The Djakarta Post | April 3, 2002 | A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Freedom from injustice as a result of political reform in the country has proven short-lived for Indonesian farmers, who are now facing tougher challenges in the form of a global regime, an activist said.
Chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Federation (FSPI) Henry Saragih told a seminar here that unlike in the past when torture and misappropriation of land were rampant, now international organizations like the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were impinging on the rights of farmers.
"The international organizations, which pushed ahead for the creation of free trade regimes, are an axis of evil as they bring hardship to farmers worldwide, especially those in Indonesia," Henry told participants of the Regional Conference on Farmer's Rights here.
According to Henry, the policies of the WTO, IMF and World Bank have contributed to the hardships Indonesian farmers are facing today.
Citing an example, he said the IMF had imposed a structural adjustment program (SAP) on struggling economies like Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.
"The program might be a medicine to cure the banking crisis, but it certainly has brought losses to other sectors of the economy, including the agricultural sector," Henry said.
"Under the SAP program, the governments of those countries are forced to cut subsidies they used to give to farmers. This hinders farmers in cultivating their farms and later reduces their ability to produce crops.
Another speaker in the conference, Riduan Munthe, said under the free trade regime which was aggressively promoted by the WTO, the government was forced to lift protection for farmers in the form of import duty.
"This has brought losses to the Indonesian farmers since they cannot compete with products from other developed countries," he said.
Henry called on participants of the conference to fight the global oppression.
"A global movement, like the World Social Forum in Porto Allegre, Brazil, to protest the presence of the WTO, should be promoted. This is important to have our voice heard by the leaders of the world," he said.
Henry said Indonesian farmers had suffered for so long, dating back in the era of New Order.
"The New Order government seized lands belonging to the farmers for what they claimed were development programs. Intimidation, torture and land misappropriation were common practice," said Henry.
The regional conference will run until April 5. It is being held ahead of the International Farmer's Day of Struggle, on April 17.
Participants are representatives of rural activists from Thailand, Japan, Vietnam and Germany, among other countries.The Djakarta Post:
