Read the initial assessment issued by the Norwegian NCP on 28 October 2020: English
Read the final statement issued by the Norwegian NCP on 29 August 2022: English
Read the press release issue by the Norwegian NCP on 29 August 2022: English
On 16 December 2019, the Committee Seeking Justice for Alethankyaw (CSJA), an NGO, submitted a specific instance alleging that Telenor, a telecommunications MNE and its subsidiary Telenor Myanmar, did not observe the General Policies (Chapter II) and Human Rights (Chapter IV) provisions of the OECD Guidelines. The submitter claimed that the company did not carry appropriate due diligence and raised issues regarding land acquisition and a network closure in Myanmar. More specifically, the incident concerned an event when the military allegedly used an inactive telecommunications tower owned and operated by a vendor of Telenor Myanmar to open fire on unarmed civilians from the village of Alethankyaw, Rakhine State in August 2017. The submitter requests a fair and impartial investigation of the issues raised, and does not seek financial compensation.
On 28 October 2020, the Norwegian NCP issued its initial statement accepting the case as it found that the issues raised merited further examination. The NCP offered its good offices to both parties. The submitters declined the offer citing a lack of trust in the company and calling instead for an investigation of the allegations. The NCP proceeded to examine the issues raised in line with the examination stage of its own procedures.
On 29 August 2022, the NCP published a final statement determining that Telenor had generally sought to respect human rights and carry out due diligence in accordance with the OECD Guidelines. However, the NCP also found room for improvement relating to due diligence and stakeholder engagement. In general, the NCP observed that engagement with stakeholders did not sufficiently prioritise the most vulnerable groups; in this case, the Rohingya.
The NCP did not find evidence to conclude that Telenor caused or contributed to the misuse of a telecommunications tower owned and operated by its vendor. However, the company’s operations were directly linked to the adverse impacts through a business relationship. The risk of misuse of the tower was not identified in Telenor’s due diligence and was, in the view of the NCP, not reasonably foreseeable at the time. The risk of misuse of telecommunications infrastructure for harmful purposes is now known and Telenor has informed the NCP that this risk has been incorporated into its risk assessments. Regarding issues raised concerning land use and internet shutdown orders, the NCP finds that Telenor identified and worked to mitigate these risks, in pre-investment and ongoing due diligence.
The NCP recommends the company take note of the recommendations in the report from the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights on Business and human rights in conflict-affected regions and states in particular with respect to responding to changing circumstances and ensuring stakeholder engagement. The NCP recommends Telenor to consider following up with the submitters outside of this NCP process with a view to work towards remediation. The NCP also makes a general recommendation to Telenor to ensure that the most vulnerable groups are given particular attention and prioritised in future stakeholder engagement.