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

August 21, 2023

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

July 17, 2023

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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Joint submission to the UN Special Rapporteur calling attention to the continued concerns of Indigenous Magar and other local communities affected by Tanahu Hydropower Project in western Nepal

July 11, 2023

Community Empowerment and Social Justice Network (CEMSOJ), Indigenous Women Legal Awareness Group (INWOLAG), International Accountability Project (IAP) and NGO Forum on ADB made a joint submission to the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development on Tuesday to draw his attention to the continued concerns of Indigenous Magars and other local communities affected by the Tanahu Hydropower Project in western Nepal and calling for his action to safeguard the rights of the affected communities.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Government of Nepal are co-financing the 140 MW reservoir type Project. Since the beginning of the Project, one main concern was the absence of accessible and timely information disclosure. In 2020, affected Indigenous Magar and other local communities submitted various complaints to the independent accountability mechanims of the ADB and the EIB calling for respect of their free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) in the Project decisions affecting them and for land-for-land and house-for-house compensation for the land and houses that will be impacted by the Project, among other demands such as restoration of communal resources such as grazing lands, sacred sites and forests as well as sharing of benefits of the Project. Further, they have also raised concerns about environmental risks posed by the impending inundation of the Project as well as ongoing illegal sand and stone mining on the riverbanks in the inundation area affecting their lands and settlements. Their complaints have results in dispute resolution processes facilitated by the ADB’s Office of the Special Project Facilitator (OSPF) and the EIB-Complaint Mechanim (EIB-CM), which are at various stages.

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

March 6, 2023

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

February 10, 2023

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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Nepal: Stop State brutality against the Indigenous Tamangs and other Locals for the construction of Tamakoshi-Kathmandu 220/400 kV Transmission Line Project in Shankharapur, Kathmandu

January 25, 2023

CEMSOJ joins organizations and individuals worldwide in the following public statement issued to the concerned authorities of Nepal and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Nepal: Stop State brutality against the Tamang Indigenous Peoples and Locals

Stop the construction of Tamakoshi-Kathmandu 220/400 kV Transmission Line Project in Shankharapur-3, Kathmandu

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals, strongly condemn the ongoing repression by Nepal’s police and armed police forces on the indigenous Tamang and other locals in Bojheni village, Shankharapur municipality Ward no. 3 in the northeast of Kathmandu for the construction of Tamakoshi-Kathmandu 200/400 kV Transmission Line and its substation.

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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

July 10, 2022

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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Tamakoshi-Kathmandu Transmission Line affected communities call on the Asian Development Bank to realign the power line and relocate its sub-station

November 4, 2021

3 November 2021, Kathmandu

Indigenous Tamang and other locals of Shankharapur municipality in the northeast of Kathmandu affected by the Tamakoshi-Kathmandu 200/400 kV Transmission Line and its Bojheni substation today submitted a memorandum to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Nepal Resident Mission. They have called for realignment of the Transmission Line and shifting of the sub-station from their settlement area as planned under the ADB-financed Electricity Transmission Expansion and Supply Improvement Project.

In the memorandum emailed to the ADB with signatures of more than 200 affected locals, the Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project Victims’ Struggle Society has alleged that they have not been adequately informed about the impacts of the Transmission Line and the sub-station and the land acquisition has been undertaken through intimidation of the landowners. The construction of the Transmission Line and its sub-station has been halted for the last two years due to the opposition of the locals. They allege that the Project is seeking to construct the Bojheni substation in an unauthorized manner without agreement of the locals. Further, the Transmission Line running over their houses, lands and religious and cultural sites will devaluate their properties, significantly affect their livelihoods dependent on agriculture and tourism as well as the environment and even cause insecurity to their health and lives, which will eventually displace them from their ancestral lands and settlement.

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तामाकोशी-काठमाडौं प्रसारण लाइन पिडित समुदायद्वारा प्रसारण लाइन र त्यसको सबस्टेशन स्थानान्तरण गर्न माग गर्दै एसियाली विकास बैंकलाई ज्ञापनपत्र बुझाइयो

November 4, 2021

३ नोवेम्बेर २०२१ (वि. सं. २०७८ कार्तिक १७), काठमाडौँ

तामाकोशी–काठमाडौं २००/४०० के.भी. प्रसारण लाइन र त्यसको बोझेनी सवस्टेशनबाट पिडित काठमाडौंको उत्तरपूर्वस्थित शंखारापुर नगरपालिकाका आदिवासी तामांग र अन्य स्थानीयहरुले एसियाली विकास बैंक (एडीबी) को नेपाल आवासीय मिसनलाई आज ज्ञापनपत्र बुझाएका छन्। उनीहरुले एडीबीको सहयोगमा कार्यन्वयन भइरहेको Electricity Transmission Expansion and Supply Improvement Project अन्तर्गतको प्रसारण लाइन र त्यसको सवस्टेसन उनीहरुको बस्ती क्षेत्रबाट स्थानान्तरण गरी अन्तै सार्नको लागि आह्वान गरेका छन्।

२०० भन्दा बढी पिडित स्थानियहरुको हस्ताक्षर सहित एडीबीलाई ईमेल मार्फत बुझाइएको ज्ञापनपत्रमा अप्पर तामाकोसी जलविद्युत् परियोजना पिडित संघर्ष समाजले प्रसारण लाइन र सब स्टेशनको प्रभावबारे पर्याप्त जानकारी नगराएको र जग्गाधनीहरुलाई डर धम्की देखाई जग्गा अधिग्रहण गरिएको भनिएको छ। स्थानीयहरुको विरोधका कारण विगत दुई वर्षदेखि प्रसारण लाइन र सबस्टेसन निर्माणको काम रोकिएको छ। आयोजनाले स्थानीयको सहमतिविना अनधिकृत रुपमा बोझेनी सबस्टेसन निर्माण गर्न खोजेको उनीहरुको आरोप छ। यसबाहेक, उनीहरूको घर, जग्गा र धार्मिक तथा सांस्कृतिक स्थलहरू माथिबाट तानिने प्रसारण लाइनले उनीहरुको सम्पत्तिको अवमूल्यन हुने, कृषि र पर्यटनमा आश्रित उनीहरूको जीविकोपार्जन तथा वातावरणमा ठूलो असर पर्ने र उनीहरूको स्वास्थ्य र जीवनमा असुरक्षासमेत निम्त्याउने ज्ञापनपत्रमा भनिएको छ। फलस्वरूप, पिडित आदिवासी र स्थानीय समुदाय आफ्नो पुर्ख्यौली जग्गा जमिन र बासस्थानबाट विस्थापित गर्ने ज्ञापनपत्रमा उल्लेख छ।

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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

October 11, 2021

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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