We the undersigned organizations are concerned by the recent response from the Government of Indonesia to an October 2024 letter sent by the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food and eight other UN Special Rapporteurs and Working Groups regarding environmental and human rights violations by Indonesian palm oil company Astra Agro Lestari (AAL).[1]
The letter that was sent by these UN Mandates highlighted structural human rights violations in the industrial palm oil sector in Indonesia, and specifically adverse environmental and human rights impacts by AAL, including intimidation and criminalization of Environmental Human Rights Defenders, violations of communities' land rights, and environmental destruction.
Disappointingly, the response from the Government of Indonesia to the UN does not take into account the substantial publicly available evidence of violations. Instead, the Government categorically denies the allegations presented by the UN and presents limited information in favor of the company. It appears to speak directly on behalf of the company, utilizing the exact argumentation the company has employed in previous public correspondence.
This does not take into account the publicly available evidence, published by Friends of the Earth groups[2] and others. In November 2024 TUK Indonesia filed a lawsuit against Bank Mandiri and co-defendants Astra Agro Lestari and its subsidiary Agro Nusa Abadi, because of Bank Mandiri's investments in Astra Agro Lestari and the related environmental and social harms.[3]
The response provided by the Government is written by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Indonesia to the UN, WTO and other international organisations and is inconsistent with previous communication from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning, the provincial government of Central Sulawesi, and Central Sulawesi Regional People's Representative Council regarding AAL's operations.
Furthermore, the Government of Indonesia's response incorrectly accuses civil society organizations of failing to constructively engage on the issue of AAL. WALHI and community representatives held meetings with government officials in Central Sulawesi, the Ministries of Environment and Forestry and Agrarian Affairs, and the Presidential Office to address AAL's adverse impacts and achieve meaningful resolution to protracted conflicts through the return of land taken without consent to communities.
In light of this, we the undersigned organizations call upon the Government of Indonesia to:
- Ensure continuation of constructive engagement with civil society organizations and impacted communities to address land conflicts and rights violations related to agrarian conflicts and specifically AAL's palm oil operatons;
- Establish a special taskforce through the Government of Central Sulawesi alongside relevant national agencies to resolve ongoing conflicts, address environmental harms, review reported permitting irregularities, investigate allegations of intimidation, violence, and criminalization by AAL, and return land back to communities taken by AAL without consent;
- Ensure that any future responses to UN mandate holders are developed with participation of civil society and affected Human Rights Defenders and communities
Signed by:
- WALHI
- Milieudefensie
- Friends of the Earth (FOE) US
- Friends of the Earth (FOE) EWNI
- Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN)
- Yayasan PUSAKA Bentala Rakyat
- Transformasi Untuk Keadilan (TUK) Indonesia
Footnotes
1. https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TmSearch/Results
2. https://en.milieudefensie.nl/news/aal-illusions-of-progress-update-november-2024.pdf
3. https://forestsandfinance.org/news/tuk-indonesia-files-lawsuit-against-bank-mandiri-over-esg-violations/