Joint Position Statement – ​​Indonesia's Accession Process to the OECD Must Strengthen Accountability and Respect for Human Rights, Not Just Expand Global Market Access and Investment

Compiled by civil society organizations, journalists, and practitioners working on business and human rights issues in Indonesia.

Jakarta, May 26, 2026 — The Indonesian government is preparing for Indonesia's accession to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), which will have important consequences for aligning national policies with international standards, including the establishment of a National Contact Point (NCP) mechanism. Meanwhile, the drafting of a presidential regulation on Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) for Business Actors is also a crucial momentum that will determine the direction of respect for and protection of human rights in the Indonesian business sector going forward.

For groups impacted by business activities—such as indigenous peoples, women, people with disabilities, migrant workers, human rights defenders, journalists, farmers, fishermen, and laborers—the accession process is not merely a technocratic agenda for economic governance. It determines whether Indonesia will build a system capable of respecting and protecting human rights and providing access to effective remedies. Or, conversely, will allow the risk of violations to continue. 

Although business contributes to development and economic growth, evidence on the ground shows various violations that harm affected groups in various sectors, such as the extractive industry, plantations, fisheries (including industrial-scale capture fisheries, long-distance fleets, seafood processing and exports), manufacturing, the digital economy, and the energy transition. For example, the alleged practice of union busting through the unilateral transfer of palm oil plantation labor union officials at PT Sumatera Jaya Agro Lestari (SJAL)-Gunas Group in West Kalimantan, demonstrates the weak protection of freedom of association, corporate accountability, and the implementation of human rights due diligence in the global palm oil industry supply chain (Teraju Indonesia, 2026). 

Agrarian conflicts, the seizure of living space, exploitation and forced labor, gender-based violence, environmental pollution, the criminalization of human rights defenders, and limited access to justice and redress remain real problems facing communities. In many cases, these issues are closely linked to corruption, conflicts of interest, weak licensing transparency, and minimal corporate accountability, particularly in high-risk sectors such as the extractive industry, downstream projects, energy transition, and National Strategic Projects (PSN).

Therefore, Indonesia's OECD accession process should not be understood solely as an instrument to strengthen economic competitiveness, boost investor confidence, or expand global market access. This momentum must be utilized to strengthen business commitments to respecting and implementing human rights principles in their business governance. In this regard, we submit the following priority recommendations:

1. Ensuring Meaningful Civil Society Participation in Indonesia's OECD Accession Process

Indonesia's OECD accession process must be carried out in a transparent, inclusive, and accountable manner to the public, especially regarding policy commitments, regulatory adjustments, technical review results, and OECD committee recommendations. 

We understand that the OECD accession process is inherently a state-led process involving intergovernmental mechanisms. However, with its broad implications for economic policy, investment governance, responsible business conduct, and corporate accountability mechanisms, the process cannot be conducted in isolation or with the involvement of only a handful of technocratic actors. OECD standards on governance, public services, and economic regulation require strengthened public participation and robust institutional oversight mechanisms. We believe that governments need to:

• Publish a public participation roadmap on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) aspects of the OECD accession process, including relevant technical documents, government positions and regular progress reporting;
• Providing open and accessible information on developments, including regulatory harmonization and RBC implementation;
• Establish structured and meaningful consultation mechanisms with civil society organizations, academics, trade unions, women's organizations, indigenous peoples' representatives, and affected communities;
• Ensuring access to participation for groups and communities outside Jakarta, especially those directly impacted by business activities.

We believe that the OECD accession process should also be an opportunity to strengthen policy transparency, respect for and fulfillment of human rights, and accountability in governance as core principles of Indonesia's future economic development.

2. Building a Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) Framework that is Accountable and Oriented towards Human Rights Protection

The Ministry of Human Rights' (HRD) Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) policy development process for Business Actors is a crucial step in strengthening business and human rights governance in Indonesia. However, HRDD should not be merely a procedural instrument or a checklist-like administrative mechanism for achieving formal corporate compliance. In line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), Indonesia's HRDD framework should be designed as an instrument for preventing violations, protecting the substantive and procedural rights of affected groups, and strengthening corporate accountability.  

