Tamakoshi V Hydroelectric Project: Early Warning Case Study

This case study on the Tamakoshi V Hydroelectric Project aims to analyze the impacts of the Project during its early stages of implementation in order to identify potential gaps in the accountability framework for the Project in line with the policies of its financier Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as well as wider impacts of the Project in the context of cumulative impacts of the cascade dams being built or planned in the Tamakoshi River. Further, the case study seeks to look into the Project to determine if it is in line with the environmental sustainability and fiscal stability of Nepal.

The case study calls for calls for serious reassessment of the Project on the grounds of outdated feasibility study and inadequate information disclosure, lack of participation and consent of the affected communities, and potential cumulative environmental harms, among other concerns. It is based on desk review of the official Project documents, relevant policies of the AIIB and laws and policies of Nepal as well as media, governmental and non-governmental reports on the Project and other associated projects. While CEMSOJ has made initial efforts to reach out to the affected communities of the Project to understand their perspectives of and aspirations with the Project at the ground level, lack of such information gathered so far poses a major limitation for this study . In order to address that, it is planned that this study will later be complemented by field visits to the affected communities.

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Nepal’s Supreme Court directs the government to make legal, policy and implementation arrangements in line with Paris Agreement on climate change

Nepal’s Supreme Court has issued a directive order to the Government to make legal, policy and implementation arrangements in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change (also referred to as the Paris Climate Accords).

In its decision made dated 27 April on the public interest litigation filed by CEMSOJ, the Supreme Court ruled issued a directive order in the name of the Government to make necessary legal, policy and implementation arrangements in compliance with the commitments of international treaties and conventions, including the Paris Agreement, to conserve the environment, to sell, trade or consume forest products, including carbon, to arrange a fair distribution system of benefits.

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सर्वोच्च अदालतद्वारा जलवायु परिवर्तन सम्बन्धि पेरिस सम्झौता लगायतका प्रतिबद्धता अनुकूल हुने गरी आवश्यक कानूनी, नीतिगत तथा कार्यान्वयन व्यवस्था मिलाउन सरकारलाई निर्देशनात्मक आदेश

१ सेप्टेम्बर २०२३, काठमाडौँ 

नेपालको सर्वोच्च अदालतले जलवायु परिवर्तन सम्बन्धि पेरिस सम्झौता लगायतका अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय सन्धि सम्झौताका प्रतिबद्धता अनुकूल हुने गरी आवश्यक कानूनी, नीतिगत तथा कार्यान्वयन व्यवस्था मिलाउन सरकारलाई निर्देशनात्मक आदेश जारी हुने ठहर गरेको छ । सामुदायिक सशक्तिकरण तथा सामाजिक न्याय फाउन्डेशन (सेम्सोज)द्वारा दर्ता गरिएको सार्वजनिक सरोकारको रिटमाथि यही बैशाख १४ गते (सन् २०२३ अप्रिल २७) फैसला गर्दै पर्यावरण संरक्षण गर्न, कार्वन लगायत वन पैदावारको माध्यमबाट उत्पादन हुने बस्तु/पदार्थको बिक्री व्यापार, कारोवार गर्न वा उपभोगमा ल्याउन, लाभको न्यायोचि वितरण व्यवस्था मिलाउन तत् सम्बन्धमा जलवायु परिवर्तन सम्बन्धि पेरिस सम्झौता लगायतका अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय सन्धि सम्झौताका प्रतिबद्धता अनुकूल हुने गरी आवश्यक कानूनी, नीतिगत तथा कार्यान्वयन व्यवस्था मिलाउन सरकारको नाउँमा निर्देशनात्मक आदेश जारी हुने ठहर गरेको हो ।

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Complaint filed against Marriott International regarding its involvement with Chhaya Center in Kathmandu with the United States government

The Campaign to Restore Archaeological Kamalpokhari of Thamel on Monday filed a complaint against Marriott International regarding its involvement with Chhaya Center in Kathmandu with the US National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines within the US Department of State. The Campaign, in the complaint, denounced the abuses to which Marriott International, a leader in the tourism and accommodation sector worldwide, is connected in violation of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises through its franchise Aloft Kathmandu Thamel located in the Chhaya Center (also known as Chhaya Devi Complex). The Complex is constructed on communal Guthi (trust) lands – traditionally holding a holy pond and its surrounding structures and lands – of the local indigenous Pradhan Newars following decades of encroachment and unlawful acquisition of those lands.

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AIPNEE and CEMSOJ’s joint submission to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights for its forthcoming country visit to Japan

Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) and Community Empowerment and Social Justice Network (CEMSOJ) made a joint submission to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights on Monday for its forthcoming official country visit to Japan. The submission particularly focuses on the roles of Japanese institutions in providing assistance or financing projects that harm Indigenous Peoples in countries across Asia and the lack of accountability of those institutions to remedy such harms. It is based on our experiences of working with Indigenous communities that have faced or are facing human rights impacts due to energy and other projects reportedly or being (co-)financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)[1] and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)[2].

The submission details the challenges that are faced in seeking accountability of these mechanisms and accordingly provides recommendations.

