2) Indonesia's top court rejects Indigenous community's appeal in palm oil case
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The Jakarta Post
1) Papua tribe’s homeland at risk after losing court battle
In a two-to-one decision, the bench ruled that the appeal exceeded legal time constraints, with the dissenting justice argued that IAL's permit violated Indonesia's environmental rules.
Agencies
Jakarta Sat, November 2, 2024
he Supreme Court rejected on Friday an appeal by an indigenous tribe in Papua in its lawsuit against a palm oil firm, a decision a rights group said put the tribe at risk of losing vast swaths of ancestral forest.
The Awyu tribe, whose roughly 20,000 members rely on the land for their subsistence, had sought to suspend the operations of private palm oil company PT Indo Asiana Lestari in West Papua. But the Supreme Court rejected their final appeal, according to a document published on its website on Friday, upholding the company's 36,000-hectare government concession, more than half the size of Jakarta.
In a two-to-one decision, the bench ruled that the appeal exceeded legal time constraints. The dissenting justice argued that IAL's permit violated Indonesia's environmental rules. "I feel heartbroken because I am left with no other legal avenue to protect the land and the people of my ancestral homeland," said Awyu tribe plaintiff Hendrikus Woro.
"I am shattered because throughout this struggle, there has been no support from the government, local or central. Who am I supposed to turn to, and where should I go now?" he said in a statement released by the Coalition to Save Papuan Customary Forests, made up of 10 environmental NGOs.
A Supreme Court spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by AFP about the ruling. The Awyu tribe's case drew attention in Indonesia earlier this year after a campaign called “All Eyes on Papua” spread on social media. "Both the government and the legal system have failed to stand with indigenous peoples," said Sekar Banjaran Aji of the Save Papuan Customary Forest advocacy team.
"I am shattered because throughout this struggle, there has been no support from the government, local or central. Who am I supposed to turn to, and where should I go now?" he said in a statement released by the Coalition to Save Papuan Customary Forests, made up of 10 environmental NGOs.
A Supreme Court spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by AFP about the ruling. The Awyu tribe's case drew attention in Indonesia earlier this year after a campaign called “All Eyes on Papua” spread on social media. "Both the government and the legal system have failed to stand with indigenous peoples," said Sekar Banjaran Aji of the Save Papuan Customary Forest advocacy team.
"The struggle to protect Papua's customary forests has become all the more challenging." In November, a Papuan court had ruled that PT Indo Asiana Lestari's permit was valid, rejecting the Awyu tribe's argument that the concession had been granted based on a flawed environmental impact assessment. The tribe and environmental NGOs also claim opponents of the palm oil firm's plans have faced intimidation. Aside from this case, other Awyu members are also seeking to revoke the permits of PT Kartika Cipta Pratama and PT Megakarya Jaya Raya, two other palm oil companies granted concessions in the same area.
The total size of the area for all cases is nearly 115,000 hectares. Environmental groups supporting Awyu’s cause said the Supreme Court's rejection on Friday could have an impact on the results of the other cases. Indonesia produces about 60 percent of the world’s palm oil, with one third consumed domestically. Papua lost 2.5 percent of its tree cover between 2001 and 2023, according to Global Forest Watch.
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2) Indonesia's top court rejects Indigenous community's appeal in palm oil case
JAKARTA, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by an Indigenous community that sought to cancel a permit for a palm oil concession on thousands of hectares of rainforest it claimed as ancestral land, legal documents showed on Friday.
Upholding the appeal could have set an important precedent in a country that has pledged to both protect a $30 billion export industry, and improve governance amid allegations of deforestation and human rights violations. Indonesia is the world's largest palm oil exporter.
The concession at the centre of the case brought by the Awyu people's Woro clan was granted to PT Indo Asiana Lestari (IAL) on 36,000 hectares (88,960 acres) of land.
"I feel heartbroken because I am left with no other legal avenue to protect the land and the people of my ancestral homeland. I am shattered because throughout this struggle, there has been no support from the government," said Hendrikus "Franky" Woro, a community member leading the legal fight.
The Supreme Court is Indonesia's final court for appeals.
Two out of three Supreme Court judges argued that appeal exceeded the time limits and should be rejected, while one gave a dissenting opinion, arguing IAL's permit violated Indonesia's environmental rules, a court document issued on Friday showed.
Indo Asiana Lestari did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It has said previously it obtained all the permits legally required and had reached agreements with 12 Indigenous clans in the area.
Besides the IAL case, other Awyu members are also seeking to revoke the permits of PT Kartika Cipta Pratama and PT Megakarya Jaya Raya, two other palm oil companies granted concessions within in same area. The total size of the area for all cases is nearly 115,000 hectares (284,170 acres).
Non-governmental groups advocating for the Awyu, which included Greenpeace, said on Friday the Supreme Court's rejection may have an impact on the results of the other cases.
Reporting by Stanley Widianto and Bernadette Christina; Editing by Helen Popper-----------------------------
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