For this reason, we are of the view that the Indonesian Government needs to:

• Complete the drafting of the Presidential Regulation on Human Rights Due Diligence for Business Actors (HRDD) through inclusive, meaningful and participatory public consultation;
• Ensure HRDD has accountable monitoring, evaluation and enforcement mechanisms;
• Ensure the effective implementation of HRDD in sectors with high human rights risks and complex supply chains, as well as strategic development projects, including National Strategic Projects (PSN);
• Require meaningful engagement with affected groups throughout the due diligence process, including Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) for indigenous communities;
• Ensuring transparency of corporate ownership structures (beneficial ownership) as a form of transparency, business accountability, and prevention of conflicts of interest;
• Explicitly integrates the GEDSI perspective and recognizes the disproportionate and multiple impacts on women, indigenous peoples, migrant workers, informal workers, people with disabilities, human rights defenders and other vulnerable groups;
• Recognize and protect the right of workers to refuse work that endangers safety without retaliation, including dismissal, fines and deportation for migrant workers;
• Ensure effective, safe, accessible, free, inclusive, transparent, and responsive complaint and redress mechanisms to the needs of affected groups, and ensure the protection of whistleblowers and victims from intimidation, criminalization, SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation), and violence;
• Ensure that non-judicial mechanisms within the HRDD framework are complementary and do not replace or undermine victims' rights to access the courts and other legal mechanisms.

3. Establish an Independent and Inclusive Indonesian National Contact Point (NCP)

As part of the OECD accession process, Indonesia will establish a National Contact Point (NCP) as a mechanism to promote Responsible Business Conduct and handle complaints regarding alleged violations of the OECD Guidelines. The NCP can also be immediately initiated to become a focal point for the implementation of the Presidential Regulation on Human Rights Due Diligence. As a non-judicial mechanism, the NCP can serve as a dispute resolution mechanism through dialogue, mediation, and facilitation of redress, as well as complement the strengthening of national business accountability governance, including in its linkage with the implementation of the HRDD framework.

The institutional design of the NCP will determine whether this mechanism becomes a credible means of accountability or simply a formal institution lacking public trust. Therefore, the establishment of the Indonesian NCP must:

• Independent, impartial, and have adequate resources;
• Designed as a meaningful and transparent external accountability mechanism, including through multi-stakeholder engagement and/or independent review mechanisms;
• Ensure the substantive involvement of civil society, trade unions and rights-based stakeholders in its governance;
• Safely accessible to workers, indigenous peoples, migrant workers, women, human rights defenders and affected community groups;
• Guarantee protection for whistleblowers, victims and affected communities from intimidation, retaliation, criminalization or other forms of silencing;
• Putting the needs of victims and affected communities at the center of complaints and recovery mechanisms;
• It is complementary in nature and does not replace the victim's right to pursue judicial mechanisms or other legal channels.

Reform efforts through OECD accession and HRDD policies must be in line with the state's obligations to protect human rights, ensure meaningful participation, and provide access to justice and redress mechanisms for victims.

Indonesia has a significant opportunity to demonstrate leadership in strengthening business governance and human rights in Southeast Asia. However, legitimacy needs to be built through transparency, independent accountability, protection of affected groups, respect for civil space, and a concrete commitment to preventing abuses.

As a civil society organization working across various sectors and assisting communities directly impacted by business activities, we emphasize the importance of the following concrete steps:

1. Opening transparent and inclusive public participation mechanisms during the OECD accession process, including in the design of National Contact Points (NCPs);
2. Ensuring that the Presidential Regulation framework on Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) is carried out through inclusive, substantive public consultations and accommodates input from affected groups;
3. Urge that the implementation of Responsible Business Conduct and HRDD standards be implemented robustly and mandatory in high-risk sectors, including critical minerals, energy transition, and National Strategic Projects, accompanied by a moratorium on new permits in disputed areas;
4. Promote beneficial ownership transparency, supply chain transparency, and public access to corporate data, licensing, and ESG reporting as part of strengthening business accountability and preventing corruption in Indonesia's OECD accession process;
5. Guaranteeing protection for human rights defenders, workers, indigenous peoples, journalists, paralegals, advocates and other community groups from criminalization, intimidation, violence and SLAPPs;
6. Ensure the availability of an inclusive, independent, and easily accessible Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) for local communities, including restorative and community-based recovery;
7. Ensure respect for the right to FPIC, access to transparent environmental information, ecological rehabilitation as part of recovery, and corporate accountability for human rights and environmental impacts throughout its supply chain.
8. Ensuring that regulatory reforms and multilateral investment commitments in the OECD accession process do not compromise human rights protection, including through evaluating the human rights impacts of deregulation policies affecting affected groups;

We also call on OECD member countries to make respect for human rights, protection of civic space, and accountability of governance key considerations in assessing Indonesia's readiness for accession.

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Contact person:

Siti Khoirun Ni'mah, Executive Director of INFID

Organization/Individual:

1. International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID)
2. The PRAKARSA
3. Indonesia's Most Advanced Institution
4. Cisadane Clean Indonesia
5. Banua Children's Literacy
6. ED Walhi East Kalimantan
7. Pandekha FH UGM
8. Rawang Association
9. Tifa Foundation
10. Transparency International Indonesia
11. Aceh Finger
12. Penabulu Foundation
13. Women Working Group
14. West Kalimantan Legal Aid Institute
15. BAKUMSU
16. Environmental Justice Foundation
17. GreenpeaceIndonesia