Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report on Sunday urging Malaysia’s Sarawak state to protect Indigenous rights after a company logged timber without the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of an Indigenous Iban community.

HRW asked Sarawak to “enforce their laws that regulate the trade of wood products” and for “international buyers of Malaysian wood products— including the European Union, the United States, and Japan—to enforce sustainability laws for timber imports.” Several of these buyers have applicable existing laws, including the US 2008 Lacey Act and the EU Timber Regulation, that could assist in ensuring Indigenous rights are respected in the timber trade.

HRW further recommended that Sarawak amend its land code to reflect the rights and obligations articulated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), one of the several Indigenous rights instruments found in international law. According to the UN, the Indigenous right of FPIC is rooted in UNDRIP and other instruments.

The HRW report described how the Sarawak government authorized Zedtee, a logging company, to log on the “eastern half” of the ancestral lands of the Rumah Jefferey Indigenous community. The report noted that since the community “does not have a [formal] title to their lands,” they are “vulnerable to encroachment” by Zedtee. Members protested the logging, and Zedtee brought a complaint alleging an intrusion on the company’s lease. As a result, the Sarawak Forest Department brought an eviction order against Rumah Jefferey. HRW warned that if the community were evicted, it would be “in violation of the community’s internationally recognized human rights.”

Across the globe, international organizations have reported that Indigenous communities’ rights have similarly been violated. In February, HRW critiqued the US government’s role in violating the right to FPIC of the Numu, Nuwu and Newe peoples when allowing Lithium Americas to mine at Thacker Pass in Nevada. In January, Amnesty International reported on the rights violations of Indigenous peoples in the Philippines as a result of the expansion of nickel mining.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada has echoed the discussion on the importance of UNDRIP’s implementation, particularly in domestic law, as it outlines how governments can “[work] in partnership with Indigenous peoples in a spirit of mutual respect.”