Bali, Indonesia – NGO Forum on ADB’s Seminar on Environmental and Social Issues was disrupted when 7 men in civilian clothing showed up and demanded their passports last 11 October 2018. They later introduced themselves as immigration officers but only when they were asked.
At 3:30 PM, the 20 participants were demanded to surrender their passports under the guise of “surveillance and monitoring”, most of the passports were held for at least 4 hours.
Rayyan Hassan Executive Director of NGO Forum on ADB stated that, “The Forum strongly condemns this show of threat and intimidation by the Indonesian authorities. We are here as registered participants of the WB-IMF Annual Meeting and we have followed all necessary protocols indicated by the Bank to be able to come here”. Yesterday the supposed Peoples' Global Conference has also been canceled due to pressure from national police. In an article by the Jakarta Post, it has been stated that after the cancellation of the event the Indonesian national police could not immediately be reached for comment.
“The WB - IMF cannot even ensure the safety of those who are attending their event,” says Titi Soentoro of AKSI - for Gender Social and Ecological Justice. “We are doing this in a peaceful assembly and this is a clear threat in the continuing clampdown of CSOs”, she added.
The meeting which took place in Plagoo Hotel coincides with the 2018 International Monetary and World Bank Annual Meetings.