Appendix 1: Case Studies Illustrating the Human Rights Implications of Large-Scale, Internationally-Financed Projects

The document catalogues alleged human rights implications across numerous international projects in sectors such as mining, energy, and forestry. It organizes these cases by the specific right implicated, including the rights to adequate food, housing, health, and life, as well as freedoms from forced labor and torture. The case studies highlight recurring issues such as forced resettlement, environmental contamination of water and land, the use of military force to suppress protests, and inadequate compensation for displaced populations.

• Large-scale projects have frequently been linked to the contamination of essential water sources, affecting the health and livelihoods of local populations. Examples include the Tolukuma Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea, where waste dumping into the Auga-Angabanga river system allegedly destroyed food supplies and forced women to "walk four hours per day to access clean water", and the Konkola Copper Mine in Zambia, where copper sulphate pollution in the Kafue river caused a water crisis for "Seventy five thousand people".
• Forced resettlement and inadequate compensation are common allegations in internationally-financed infrastructure and mining projects. The National Hydroelectric Development Corporation (NHPC) dams in India are alleged to displace "over 200,000 people", with reports that villagers were "evicted at gun point and with the use of bulldozers" and forced to accept small cash payments instead of legal land-based compensation.
• There are numerous reports of companies being complicit in government-led human rights abuses, particularly through the use of security forces. ExxonMobil in Aceh was charged in U.S. courts for complicity in "murder, torture, kidnapping, and sexual abuse by Indonesian soldiers", with allegations that the company provided facilities and equipment to soldiers carrying out atrocities.
• Mining and energy projects have been accused of destroying critical biodiversity and protected ecosystems. The Rio Madeira dams in Brazil are located in a "priority hot spot for biodiversity" and are claimed to flood at least "700 sq. km of floodplains and forests", while the Sakhalin II project in Russia allegedly threatened the feeding grounds of "critically endangered Western Gray Whales".
• Projects have frequently impacted the cultural and spiritual rights of indigenous peoples. The Bujagali Hydroelectric Project in Uganda is alleged to submerge Bujagali Falls, a site of "great cultural and spiritual importance" and "sacred burial grounds" for the Busoga people.
• Allegations of forced labor and slave-like working conditions appear in several case studies. In Brazil, workers at Pagrisa ethanol were reportedly kept in "slave-like conditions", working over 13 hours a day while being "undernourished, and often without drinking water".
• Environmental accidents and a lack of emergency procedures have led to significant loss of life and health crises. In India, at least "65 people drowned" in April 2005 due to waters suddenly released from the Indira Sagar dam, and in the Philippines, the collapse of the Maguila-Guila dam in 1993 killed two people and contaminated farmland.
• Companies have been accused of using bribery and coercion to obtain land or project approvals. In the Philippines, community members alleged that the Didipio Mine company attempted to bribe members of the local Barangay council with "money, land, cars, and houses" to secure required consent.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (n.d.). Appendix 1: Case Studies Illustrating the Human Rights Implications of Large-Scale, Internationally-Financed Projects. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Appendix1_CaseStudies.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Appendix 1: Case Studies Illustrating the Human Rights Implications of Large-Scale, Internationally-Financed Projects. n.d. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Appendix1_CaseStudies.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Appendix 1: Case Studies Illustrating the Human Rights Implications of Large-Scale, Internationally-Financed Projects |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Appendix1_CaseStudies.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallawndappendix, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Appendix 1: Case Studies Illustrating the Human Rights Implications of Large-Scale, Internationally-Financed Projects}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Appendix1_CaseStudies.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }