An Indigenous Dayak villager shows pictures of her rubber plantation destroyed by an industrial logging company during a media interview in Sei Gawing village, Kapuas regency in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan Province, February 12, 2026.
Indonesian authorities are wrongfully prosecuting environmental defenders who protest deforestation and pollution as well as Indigenous leaders who defend their land rights.The Prabowo administration has intensified the crackdown on free expression by expanding the military’s role in state-owned mining, oil palm plantations, infrastructure projects, and so-called food and energy estates.The government should fairly arbitrate disputes over land and environmental damage instead of punishing those who protest abuses.
(Jakarta) – Indonesian authorities are pursuing wrongful prosecutions of environmentalists and Indigenous community leaders who protest deforestation and pollution, or defend land rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Since taking office in 2024, the administration of President Prabowo Subianto has intensified the crackdown on free expression by expanding the military’s role in state-owned mining, oil palm plantations, infrastructure projects, and so-called food and energy estates.
The 70-page report, “Grabbed Land, Silenced Justice: The Persecution of Environmentalists and Indigenous Leaders in Indonesia,” documents how Indonesian police have responded to complaints filed by company officials or politicians by silencing Indigenous villagers who demand their customary land rights and the activists who defend them. The authorities have targeted environmental and Indigenous community defenders using the criminal code and other laws to bring charges ranging from defamation to “spreading communism” to silence protest over environmental harm.
