The indigenous people of Poco Leok Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), were reported to have received arbitrary treatment by the National Police and TNI officers who were tasked with securing PT PLN and the FPIC team (Private Consent without Coercion) who visited Poco Leok, an area targeted for industrial development geothermal mining. This incident occurred on Saturday, November 25, 2023.

Judianto Simanjuntak, from the Poco Leok Advocacy Coalition, said that at that time the Poco Leok indigenous community took action to reject the arrival of the PLN group. PLN itself, he said, Tuesday (28/11/2023), came to Poco Leok accompanied by armed officers in Polri and TNI uniforms. No less than seven cars and a number of two-wheeled vehicles were deployed to provide security.

This action by the residents, continued Judianto, was then responded to with repressive action by the authorities. The officers pushed and even beat residents who blocked the group's arrival. "Taking cover behind the National Strategic Project (PSN) in an effort to liberalize electricity power, PLN, using the hands of the authorities, did not hesitate to injure residents," said Judianto.

According to Judianto, the Poco Leok indigenous community rejects the presence of PLN geothermal and the Padiapatapa team, because the indigenous community does not want their traditional territory to be confiscated for the purposes of building a geothermal power plant (PLTP).

"The living space of the Poco Leok indigenous people will be lost to build this geothermal power plant," said Judianto.

According to Judianto, the repressive actions of the authorities towards the Poco Leok indigenous community constitute a violation and denial of the right to freedom of expression and expression as guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution, Law Number 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights, and Law Number 12 2005 concerning Ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Judianto believes that the principle of "prior consent without coercion" by PLN is just outdated jargon as a complement to the requirements for smoothing loans from banks to finance geothermal projects. People have repeatedly refused, but they haven't heeded it. The answer to refusal was the butt of the gun, the swing of the gun and the lunge of the officer's field shoes.

The rejection of the indigenous people of Poco Leok, Manggarai, regarding the construction of a geothermal power plant in Poco Leok, is an effort to defend their traditional territory, as guaranteed in national legal instruments and international law which recognize and respect the rights of indigenous peoples, namely Article 18B paragraph (2) of the Constitution In 1945 Jo. Article 28I paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution Jo. Article 6 paragraph (2) Law no. 39 of 1999 concerning Human Rights Jo. Constitutional Court (MK) Decision Number 35/PUU-X/2012, 16 May 2013 in conjunction with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) in conjunction with ILO Convention No. 169 of 1989 concerning Customary Law Communities.

Judianto said, due to repeated incidents of violence by the authorities against the Poco Leok indigenous community, the Poco Leok Advocacy Coalition emphasized that it condemned the acts of violence carried out by PLN through the security forces (TNI and Polri), urging the National Police Chief to remove the East NUSA Tenggra Regional Police Chief and the Manggarai Police Chief for violating the principles human rights.

Then urge the National Police Chief and TNI Commander to order the withdrawal of the security forces on duty in Poco Leok, urge the National Police Chief, East Nusa Tenggara Regional Police Chief, and Manggarai Police Chief to stop criminalizing the Poco Leok indigenous community, by stopping summonses in any form against the Poco Leok indigenous community, and urge the Minister of BUMN to carry out an evaluation of the PT PLN Board of Directors regarding the incident in Poco Leok.

"Finally, we urge the Indonesian Government and PT PLN to temporarily stop any activities related to geothermal development in Poco Leok until there is an official statement that they will follow the principles contained in free, prior, informed, consent (FPIC) in accordance with the guidelines of the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Community customs (UNDRIP)," said Judianto.

The Poco Leok Advocacy Coalition itself is a combination of a number of civil society organizations, namely the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (AMAN), the Association for the Defense of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago (PPMAN), the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), Trend Asia, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), Legal Aid Institute (LBH) Makassar, JPIC OFM, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation- Societas Verbi Divini (JPIC-SVD), Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) East Nusa Tenggara, Sunspirit for Justice and Peace, Labuan Bajo, and the Institute Legal Aid (LBH) Labuan Bajo.

The development of the Ulumbu Geothermal Power Plant (PLTP), which targets the Poco Leok traditional region, Manggarai, NTT, began with the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources' designation in 2017 of the Flores region as a Geothermal Island.

This determination is contained in the Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources No. 2268 K/MEM/2017.

Then, looking at the potential of the area, PT PLN as the owner of the Ulumbu PLTP intends to expand the capacity from 7.5 MW to 40 MW. The Poco Leok area was chosen which consists of 14 traditional villages in 3 villages.

The expansion of the Ulumbu PLTP geothermal project is based on Decree Number HK/417/2022 concerning Determination of Locations for the Expansion of PLTP Units 5-6 in Poco Leok which was signed by the Regent of Manggarai. Poco Leok has also been designated as part of PSN, and is funded by the German Development Bank Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) through PT PLN (Persero).

There are 60 planned drilling points which could result in environmental damage and loss of living space for the Poco Leok indigenous community. Problems occurred when the project did not involve the participation and opinions of the Poco Leok indigenous people. "The government does not recognize the existence of the Poco Leok indigenous community," said Judianto