On April 3, 89 civil society organisations signed a joint statement calling on the IFC and the EBRD to ensure remedy and accountability, for the severe and systemic violations at Indorama Agro cotton project, Uzbekistan. You can find the statement in English below and in Uzbek here.

For years, civil society organizations have reported systemic human rights violations at Indorama Agro: land grabbing, labour rights violations, reprisals, and environmental degradation. For years, development banks funding Indorama Agro (IFC and EBRD) have failed to prevent and address these abuses. And now that Indorama Agro has prepaid its loans to IFC and EBRD, development banks are trying to shirk responsibility for the harm they have enabled. But over 85 civil society groups from around the world are calling on them to use their leverage and remedy the harm. 

 

“The fact that the EBRD and the IFC are not committing to remedy the harm after Indorama Agro prepaid its loans sets a dangerous precedent for all future investments. It signals to abusive corporate actors that they can violate labor rights, engage in exploitative practices, and exit with total impunity. This is unacceptable.” ━ Lynn Schweisfurth – Uzbek Forum for Human Rights.

“The Indorama Agro project exposes a glaring accountability gap among public banks. The EBRD and the IFC must uphold their commitments to do no harm and ensure that the costs of development are not externalized at the expense of affected communities. This is an opportunity to demonstrate genuine accountability by taking meaningful action to remedy the harm caused.” ━ Nina Lesikhina – CEE Bankwatch Network.