Front Line Defenders Global Analysis report notes May 2024 attack against People’s Water Forum in Indonesia.
The just-released Front Line Defenders GLOBAL ANALYSIS 2024/25 report notes: “The People’s Water Forum (PWF), which took place on the sidelines of the World Water Forum in Indonesia in May, was targeted by groups of masked men who acted with impunity. On 20 May, a PWF press conference was disrupted and HRDs attending were attacked. The following day, around 50 masked individuals imposed a blockade on the hotel where the PWF participants were staying, which lasted for three days. The U.N Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation attempted to enter the hotel but was prevented from doing so, intimidated and shoved. When he raised the issue of the blockade with a group of nearby police officers, he was told that “they could not intervene because the hotel entrance was in the hands of the civilians.” In the months following the PWF, Indonesian HRDs who attended continued to be subjected to intimidation and threats.”
