Human Rights Watch

Indonesian police and company security forces are responsible for persistent human rights abuses against indigenous communities involved in the massive pulp and paper industry in Sumatra, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. Abuses include land seizures without compensation and brutal attacks on local demonstrators.

Human Rights Watch said Indonesia's donors should call for action to end abuses and urgently needed forestry reforms at a key upcoming donor meeting. The Consultative Group on Indonesia (GGI), a major donor meeting convened by the World Bank, is scheduled for January 21-22, 2003, in Bali, Indonesia.

Without Remedy: Human Rights Abuse and Indonesia's Pulp and Paper Industry, a 90-page report, extensively documents the underlying links between disregard for human rights and unsound forestry practices.

Indonesia's pulp and paper industry has rapidly expanded since the late 1980s to become one of the world's top ten producers. But the industry has accumulated debts of more than U.S. billion, and expanding demand consumes wide swathes of Sumatra's lowland tropical forests. This land is claimed by indigenous communities, who depend on them for rice farming and rubber tapping. The loss of access to forests, together with companies' hiring from outside the province, has been devastating to local livelihoods, leading to violent conflicts.   (Bahasa Indonesia)