Ilisu Dam: Dutch NCP concludes first-ever OECD Guidelines case on cultural rights

(OECD Watch, Amsterdam, 20 August 2018) NCP finds company failed to do due diligence and breached the Guidelines at Turkey's Ilisu mega-dam. On 20 August 2018, the Dutch NCP released its final statement on the case of FIVAS et al v. Bresser, the first OECD Guidelines case filed on the subject of cultural rights as human rights. The statement determines Bresser “has not fully met the expectations and satisfied the due diligence criteria of the OECD Guidelines”. In July 2017, Fivas helped Turkish communities file a complaint with the Dutch NCP against Bresser, an SME that performs foundation relocation projects. The Ilisu Dam was the first ever project to have export credit guarantees from European governments withdrawn after the guarantees had already been agreed. ECA Watch members campaigned hard to make this happen.