BANGKOK, Thailand (9 June 2025)–The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is gravely concerned over the ongoing human rights violations committed by palm oil company PT. Hardaya Inti Plantations (PT. HIP) against communities, farmers, and human rights defenders in Indonesia’s Buol District in Central Sulawesi.
For more than two decades, PT. HIP has operated on over 22,000 hectares of land in Buol District. It has seized 4,619.8 hectares of land and living space from indigenous people across 21 villages in five sub-districts. This goes beyond the company’s mandate to only cultivate and harvest palm oil on farmlands. This recently released documentary film titled ‘BUOL: Defending the Land of Hope’ provides detailed testimonies of the extensive rights violations experienced by these communities
Anyone who peacefully raises concerns are reportedly met with violence, surveillance, intimidation, judicial harassment, and sexual assault.
The PT. HIP palm oil company has perpetuated land grabbing, unfair compensation, environmental damage, and a cycle of debt among impacted communities. Farmers feel exploited and excluded from meaningful participation in making decisions about their very own land and livelihoods.
“In solidarity with the communities, farmers, and human rights defenders in Buol District, FORUM-ASIA strongly condemns the abuses committed by the PT. HIP palm oil company. Any business activity on ancestral and community lands must be rooted in free, prior, and informed consent. Governments and corporations should ensure full transparency, accountability, meaningful participation, and timely compensation for affected communities,” said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, Executive Director of FORUM-ASIA.
“Prioritize meaningful, inclusive, and sustained dialogue with communities. Their right to say no to harmful corporate activities must be respected without fear of reprisal,” Bacalso added.
How a palm oil company deceived farmers
The PT. HIP palm oil company operates under the Indonesian Government’s “plasma scheme,” which was originally designed to integrate communities into the palm oil supply chain and ensure that plantation companies allocate portions of their concessions to local smallholder farmers. The arrangement not only supports local oil palm cultivation but also provides income to farmers since plantation companies are required to purchase local harvests at a government-set price, thereby creating equitable economic partnerships.
However, PT. HIP misused the “plasma scheme,” resulting in a conflict with Buol farmers. In 2008, it negotiated an agreement to cultivate and harvest palm oil on lands owned by local farmers. In return, farmers are supposed to receive a share of profits from their land’s production.
As of 2025, the farmers are yet to receive their share of profits.
For 17 years, the PT. HIP palm oil company took over lands owned by farmers, leaving the latter with a massive collective debt of approximately 500 billion IDR (approx. USD 32 million). Without consent, the company used the farmers’ land certificates as collateral.
Environmental damage
PT. HIP never conducted any High Conservation Value/High Carbon Stock assessments, which are legally required to identify and mitigate environmental, social, and sustainability risks associated with the palm oil plantations operating in biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems.
Likewise, the company is yet to fulfill its social responsibility of building a plantation—one-fifth the size of its total coverage—dedicated solely for affected communities.
By continuously engaging in illegal forest clearing practices, the company is destroying crucial ecosystems and causing food insecurity among local communities.
Violations under Indonesian law
In 2022, Indonesia’s Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) launched an investigation into PT. HIP’s operations and uncovered multiple violations of national law.
PT. HIP had deliberately mismanaged the finances of the “plasma scheme,” concealed crucial financial data from farmers, and purchased palm fruit at prices below government-mandated minimums, thereby undermining farmers’ livelihoods and fair compensation.
After PT. HIP ignored three formal warnings issued in 2023, the KPPU escalated the matter to court.
On 9 July 2024, the court ruled that PT. HIP had violated Indonesian law and ordered the company to pay a fine of 1 billion IDR (USD 61,000), return land ownership documents to farmers, conduct a general audit, and rectify its exploitative partnership model.
Enforcement of the court decision, however, remains elusive. PT. HIP has yet to implement any meaningful reforms.
Silencing dissent
Communities, civil society organizations, farmers, and human rights defenders–particularly women human rights defenders–are courageously opposing PT. HIP’s exploitative business practices.
In retaliation for their peaceful resistance, they have been subjected to judicial harassment, including the use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, a legal tactic commonly used to intimidate and silence defenders through burdensome litigation.
Instead of engaging in meaningful dialogue and addressing legitimate demands for fair and transparent partnerships, PT. HIP has been responding with violence.
On 8 January 2024, villagers attempted to peacefully halt plantation operations. PT. HIP–alongside security forces–then reportedly violently assaulted the villagers, leading to serious injuries. During subsequent protests, more cases of physical violence and harassment were also reported.
Since 31 July 2024, armed police and military personnel have been deployed across PT. HIP’s plantation areas following the company’s claim that farmers were planning riots. Civil society, however, denied such claims.
PT. HIP’s militarized response has escalated tensions and reinforced a climate of fear and suppression among communities.
At least 25 land rights defenders–including eight women and one minor–have been summoned for police questioning under criminal and plantation laws in cases initiated by PT. HIP.
“In 2025, three more farmers were falsely reported to the police. I was also criminalized,” said Fatrisia Ain, a women human rights defender and spokesperson for Forum Petani Plasma Buol, a grassroot civil society organization that defends the environmental, land, and human rights of Buol farmers.
“I was constantly spied on and prohibited from entering the plantation area. I was hit by a vehicle on my way to the village we are supporting, harassed while leading a demonstration at a government office, terrorized via WhatsApp messages, red-tagged, and harassed via social media. My house, our office, and even the houses where farmers discuss issues are constantly spied on and treated as forbidden places,” Ain continued.
Farmers filed nine formal complaints for fraud and abuse against PT. HIP. All cases remain uninvestigated, revealing a pattern of impunity wherein the state favors corporate interests over people’s wellbeing.
Call to action
As seen in the case of Buol farmers, corporations can take advantage of government-endorsed partnership schemes in order to monopolize land, erode environmental protections, and violently suppress community resistance.
The state’s continued failure to ensure transparency, accountability, and access to justice and remedy exacerbates the plight of farmers and communities impacted by unethical business operations.
FORUM-ASIA urges the Indonesian Government to uphold the rights of affected communities in Buol, in accordance with international human rights standards and constitutional safeguards.
We call on the government to immediately halt the criminalization, intimidation, and harassment against dissenting voices. The government should take actions against the human rights violations committed by the PT. HIP palm oil company, and provide remedy for victims, their families, and the community affected.
PT. HIP should immediately comply with the court’s ruling, return all land ownership documents to their rightful owners, cancel illegitimate debts, and provide fair compensation to farmers.
FORUM-ASIA also urges companies buying PT. HIP products to raise awareness about the abuses perpetrated by PT. HIP. Buyers have a duty to exercise caution and make informed decisions regarding their role in directly or indirectly supporting corporate greed.
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The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) is a network of 90 member organisations across 23 countries, mainly in Asia. Founded in 1991, FORUM-ASIA works to strengthen movements for human rights and sustainable development through research, advocacy, capacity development and solidarity actions in Asia and beyond. It has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and consultative relationship with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights. The FORUM-ASIA Secretariat is based in Bangkok, with offices in Jakarta, Geneva and Kathmandu. www.forum-asia.org
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- Communications and Media Programme, FORUM-ASIA, communication@forum-asia.org
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