From Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, UN Special Rapporteur on Water and Sanitation @SRWatSan :
Dear Water Defenders, dear friends. I arrived in Bali (Indonesia) yesterday afternoon to participate in the People’s Water Forum event and also in the World Water Forum on Friday, in an event organised in the premises of Spain. The situation of threats against the academics and academic institutions that invited me and that are hosting the People’s Water Forum event forced them to withdraw the venue where the Forum was to be organised. Since I arrived at the hotel last night, although I have not been told, plainclothes policemen have been taking photos and videos of me and those who talk to me. We will see what happens tomorrow. I ask you to be vigilant.
Update: My legs are still shaking a little. I came to the hotel where the People’s Water Forum was to be held, which had to be cancelled because of direct threats. Yesterday in that hotel there was a press conference that was violently interrupted under the complacency of the police. The Indonesian activists who came to the FORUM are staying in the hotel. Today they told me that the violent commandos (in civilian clothes) had invaded the hotel and blocked it; they did not even let food in. I came with three other people and tried to get in. I asked to speak to the head of the police force that was there. In the end I spoke to the commanding officer and he told me that the civilian command was in charge there. From then on they started to push us …. It is unbelievable.
The hotel where the forum was to be held is where people from the rest of Indonesia are staying. Well, groups of violent provocateurs have surrounded the hotel and they are not even allowing to bring in food. And the police are doing nothing. It is the Oranje Hotel.
Over the past week in the run up to the People’s Water Forum 2024 Bali, organizers have encountered many obstacles to hold this important gathering including a series of venue changes and pressure from the Indonesian government. However, the fight for our sacred resource continues. The programme remains the same, a powerful testament to our unwavering commitment to water justice. We ask that for the time being, international participants join the proceedings online.
Please join us as we unite and raise our voices for a just and sustainable water future.
This is the link to an academic statement about what happened on PWF regional consolidation yesterday (https://thepeopleswaterforum.org/2024/05/20/academics-denounce-attempts-to-shut-down-the-peoples-water-forum-2024-in-bali-indonesia/)
In solidarity,
The People’s Water Forum
