“Indonesia: Environmentalists, Indigenous Leaders Unjustly Prosecuted”, 28 July 2026

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. … 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 … 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 … using the criminal code and other laws to bring charges ranging from defamation to “spreading communism” to silence protest over environmental harm …

Human Rights Watch examined more than 50 cases from 2015 to 2025 … to select 15 high-profile cases as examples of specific laws and legal provisions used to target activists and community leaders, including in SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) actions. The report is based on 69 interviews with villagers, Indigenous leaders, and environmental activists, as well as lawyers, academics, and government officials, and a review of police and court documents.

The police and prosecutors have accused critics on slender evidence of Criminal Code offenses … [or under] … the Plantation Law, the Mineral and Mining Law, the Job Creation Law, or the Prevention of Forest Destruction Law. While higher courts eventually rejected most cases, the targeted activists had to spend months rebutting baseless lawsuits.

… Indonesia's government has drafted but not yet submitted legislation that would legally require companies operating in Indonesia to address the human rights impacts of their operations.

The Prabowo administration should take steps to end the misuse of the Indonesian criminal justice system to harass, intimidate, and improperly punish environmentalists and Indigenous leaders … [and] ensure prompt and equitable resolution of land conflicts between companies and local communities … includ[ing] restoring traditional ownership upon seizing illegal plantations and mining operations after consulting with the Registration of Indigenous Peoples …