Criminal defamation charges against two students, Christina Rumahlatu and Thomas Madilis, for protesting outside of the headquarters of the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) should immediately be dropped, Climate Rights International said today.

On August 1, members of the Mining Advocacy Network (JATAM) and three youth and student groups – Enter Nusantara, Front Mahasiswa Nasional (National Student Front), and Serikat Pemuda Nusa Tenggara Timur – gathered outside of the Sopo Del Tower in Jakarta to ask IWIP to address its impacts on the environment in Halmahera, North Maluku, improve workplace safety, and take responsibility for recent flooding that has inundated villages near the industrial park.

“Supporters of IWIP shouldn’t overreact to protests and attempt to criminalize people who are rightly upset about the damage the nickel industry has done to their land and water,” said Brad Adams, executive director at Climate Rights International. “They should instead commit to addressing environmental damage, including preventing flooding and cleaning up streams and coastal areas so that people can live in a safe and healthy environment.”

The students face charges for allegedly insulting Suaidi Marasabessy, a retired Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) General and a local of North Maluku, for stating that he is failing to use his position to address the harms posed by IWIP to local communities and the environment and that he has no intention to help impacted communities. A 2021 report by JATAM states that Suaidi Marasabessy has stakes in several mining companies, potentially creating a conflict of interest.

Criminal defamation violates international norms on freedom of speech that hold that defamation should be considered a civil matter, not a crime punishable with imprisonment. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the independent expert body that monitors compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, states in its General Comment on freedom of expression that “imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty” for defamation. In addition, “all public figures…are legitimately subject to criticism.”

In addition to the defamation charges, Christina Rumahlatu and Thomas Madilis are facing potentially violent threats from Ali Marasabessy, Chairman of Bravo 5, a community organization that consists of retired military generals. In a Tiktok video, Ali Marasabessy has called for the students to immediately apologize or face a “risk.”

IWIP is one of Indonesia’s largest industrial complexes for nickel processing, a transition mineral used in electric vehicle batteries and in the production of stainless steel. In a January 2024 report, Climate Rights International documented serious human rights and environmental harms linked to IWIP and nearby nickel mining.

“The exercise of the rights to freedom of speech and peaceful protest are among the most important tools local communities have for advocating for more effective environmental protection,” said Brad Adams. “The defamation charges against Christina Rumahlatu and Thomas Madilis should be immediately dropped, and IWIP should take responsibility for the harms its operations pose to local communities and the environment.”