner Choirul Anam said that from the testimony of witnesses and videos obtained there had been acts of violence by the police. This violence was experienced by residents who refused andesite mining in their village.

"The Indonesian National Human Rights Commission found that there were acts of violence during the arrests by the police on Tuesday, February 8, 2022 against Wadas residents who refused to quarry," Anam said in a press conference broadcast online, Thursday, February 24.

As a result of the violence experienced, Anam said, residents who refused suffered injuries to their foreheads, knees and calves, as well as pain in several other body parts. However, Komnas HAM confirmed that none of the victims were hospitalized.

"From the identification of the perpetrators, the majority of violent acts were carried out by officers in civilian clothes or thugs during the arrest process," he said.

According to the Central Java Police, there are approximately 250 personnel, 50 of whom are plainclothes or plainclothes personnel. Even so, there is also a different explanation if the officers who were deployed reached thousands of people.

Anam revealed that around 67 residents who refused to mine were taken to the Purworejo Police Station. However, they were all discharged on Wednesday, February 9th or the day before.

Not only arresting, on that occasion, the police also confiscated property belonging to residents such as motorcycles and cell phones.

"On February 21, 2022, residents' belongings such as two motorbikes were returned to their owners, while four mobile phones are still in the process of being searched and returned to their owners by the Purworejo Police," said Anam.

As a result of this incident, Komnas HAM said that many residents were traumatized by seeing acts of violence, especially children and women.

"The Indonesian National Human Rights Commission found that several residents experienced fear after the events on February 8, 2022. Until Saturday and Sunday or 4-5 days after the incident they did not dare to go home. In addition, there was potential for trauma, especially for women and children," he concluded.