"Demand Action To Stop Guatemala's Palm Oil Driven Human Rights Crisis", 19 May 2016

The 6th of June marks the first anniversary of Group Olmeca, a notorious palm oil giant, polluting significant Guatemalan waterways when its effluent ponds overflowed into the Pasión River, causing massive fish-kills and impacting the lives of 12,000 people.... [L]ocal communities and environmental groups begun publicly denouncing the pollution of the waterways and taking legal action, one human rights defender, Rigoberto Lima Choc, was murdered and three others––Mr. Hermelindo Asij Mo, Mr. Lorenzo Peres Mendoza and Mr. Manuel Perez Ordonez––were kidnapped. ...[A] coalition of international NGOs called on major palm oil traders  that source from Grupo Olmeca––namely Wilmar, Cargill, IOI, ADM and Bunge––to publicly denounce the use of violence by Grupo Olmeca and cancel contracts with this controversial supplier, as it is in breach of their palm oil sourcing policies.

*Sourced by RepRisk due diligence on ESG and business conduct risks, www.reprisk.com.