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AIPNEE and CEMSOJ’s joint submission on Development Finance Institutions and Human Rights to the UN

Below is the joint submission made by Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) and Community Empowerment and Social Justice Network (CEMSOJ) to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights for their forthcoming report on “Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Human Rights”. The submission particularly focuses on the rights of indigenous peoples based on the experiences of AIPNEE and CEMSOJ of working with indigenous and other local communities that have faced or are facing human rights impacts due to energy and trade facilitation projects financed by various DFIs.

Click here for the PDF of the submission.

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CEMSOJ’s comments for the update of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

Read below the CEMSOJ’s submission during the public consultation for the targeted update of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The submission is based on CEMSOJ’s experience of using, or challenges thereto, the Guidelines while supporting a land rights advocacy campaign struggle to restore a historical pond and surrounding indigenous lands encroached by a recently built mega business complex called Chhaya Center that houses a local franchise of Marriott International in the tourist district of Kathmandu in Nepal. For more information about the campaign, see https://cemsoj.wordpress.com/tag/chhaya-center/.

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Indigenous Newar communities in Khokana and Bungamati call for follow-up actions from UN experts in Geneva to protect their rights threatened by the construction of Fast Track Expressway and other infrastructure projects

10 July 2022, Kathmandu

Indigenous Newar communities – affected by the Kathmandu-Terai/Madhesh Fast Track (Expressway) Project and other ongoing or planned infrastructure and urbanization projects in historical settlements of Khokana and Bungamati in the south of Nepal’s capital city, Kathmandu – have called on four UN mechanisms in Geneva to take follow up actions for safeguarding their rights against the continued serious threats of displacement of the communities, violations of their land and resource rights as well as cultural rights and other impacts on them due to the ill-planned projects.

In separate letters emailed today to the UN Special Rapporteurs on the rights of indigenous peoples, on the right to adequate housing and on the situation of human rights defenders as well as the Working Group on business and human rights, two local groups (Janasarokar Samiti of Khokana and Bungamati) representing the affected communities have urged the UN mechanisms to jointly examine the information submitted and undertake follow up correspondence with the Government of Nepal to protect and promote the rights of the indigenous communities in the context of those projects. As stated in the letters, besides the Fast Track Expressway, other ongoing or planned projects, including Bagmati River Basin Improvement Project (Bagmati Corridor), Kathmandu Outer Ring Road and Thankot-Bhaktapur Transmission Line Project and one of the four “Smart Cities” proposed in Kathmandu valley, will entirely displace the indigenous communities from the historical settlements. Asian Development Bank has directly or indirectly supported many of those projects.

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Campaign to restore archaeological Kamal Pokhari in Thamel condemns Nepal government’s “irresponsible and false” reply to the UN mechanisms regarding rights infringed due to construction of Chhaya Center

Kathmandu, 11 October 2021

The Campaign to restore archaeological Kamal Pokhari in Thamel has condemned the “inadequate, irresponsible and false” reply provided by the Government of Nepal in response to the joint letter sent by four UN mechanisms to the Government concerning violations of the rights of indigenous Newars, including to their lands and resources and culture, due to construction of mega business complex Chhaya Center in Kathmandu.

As per the Campaign, the violations have occurred because a private Nepali company Chhaya Devi Complex Pvt. Ltd has constructed Chhaya Center, “the biggest business complex in Nepal’s history” after unlawfully acquiring the communal trust lands – traditionally holding a holy pond and its surroundings structures and areas – of the indigenous Pradhan Newar community in Kathmandu’s tourist district of Thamel. Despite local opposition and protests, including by human rights and cultural activists, the business complex officially opened in 2018 currently houses 200 retail stores, including high-end brand outlets, multiplex theatres, corporate offices, banquet and conference halls, casino, discotheque, etc., as well as a five-star hotel Aloft Kathmandu Thamel of the Marriott International, Inc.

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Nepal’s indigenous Majhi communities demand cancellation of Sunkoshi-2 Hydropower Project

6 October 2021, Manthali/Kathmandu

Indigenous Majhi communities of Ramechhap and Sindhuli districts in eastern Nepal have demanded cancellation of Sunkoshi-2 Hydropower Project stating that the Project will result in large scale displacement of the Majhi communities and other locals and even wipe out the identity and existence of the Majhi people from their ancestral lands.

On Thursday (30 September), hundreds of Majhis from various villages of Ramechhap and Sindhuli districts clad in their indigenous attire took out a protest rally playing their traditional drums and musical instruments in Manthali – the district headquarter of Ramechhap. They carried boat- and fish-shaped placards and chanted slogans calling for, among others, annulment of the Sunkoshi-2 Hydropower Project, respect for their Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and creation of an autonomous Majhi protected region. The Majhis led by the Sunkoshi-2 Hydropower Project Joint Struggle Committee also submitted their letter demanding cancellation of the Project to the Chief District Officer of Ramechhap, Dipak Kumar Pahadi, and the Mayor of Manthali Municipality, Ramesh Kumar Basnet. They assured the Majhi representatives that the local authorities were serious about their demand and that it will be conveyed to the concerned national authorities. Following submission of the demand letter, the rally converged into a corner assembly in Manthali town center, whereby the Majhi communities’ representatives and Committee officials relayed their concerns and demand.

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