- Date filed
- 30 March 2026
- Keywords
- Countries of harm
- Current status
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Filed
- Sector
- NCP
Allegations
On 30 March 2026, an anonymous civil society organisation filed a complaint against Hyatt Hotels Corporation at the US NCP. The complaint concerns the activities of Juniper Hotels, in which Hyatt is a key investor, in relation to a proposed five-star hotel construction project in Assam state, northeast India allegedly causing adverse human rights and environmental impacts. The project is intended as a public-private partnership between Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) of the State Government and Jenipro Hotels.
According to Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE):
The project has impacted the livelihood of 45 Indigenous Adivasi families (totaling 400 to 500 persons) with land dispossession, forced evictions, and physical violence exerted against the Adivasi community members and their defenders during the land acquisition process for the project. Further, the land allotted for the project sits less than 1km away from the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with ramifications for an animal corridor of the park, including in breach of India’s Supreme Court orders.
While the Assam government claims that the land slated for the project is government owned, it belongs to the Adivasi families, who have subsisted on these lands for generations and possess government issued documents proving their permanent ownership or long-term contractual tenant status over the land. The project commenced in 2022 and has continued to [constructing] permanent structures without obtaining Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the affected families nor meaningfully engaging with them to discuss impact mitigation and remediation methods. As a result, many affected families and communities who have peacefully resisted the project through dialogue, protests, petitions, and legal action have been targeted for assault, intimidation, and unreasonable police detainment by the pro-hotel mob and state police. In addition, the families have been denied access to their own farmlands, which they economically depend on, and one family’s house was even mowed down by a bulldozer.
The complainant argues that Hyatt is directly linked to Juniper Hotels as its brander and operator. It alleges due diligence failures, including failure to use its leverage as a manager of Juniper Hotels to prevent, mitigate, and remediate the impacts on the Indigenous Adivasi community. They wish to engage in a dialogue to discuss these issues and seek ways to resolve them, and for Hyatt to consider responsibly disengaging from its relationship with Juniper Hotels.
Relevant OECD Guidelines
Outcome
The full complaint text has not been disclosed in accordance with the US NCP’s confidentiality requirements.
More details
- Defendant
- Company in violation
- Other companies involved
- Complainants
- Affected people