Centre de Commerce International pour le Developpement (CECIDE), Association pour le développement rural et l’entraide mutuelle en Guinée (ADREMGUI), and Inclusive Development International (IDI) are submitting this complaint to the Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman on behalf of 540 complainants belonging to the communities of Hamdallaye...who are suffering serious harms from CBG’s mining operation located in the sub-prefecture of Sangaredi, prefecture of Boké, Republic of Guinea. The residents of these 13 communities, all located within CBG’s concession, are victims of land grabbing and destruction of their environment and livelihoods, amounting to serious violations of human rights enshrined in international law instruments...They have not been accorded their entitlements and protections under Guinean law and the IFC Performance Standards (PS), including PS 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8. None of the objectives of these PSs have been achieved or will be achieved unless significant remedial and preventative measures are taken by CBG...

The Hamdallaye village is affected by both economic and physical displacement, and the community has been told they will be imminently resettled on a site that does not meet the requirements of PS 5...All of the 13 complainant communities are affected by the loss of land, including agricultural land, which has resulted in drastic impacts on their livelihoods and a significant decline in their income, as well as the destruction of their natural environment, including their water resources. These violations have had particularly damaging consequences for the women of these communities. In addition, the proximity of the mining activities to the villages carries significant risks for the physical safety of the communities... 

Since it began operations in 1973, CBG has progressively excavated and mined large areas of land in the area surrounding the town of Sangaredi, where its mining operations are concentrated.3 For years, CBG has denied the land rights of local communities, creating immense frustration amongst the population after decades of land grabbing and natural resource destruction...

In 2016, the IFC provided CBG with a US$200 million loan...for its mining operations in Guinea, and specifically for the expansion project as described in Section 1 below...