Another two young men have been killed at the industrial oil palm plantations of Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC). European development banks have been financing PHC for years, and agreed to hand over the plantations to an obscure private equity fund after the previous owner, Feronia Inc. went bankrupt in 2020 – after having received more than USD 100 million in development funding. Witness statements indicate that PHC's security was responsible for the killings of Joel Imbangola Lunea, Blaise Mokwe and Efolafola Nisoni Manu and a recent spate of violence at the Lokutu plantations, including accounts of rape and sexual abuse of women. Yet, the European development banks remain shamefully indifferent to the violence and killings, their silence condoning impunity for those responsible for these atrocities. See the statement of Efolafola Nisoni Manu's mother on the circumstances of his death and the struggle to hold those responsible for this heinous killing to account (in French only).
More information on the community struggle against PHC here and here.
European development banks shamefully indifferent to violence and killings at industrial oil palm plantations in the DRC they have been financing for years
WRM Bulletin 255
17 May 2021
Issues: Large-Scale Tree Plantations / Palm Oil
Countries: Congo DR
Languages:
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