Response to an inquiry from Business & Human Rights Research Centre

The High Court of Sierra Leone adjourned the contempt of court hearing against the rights campaigner group, Green Scenery for the second time, after a heated debate between the rival counsels.

Virtually none of the promises made by the company to the communities in exchange for lands were kept.

Enquête photographique sur les plantations de palmiers à huile à Sao Tomé et au Cameroun.

Sólo la presión pública puede convencer a la ONU de hacer lo correcto y abandonar sus contratos con el Grupo Bolloré.

In a complaint filed today, 22 Liberian indigenous villagers say the Salala Rubber Corporation is using World Bank money to expand and operate its Liberian plantations through illegal land grabs, sexual violence and intimidation of human rights defenders.

« Nous nous opposons à ce que des personnes viennent s’approprier toutes nos ressources sans notre consentement », s’indigne Shiaka Sama, le porte-parole de l’association MALOA.

L’entretien a porté sur la nécessité d’avoir des équipes de sensibilisation en région forestière afin d’amener les paysans à comprendre l’urgence d’acquisition de domaines qui impulseront le développement agricole.

Investment involves a 40-year lease agreement for the establishment of over 16,000 acres of an oil palm project.

WRM a créé cet épisode avec des témoignages de femmes qui souffrent des impacts des plantations industrielles.

L’ONG canadienne Acorn a coorganisé avec le React un forum international des organisations de paysans spoliés par les multinationales du 18 au 25 septembre 2016 à Douala.

Sima Mattia's release was sought through the collective efforts of Coalition of Civil Society Organizations who had chipped in with the whopping sum of Le30 million to meet his fine imposed by the presiding Judge.

Pour le leader communautaire Michel Essonga : « Il est difficile de comprendre comment Safacam a pu obtenir un certificat Rspo sans changer ses pratiques. Elle viole nos droits fonciers et pollue nos ruisseaux et rivières. Les gens sont intimidés et harcelés. Pourquoi les auditeurs n'ont-ils pas pris nos doléances en considération ? »

A l’occasion des AG du groupe Bolloré, des représentants d’ONG sont allés rappeler à l'homme d'affaires français qu’il avait le pouvoir de convaincre Hubert Fabri de dialoguer avec les communautés locales.

Bollore seems to think all of the countries in central Africa are colonies there for its private exploitation and its own financial bottom line.

Arrestation de 7 membres de l'association MALOA en Sierra Leone

Le groupe de l’industriel breton va vendre 5 % du capital de la Socfin, sa filiale qui exploite des cultures d’hévéas et de palmiers à huile en Afrique et en Asie. Il a d’ores et déjà renoncé à ses droits de vote.

For more than a decade, some Bunong villagers have been trying to reclaim and gain legal recognition for their customary land that have been acquired by Luxembourg-based Socfin Group’s subsidiaries since 2007. Some details of the settlement were released this September, in a joint statement issued by the firms and community representatives who negotiated on behalf of 210 families in five villages.

European companies, including oil and rubber giant Socfin, have long profited from human rights abuses, environmental destruction and climate breakdown. This briefing from Global Witness sets out proposals on how to change that under EU law,

Bloomberg's Big Take podcast looks at an investigation into allegations of sexual coercion at plantations run by Socfin, a rubber company supplying top tiremakers.

More than a decade after subsidiaries of multinational rubber firm Socfin Group forcibly cleared and seized the farms, burial grounds and sacred forests of Bunong indigenous communities in Mondulkiri province, Cambodia, the company now seeks to collect tens of thousands of dollars from these farmers for the cost of “land preparation” and other fees.

Socfin, a Belgian holding company that operates palm oil and rubber plantations through dozens of subsidiaries across Africa and Southeast Asia, has been rebuked for alleged human rights violations at its plantations.

Movimenti locali e ong internazionali accusano aziende del gruppo Socfin di non rispettare i diritti di contadini e comunità. I principali punti critici sono mancanza di dialogo, accaparramento di terre, fiumi inquinati e poco lavoro

Sur les hautes terres du Cambodge, les Bunong sont confrontés à des changements violents depuis que la Société Financière des Caoutchoucs (Socfin), domiciliée au Luxembourg, plante des hévéas sur leurs terres ancestrales avec la bénédiction du gouvernement cambodgien qui lui a attribué une concession économique.

The massive Socfin oil palm plantation operation is one of post-war Sierra Leone’s biggest investments and one of its most controversial.

Le nom de Socfin, la holding belgo-luxembourgeoise qui détient des dizaines de milliers d’hectares de palmiers à huile et d’hévéas, a été symboliquement saisi en France, dans le conflit qui oppose depuis des années les paysans africains et le groupe Bolloré.

Le label “durable” RSPO a été octroyé à Socfin en Sierra Leone malgré un conflit foncier flagrant

In Liberia, human rights have allegedly been violated on rubber plantations managed from Switzerland. Instead of taking up mediation offers, the Socfin group prefers to act against its critics.

SOCFIN's operations in Sierra Leone is one of 5 cases documented by Friend of the Earth Europe to highlight the lack of accountability of European multinationals

Mbonjo sits in the heart of Cameroon’s country’s largest oil palm and rubber-producing region and owned by the Belgian holding company Socfin.