Jakarta, IO – Transparency International data show that one in every five people worldwide has had to give a bribe to gain access to land services. Land provides communities around the world with a place to live, a home, and a source of income. Indigenous peoples regard land as their heart, soul, and source of pride.
According to Nukila Evanty, Chairperson of the Koalisi Lawan Kejahatan Terorganisir (the Coalition Against Organized Crime), land-related corruption refers to corrupt practices in land management and administration, severely impacting marginalized groups for their effect on their lives and identities. Corrupt practices include non-transparent land concessions, forced evictions and relocations, and bribery by entrepreneurs in land administration. Land agreement negotiations between private investors and local governments tend to exclude local communities and indigenous peoples. Irresponsible urban planning and ruthless land speculation often displace indigenous communities from their own lands, furthermore, without fair compensation.
Nukila is the team leader of the Land Looters, a group of human rights activists, conservationists, social justice advocates and journalists linked with Erikson Marbun & Jantrarat Jantaratippaluk (Thailand) and Samantha Chow (Malaysia).
Nukila and the Land Looters received a grant for an innovative anti-corruption approach at HackCorruption Malaysia in February 2024. The program was initiated by Accountability Lab, with #HackCorruption, supported by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement of the U.S. Department of State and USAID’s “Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development”. The program intends to support talented people from various backgrounds, including tech activists and civil society advocates.
The Land Looters team is currently finalizing materials for a microsite featuring interactive case studies on land grabbing and comprehensive resources, with case studies from Indonesia and Thailand. The team expects to help indigenous communities report land-related corruption cases, understand the legal status of land as determined by courts of law, learn about land regulations and rights and access legal mechanisms, should they encounter land-related corruption.
On August 1, 2024, Nukila attended an online workshop titled “A Global Exchange: Leveraging Technology to Hack Corruption and Promote Democratic Practices,” which was supported by the Obama Leadership Network and Accountability Lab.
Nukila explained that she had previously conducted anti-corruption advocacy through conventional methods, but soon realized that technology plays a crucial role in combating corruption, after attending workshops organized by the Accountability Lab. Technology plays a vital role in promoting transparency, accountability, and deterring various forms of criminal misconduct. It allows a flow of open information on the activities of governmental institutions at both the central and regional levels, as well as active public control over their activities. Furthermore, technology can combat corruption by digitizing state institutions’ activities.
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“For example, corruption is immediately spotted when land concession procedures for an eco-city project are found to be unlawful, detrimental to the state, and only beneficial for certain individuals. Corruption cases can arise from the government’s inability to manage land or forest concession permits or their unwillingness to limit land ownership, leading to dominant investors controlling land across sectors,” Nukila explained.
Nukila also hopes that the technology-based microsite, developed in collaboration with the Land Looters, which is set to launch in September 2024, will be highly beneficial for communities and governments. (des)