Open Letter: The OECD should only accept Indonesia as a member if concrete measures are taken to respect Indigenous Peoples rights

The coalition argues that Indonesia’s current legal and regulatory framework is not aligned with either the OECD framework or international human rights law. In particular, they assert that it does not adequately protect nor adequately require businesses to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights as set out in international law, including as set out in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).  

It is critical that Indonesia improves its protections for Indigenous Peoples before it is formally invited to join the OECD. Despite over a decade of promises, a bill in Indonesian parliament regarding the rights of Indigenous Peoples remains unratified. In fact, Indonesia still has no single law in place to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and regulations on Indigenous Peoples that do exist often contradict one another.  

Intensive large-scale development projects in Indigenous territories, however, continue to move forward, raising questions about Indonesia’s commitment to the shared values, visions and priorities of the OECD.   

"Indonesia’s engagement with the OECD presents a critical opportunity to advance accountability and uphold human rights. Yet accession cannot be credible while tens of millions of hectares of Indigenous customary lands remain unrecognised, and communities are displaced by commercial expansion without their free, prior, and informed consent." 

- Angus MacInnes, Policy Officer, Forest Peoples Programme 

To counteract this situation, the submission calls on the OECD Working Party to make a series of recommendations as part of its technical review of Indonesia before advancing Indonesia’s accession process, including that the Government of Indonesia: 

• Establishes a clear timeline and participatory process for strengthening and adopting the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Bill in line with international human rights standards;
• Accelerates the legal recognition of Indigenous Peoples and their customary territories;
• Ensures that development policies and investment frameworks fully respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights;
• Guarantees meaningful consultation with affected communities and civil society in the development of human rights due diligence laws and regulations; and
• Ends the deployment of military forces in support of development projects and strengthening protections for environmental and human rights defenders.  

The coalition emphasises that meaningful recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights is essential to responsible business conduct, sustainable development, and legal certainty for investment. If these recommendations are not implemented, the consequences will be both humanitarian – as Indigenous Peoples continue to see their rights violated – and economic – as businesses may lose investor confidence by being forced to operate in a country without a robust legal framework.  

The signatories highlight that Indonesia’s OECD accession process represents a critical opportunity for Indonesia to strengthen its protections for Indigenous Peoples’ rights.  As countries come together next month to discuss multilateral corporate responsibility, signatories hope that the OECD will hold Indonesia to its own standards.