Members of the Malen Affected Land Owners and Users Association (MALOA) in Sierra Leone have reportedly been a target of arbitrary harassment and criminalization after they launched a petition objecting to the certification of SOCFIN Agricultural Company by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) on March 10, 2022. MALOA argues therein that the RSPO auditor lacked independence from the company.

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited RPSO and SOCFIN to respond; RPSO replied, and the response is provided below. SOCFIN did not respond.