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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Environment & Climate

Forest-fire watchdog urges action against companies and beneficial owners

From CNN Indonesia · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Under investigation
  • Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission called for stronger enforcement against corporations and beneficial owners involved in forest and land fires.
  • Police have handled 89 suspected fire-related criminal reports across nine provincial commands and named 72 individual suspects between Jan. 1 and Aug. 21, 2026.
  • The commission also urged long-term prevention measures, including peatland restoration, verified early-warning systems and public oversight.

Indonesia's National Human Rights Commission is pressing authorities to look beyond people caught carrying out forest and land burning and pursue the companies and beneficial owners who may stand behind it.

Commission chair Anis Hidayah said enforcement must reach every responsible party. “The government must identify, publicly announce and take action against companies and beneficial owners proven to have caused or been involved in forest and land burning,” she said in a statement on Thursday.

Hidayah said cases should be handled proportionately, taking into account the scale and type of land involved and who controls it. She also stressed that the rights of Indigenous communities must be respected, including locally rooted farming practices recognized under Indonesian law. Any policy changes affecting those rights, she said, must follow lawful procedures and meaningful participation by affected communities.

The government must identify, publicly announce and take action against companies and beneficial owners proven to have caused or been involved in forest and land burning.

· Anis HidayahThe National Human Rights Commission chair called for enforcement to target corporate and financial responsibility.

Police handled 89 suspected criminal cases linked to forest and land fires in nine provincial jurisdictions between Jan. 1 and Aug. 21, 2026, and named 72 individual suspects. Investigators were still examining possible involvement by other parties, including financiers and corporations, by tracing interests and transactions connected to the fires. The commission said it would continue monitoring the legal process.

The commission also called for corporate human-rights due diligence on operational impacts, including fire risks inside concession areas. It urged central and local governments to strengthen oversight, sanction companies that neglect their duties, and deploy public resources quickly and in coordination. Longer-term measures should include peatland hydrological restoration, verified early-warning systems, air-quality standards based on World Health Organization guidance, public performance indicators, and greater involvement by local and Indigenous communities.

The government must take immediate, coordinated action to stop forest and land fires by mobilizing all public resources to the maximum extent.

· Anis HidayahHidayah urged central and local authorities to strengthen emergency action against the fires.
About this summary

Originally published by CNN Indonesia in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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