The Two Hats of Public Security Actors in Indonesia
The two hats of public security actors in Indonesia Protecting human rights or preserving business interests? Case research in the palm oil and logging sector (June 2017), ISBN: 978-94-6207-120-9
64 Pages Posted: 22 Jun 2017
Date Written: June 13, 2017
Abstract
Are public security actors in Indonesia protecting human rights or preserving business interests? This report presents the results of a research project on the role of state and private security actors in human rights violations in the extractive industry in Indonesia. It includes the results of two case studies: one on palm oil company Asiatic Persada, owned by the Ganda Group, and one on logging company Wirakarya Sakti, owned by the Sinar Mas Group.
The two case studies, which involved fieldwork in Sumatra in July and August 2016, reveal a pernicious and deliberate erosion and violation of the (human) rights of local inhabitants across the spectrum of security actors, showing that public security actors are protecting corporate interests rather than performing public functions.
This report considers the implications of these findings in terms of legal responsibilities as well as access to justice, and highlights some of the challenges of non-judicial grievance mechanisms such as the IFC’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman and the RSPO Complaints Mechanism. The report ends with a call for necessary legal and policy changes.
Keywords: palm oil, extractives, deforestation, logging, erosion, human rights violations, indonesia, security companies, grievance mechanisms
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