Reconstructing State and Corporate Responsibility within the Human Rights Framework in Indonesia’s Mining Sector

Abstract

The development of the business and human rights regime represents a significant challenge to the classical paradigm that positions the state as the sole duty bearer in the protection of human rights. In Indonesia's mining sector, recurring social and environmental conflicts illustrate that violations of the rights to a healthy environment, health, and livelihood cannot be attributed exclusively to the state's failure to fulfill its obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights. These violations are also closely linked to corporate conduct. Despite the introduction of the protect-respect-remedy framework by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the implementation of these principles in Indonesia remains constrained by normative and institutional limitations. These limitations include the weak binding force of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (Rencana Aksi Nasional Bisnis dan Hak Asasi Manusia, RAN BHAM) and the fragmentation of victim remedy mechanisms. This study seeks to reconstruct the responsibilities of the state and corporations in an integrated manner within the mining sector. Employing a normative legal approach through statutory, conceptual, comparative, and historical methods, this study identifies a structural mismatch between legal obligations and the distribution of economic power. The proposed contribution involves a model of collaborative responsibility that integrates state duties, corporate human rights due diligence, and coordinated remedy mechanisms. This integrated approach is designed to enhance human rights protection in mining governance.