DINANT - List of Grievance - Issues

006: Grievance is being accepted by RSPO. The investigation process has not yet begun until formal communication

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 06:20:00 -0300

1) It is alleged that for decades there have been acts of intimidation, persecution, and killings of peasant groups and social organizations, carried out to seize land by irregular armed groups allegedly linked to Dinant.

2) It is alleged that, despite the government's attempts to establish a tripartite commission since 2022—with no progress, the violence in the area has intensified since December 2024, targeting organizations that defend their lands against Dinant's appropriation.

It is alleged that on December 24, 2024, 160 families from the 'Los Camarones' cooperative were forcibly evicted by armed groups in the context of violence and intimidation.

3) It is alleged that on January 2, 2025, Arnulfo Díaz, a member of the 'Las Brisas del Aguán' cooperative, was killed.

It is alleged that since January 27, 2025, the Tranvío and El Chile cooperatives have been subjected to renewed intimidation and attempted forced evictions by armed groups.

3) It is alleged that on February 2, 2025, José Luis Hernández Lobo and his partner, Suyapa Guillén, were killed. Both were active members of the Gregorio Chávez Cooperative and leaders of the peasant movement.

005: Letter Stop buying Dinant

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 11:18:32 -0300

004: Allegations related to illegal land appropriation and associated human rights abuses.

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 11:18:14 -0300

1. Corporación Dinant is accused of acquiring lands that had previously been granted by the state to small-scale farmers as part of the Agrarian Reform process.

2. It is alleged that the conflict-affected area is being impacted by environmental disasters caused by large agribusiness companies.

3. It is alleged that agribusiness companies are involved and connected to the deaths of community leaders in the Aguán Valley.

-It is alleged that security personnel from agribusiness companies have participated in acts of violence in the Aguán region, in coordination with state armed forces. They are held responsible for the murder of farmer Gregorio Chávez.

4. The Agrarian Platform holds Corporación Dinant responsible for land dispossession, violence, and environmental damage in the Aguán region. It is reported that complaints were filed with the Public Prosecutor's Office against the legal representative of Corporación Dinant and Exportadora del Atlántico, both companies belonging to the Dinant Group.

003: Ruling in the case of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank.

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 11:17:33 -0300

1- The unethical conduct of the IFC is denounced for allegedly financing violent actors, human rights abuses, and killings.

2- It is alleged that the killings are linked to armed men reportedly affiliated with Dinant, including company personnel and security guards.

3- It is alleged that the IFC agreed to settle the lawsuit and/or accusations related to Dinant without any admission or acknowledgment of wrongdoing.

4- It is alleged that Dinant has suspected ties to regional cocaine trafficking.

- It is alleged that, according to a declassified 2015 document from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, during the 2017 drug trafficking trial in the United States of the son of a former president of Honduras, it was stated that properties owned by Facussé in the Aguán Valley were being used to land planes loaded with cocaine.

5- It is alleged that, during the 1990s, Dinant (then known as Corporación Cressida) and other agro-industrial corporations seized cooperative lands. Structural adjustment measures promoted by the IFC facilitated the sale of agrarian reform lands.

6- It is alleged that Dinant has never made public the original legal titles for the lands it acquired in the 1990s. Nevertheless, the IFC loan proceeded.
7- It is alleged that most of the killings in the area were targeted, reminiscent of 'death squad' activity. Private security forces contracted by Dinant have been linked to these acts, along with military special forces and police units.

- It is noted that past allegations have linked 40 killings on Dinant properties to security guards employed by Dinant or its external security contractors. Furthermore, the IFC is considered to have failed in adequately supervising Dinant with respect to the measures required to mitigate abuse by its security personnel.

8- It is alleged that, in November 2022, Dinant's security guards, whom the company had long prided itself on as being unarmed and trained in human rights, were rearmed.

002: Environmental Impact: Pollution of the Aguán River.

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 11:17:08 -0300

Corporación Dinant has been accused by peasant communities in the Bajo Aguán region of causing environmental pollution, contamination of the Aguán River, and soil degradation, which negatively affect the health and well-being of peasant families.

001: In the Shadow of the Oil Palm

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 11:16:36 -0300

1) Dinant is accused of violence against small-scale farmers, and it is alleged that its CEO has ties to an armed criminal organization.

2) It is alleged that palm oil production in Honduras is linked to serious human rights violations that have gone unpunished for decades, such as the illegal appropriation of land by agribusinesses and the ongoing use of force by both governmental and non-governmental security forces, including the targeted persecution and killing of members of social and farmers' organizations. It is alleged that agribusiness companies used unlawful methods to take control of lands that were part of the agrarian reform program, starting in 1992 when a new agrarian reform law came into effect.

3) It is alleged that in 1995, the murder of Jannette Kawas took place after she denounced environmental destruction in the Punta Sal protected area, which had been purchased by Dinant. It is noted that the company’s senior management was summoned to appear but failed to do so.

4) The contamination of the Tocoa River has been denounced in connection with the operations of palm oil agribusinesses.
5) It is reported that the plantations of large agribusinesses in the Aguan region are used for the landing of small planes associated with drug cartels.

6) It is reported that on January 19, 2023, a member of the Los Laureles cooperative, Omar Cruz, was murdered.
7) It is reported that the violence in the area intensified starting in 2023, including evictions, persecutions, and threats by armed groups linked to security guards of agro-industrial companies.
8) A complaint filed on January 11, 2024, implicates Dinant as a direct actor and accomplice of a criminal organization called "Los Cachos," which is responsible for violating human rights in the Aguán region.