TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The People's Water Forum 2024 in Bali was forcibly disbanded, and participants were intimidated by dozens of people claiming to be from a community organization Patriot Garuda Nusantara (PGN). The forum was held in Bali in line with the 10th World Water Forum (WWF) 2024 on May 18-25.

The House of Representatives (DPR) member of the legal commission, Taufik Basari, condemned the act of intimidation. He said the People's Water Forum is a worldwide forum of water justice movements that challenge water privatization and promote maximum water management for the welfare of the people. Hence, he stressed that the forum should not be intimidated under the pretext of violating the verbal rules of the acting governor.

Taufik thus demanded the police, particularly the Bali regional police, provide guarantees of protection and security to all parties exercising their right to peaceful assembly and expression.

“We also ask the police to carry out law enforcement actions without discrimination,” he said in a statement on Wednesday, May 22.

He appealed to the central and regional governments to ensure freedom of expression and opinion for civil society as part of the democratic ecosystem.

The police, he continued, must also search for and take action against those who prevented Chairman of the Constitutional Court’s Honorary Council I Dewa Gede Palguna and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation Pedro Arrojo Agudo from entering the People's Water Forum.

“This is no way to host an international event. Show that Indonesia is a democratic, legal country that always provides space for freedom of opinion and guarantees legal protection for every citizen,” Taufik concluded.

ANDI ADAM FATURAHMAN | HAN REVANDA PUTRA

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