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Article

16 May 2017

Author:
Rachel Diaz-Bastin, Mongabay

Indonesia: Wilmar appeals RSPO ruling on land grabbing case; cites violation of due process as ground

"Wilmar appeals RSPO ruling that it grabbed indigenous lands in Sumatra", 17 May 2017

On Jan. 1, the world’s largest association for ethical palm oil production found that Wilmar International had violated the rights of the indigenous Kapa community of West Sumatra, Indonesia, when the company obtained its land to plant oil palm on it. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) also approved a plan that, if implemented, would allow the Kapa to retain control of their customary territory.

...Following an appeal by Wilmar stating that it has found possible breaches in the complaint-handling process within the RSPO, that decision may be in jeopardy. 

The initial ruling, that Singapore-based Wilmar had violated community rights and RSPO rules when it tried to take out a Land Use Rights (HGU) permit over Kapa land, signaled progress in the long-running dispute between the palm oil giant and the indigenous group. Based on the advice of an independent consultant, the RSPO’s Complaints Panel also recommended that the disputed land should be remeasured for development approval with better community participation. This recommendation was intended to give the Kapa more clarity on which lands were taken over by Wilmar, and how to re-allocate the land between Wilmar’s core estate and smallholdings for Kapa people, which would allow them to glean some benefit from Wilmar’s presence in their territory.

Following this decision, the company appeared willing to comply. “Wilmar respects the decisions of the RSPO Complaints Panel and will act accordingly,” Perpetua George, the company’s general manager for sustainability, said earlier this year.

Now that sentiment has changed. According to George, the company was surprised that the RSPO Complaints Panel reached its decision before the independent consultant had gotten Wilmar’s input... 

It remains to be seen how long the RSPO Appeals Panel will take to reach a decision. “The process of appeal is a standard procedure mapped within the RSPO systems, though not a common practice,” Savi said...There has only been one similar instance of appeal before,  but it was retracted before the appeals board made a decision.

The Kapa are hoping that the RSPO will uphold its 2017 ruling. The community representatives agreed that they would not ask Wilmar to leave on the condition that the company find an alternative way of renting or leasing land from them other than with an HGU.

Wilmar maintains that the purpose of their appeal is to ensure that due process has been followed...