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Explore the key themes the Forest Peoples Programme addresses, including Human Rights, Climate Change and Biodiversity, Business, Trade and Finance, Deforestation, Community Governance, and Culture and Knowledge.

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Lands, Territories and Resources

Land, territories and resource rights refer to the legal or customary rights that communities have over land, territories and natural resources such as water, forests, minerals, and biodiversity.

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Self Determination and FPIC

FPIC and self-determination are essential for indigenous peoples and forest peoples as they uphold their rights, autonomy, and sovereignty over their lands, territories, and resources.

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Forest Peoples Programme (FPP) Condemns Brutal Attack on Sihaporas Indigenous Community by PT Toba Pulp Lestari and the Inadequate Response From Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and APRIL, and Calls for Immediate Remedy and Accountability

Translations available: Indonesian

Security forces of PT Toba Pulp Lestari, an affiliate of APRIL currently seeking to regain FSC certification, carried out a brutal assault on an Indigenous community in September, injuring more than 30 community members. This attack is part of a long pattern of violence against communities whose ancestral lands have been taken over by the company.

The attack took place on 22 September 2025 by alleged security forces of PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), a subsidiary of the Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) Group, against the indigenous community of Ompu Mamontang Laut Ambarita in Sihaporas, North Sumatra. PT TPL is part of the Royal Golden Eagle (RGE) Group and a sister company of Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd. (APRIL), which was previously disassociated from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) over serious environmental and human rights violations. APRIL is now seeking to implement the FSC Remedy Framework in order to regain its certification. However, this latest incident of violence prompted FSC to suspend its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with APRIL pending investigation and the implementation of corrective measures.

According to testimonies, videos, and the findings of Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), approximately 150 TPL personnel, subcontracted workers, and security forces equipped with riot gear and weapons – including batons, shields, and tasers – attacked about 50 indigenous people who were peacefully farming their customary land in Buttu Pangaturan, near Lake Toba.

Screenshots (the two images on the left) taken from a video recorded by community members of the militia that attacked them, wearing helmets and holding batons akin to the Anti-Riot BRIMOB equipment presented at Jakarta International Expo (image on the right).1

At least 34 community members were taken to the hospital for treatment for their injuries, including women, elders, and one child with a disability aged 17. Houses, community outposts, and vehicles were set on fire, with personal belongings looted or destroyed. Victims described systematic intimidation, beatings, and the use of formations and equipment resembling Indonesia’s paramilitary police (Brimob).²

This attack is not an isolated event. Sihaporas and other Batak Toba communities in the area have endured decades of dispossession, intimidation, and criminalization since their ancestral lands were handed over to corporate concessions without consent. They have faced repeated arrests, arbitrary charges, and violence simply for cultivating and protecting their customary forests.³ TPL has carried out at least five other violent attacks on Batak Toba communities over the past three years,⁴ including clashes in Dolok Parmonangan and Sihaporas last year, as well as attacks on Nagasaribu (January 2025)⁵and Natinggir (August 2025).⁶

“For more than four decades, the presence of PT TPL […] on Batak lands, North Sumatra, has left a long trail of suffering for indigenous peoples. The hopes for prosperity and progress that the company promised from the beginning have turned into a seemingly never-ending nightmare […] Since its establishment, at least 502 individuals have suffered violence, intimidation, and criminalization, with some losing their lives.”⁷

Komnas HAM has publicly condemned the incident, noting that the evidence suggested that TPL had committed serious human rights violations, including violations of the right to security, right to freedom from torture and inhumane treatment, cultural rights, and rights to a healthy environment.⁸

Komnas HAM, Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission, has called for:

An immediate halt to all violence on the ground.
Independent and transparent investigations and prosecution of perpetrators.
Comprehensive agrarian conflict resolution between TPL and Indigenous peoples.
Full reparations and protection for affected communities, especially vulnerable groups.

Inadequate Response by FSC and APRIL

At the time of the incident, TPL and APRIL were in the process of implementing the FSC Remedy Framework, which aims to ensure that they repair the environmental and social harm caused since their operations began in 1994. Successful implementation would allow APRIL to re-associate with the FSC and potentially regain FSC certification for sustainable forestry products.

Following this incident, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) suspended its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with APRIL, warning that unless an independent investigation and corrective measures are undertaken transparently, it may terminate the MoU altogether.⁹

FPP welcomes FSC’s decision but remains concerned that the FSC failed to act earlier on previous information shared by FPP and other NGOs that TPL had allegedly engaged in multiple violent attacks against indigenous communities since it first signed the MOU with (APRIL) in November 2023.

FPP is deeply disappointed in APRIL’s response, which has threatened not to provide remedy to the affected communities. For APRIL now to invoke the slogan “remedy delayed is remedy denied”¹⁰, used in its response to FSC’s decision is deeply disingenuous, given that APRIL has refused to provide remedy to harmed communities for decades.

What makes this incident particularly alarming is the deployment of militia-style forces, resembling state riot police in both tactics and equipment. This signals a dangerous escalation in the repression of Indigenous rights in Indonesia, blurring the line between corporate security and paramilitary violence. The only individual not wearing a mask (partly to conceal their identity) or riot gear is the TPL security guard, seen on the right.

Meanwhile, PT TPL have sought to present themselves as victims, portraying Indigenous farmers as “anarchic groups” and blaming NGOs for “inciting violence.”¹¹. This narrative is directly contradicted by evidence on the ground: Videos show not villagers attacking company assets, but PT TPL personnel in riot gear using violence against unarmed indigenous people.

FPP urges:

The Government of Indonesia to prosecute perpetrators and ensure full remedy for victims.
The Government of Indonesia to revoke TPL’s concessions over disputed territories and fully recognise nIdigenous peoples’ rights in accordance with the Constitution (Art. 18B(2)) and international law, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
Komnas HAM to maintain oversight and ensure victims receive comprehensive remedy, including restitution of customary lands.
FSC to uphold its commitment to Indigenous rights by maintaining its suspension of APRIL until all violent incidents by PT TPL since the signing of the MoU with APRIL have been investigated and addressed.
FSC to ensure that the Remedy Framework is applied rigorously and transparently, with the full participation of affected rights-holders.
APRIL and PT TPL to immediately cease all violence, intimidation, and harassment of indigenous communities; issue a public apology for this and previous incidents; and provide full remedy, including agreeing to the revocation of PT TPL’s concessions over disputed territories.

Co-signatories: