America For Purchase

Royal Dutch Shell, (Shell Oil Co.) began oil production in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria in 1958 and has a long history of working closely with the Nigerian government to quell popular opposition to its presence in the region. At the request of Shell, and with Shell’s assistance and financing, Nigerian soldiers used deadly force and massive, brutal raids against the Ogoni people throughout the early 1990s to repress a growing movement against the oil company.  Han Shan writing for the Huffington Post present the following article which every American show read and view the video:The Video Shell Doesn’t Want You to See – For over thirteen years, this multinational oil giant has done everything in its power to stop a trial from taking place at which the company must answer to charges that it colluded with the Nigerian military to commit serious human rights abuses to quell peaceful resistance to its operations in the Niger Delta region called Ogoni, including conspiring to bring about the conviction and execution of Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight of his colleagues.  

Beginning in 1996, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), EarthRights International (ERI), Paul Hoffman of Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman and other human rights attorneys have brought a series of cases to hold Shell accountable for human rights violations in Nigeria, including summary execution, crimes against humanity, torture, inhuman treatment and arbitrary arrest and detention. The lawsuits are brought against Royal Dutch Shell and Brian Anderson, the head of its Nigerian operation. 

Read the full details of this case at the Center for Constitutional Rights and EarthRights International who filed suit against Royal Dutch Shell.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htF5XElMyGI[/youtube]

The cases were brought under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 statute giving non-U.S. citizens the right to file suits in U.S. courts for international human rights violations, and the Torture Victim Protection Act, which allows individuals to seek damages in the U.S. for torture or extrajudicial killing, regardless of where the violations take place.  Read full details at www.WiwavShell.org.

Shell has made many attempts to have these cases thrown out of court, which the plaintiffs have defeated. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has set a trial date of May 27, 2009, however on May 26, 2009, Chief Judge Kimba Wood ordered the trial postponed; she did not yet set a new trial date but set a hearing date for June 1, 2009 and stated that the earliest that jury selection will now begin is June 2, 2009. The plaintiffs eagerly await their day in court to hold the defendants accountable for their injuries and the deaths of their loved ones.

Read Han’s full article here.

Glen Ford with Dissident Voice writes the following:

“It is a false dichotomy to separate the corruption of Nigeria’s governments” military or civilian” from the predatory presence of Big Oil. The two are locked in the deepest embrace. The foreign corporations pay the regime to maintain peace “and the regime reciprocates by imposing on the people a “peace of the dead.” There are other sources of corruption in the developing world, other contradictions between people and their governments, but the dominance of economic resources by foreigners exacerbates every other division in society. The competition to get into the foreigners” money flow becomes the Great Game of national political life. The bigger the money flow, the greater the imperative to keep the people in check. The police and army serve as paid thugs for the foreigners” protection. The national debasement is total. Nigeria’s most important city, Lagos, is also one of the most expensive in the world “yet 70 percent of Nigerians subsist on a dollar or less a day. There is no greater corruption imaginable.”

Shell will continue to pump their gas so people can go support oppressive regimes around the world through their consumption of foreign oil.

A finding of liability in this case could set a powerful precedent that shows companies can be held accountable for their role in abuses no matter where they occur.  Mr. Shan points out ‘The Case Against Shell’ is for a reason “it lays out the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ case against Shell. With its tens of billions of dollars in annual profits and the obscene sums it pays for the best public relations money can buy, I’m sure Shell can make their own damn video :^) Here’s hoping for a decision from the jury that honors the suffering of those who have had to live with Shell as their nightmare neighbors for so long.”

What can you do?
The Center for Constitutional Rights and EarthRights International are mobilizing support for this landmark lawsuit against Shell. Specifically, you can:

1. Educate yourself and others about the case against Shell on this site.
2. Join CCR and ERI’s online action lists for updates (join at Center for Constitutional Rights  (www.ccrjustice.org) and EarthRights International (www.earthrights.org).
3. Plan an educational event in your school, church, home or elsewhere in your community.
4. Write an Op-ed or Letter to the Editor regarding this landmark trial.
5. If you are in or near New York City, come out to the trial or volunteer.

Han Shan is a human rights and environmental justice campaigner living in New York City. He is currently serving as the coordinator of the ShellGuilty campaign for Oil Change International

Filed under: Big Oil