И в глазах их была грусть...
Я уже писал о некой организации, которая борется за мир путём поддержки присутствия нефтяных и горнодобывающих ТНК в горячих точках плант.
Представьте: всякие дикари, которым не повезло прильнуть устами к живительному источнику евро-североамериканской цивилизации, колошматят друг-друга почём зря, в то время, как у Бритиш Петролеум и Шелл сердце обливается кровью, когда они видят неразумных детей природы. В конце-концов рыцари доллара и евро не выдерживают и вмешиваются. После чего в отдельно взятой банановой республике настаёт рай.
Shell Settles with Nigeria Villagers for $15M
WASHINGTON, Jun 10 (OneWorld.net) - After a decade of legal battles and pressure from activists, the Royal Dutch Shell oil company -- accused of human rights abuses in the oil-rich Niger Delta -- has agreed to pay a settlement to the communities in the region rather than face trial.
What's the Story?
Shell has decided to settle the controversial case out of court for $15.5 million; the oil company will not face the trial originally scheduled for next week in the United States. Shell maintained that its name was clear, saying the settlement is part of a reconciliation process for the unstable region.
The oil company will set up a $5 million fund to benefit local Ogoni communities -- indigenous people in the Niger Delta who have fought for years against exploitation by oil companies. Shell will also make payments to the families of activists, like writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were executed by Nigeria's military government in 1995.
But the fight is not yet over, say activists. Groups are still campaigning to ensure local communities receive a greater share of the oil wealth and to stop "gas flaring," a process harmful to both the environment and the health of people living in communities nearby. Shell, which earned record profits of $31 billion in 2008, is facing at least two more legal actions related to its oil operations in the Niger Delta. (Read the full story from ShellGuilty below.)
Bittersweet Victory for Activist Groups
"We congratulate the plaintiffs on their victory. Let there be no doubt that Shell has emerged guilty," said Ben Amunwa, a member of the Remember Saro-Wiwa project. While he acknowledged the historic victory, Amunwa added: "With this settlement, Shell is seeking to keep the overwhelming evidence of its crimes away from the scrutiny of a jury trial."
"Despite this victory, justice will not be served in Ogoni and throughout the Delta until the gas flares are put out, the spills cleaned up, and the military stops protecting the oil companies and starts serving the people," said Steve Kretzmann, executive director of Oil Change International.
The ShellGuilty Campaign was launched in April by Friends of the Earth to pressure the oil company to stop gas flaring in Nigeria and take responsibility for human rights abuses. Several other environmental and human rights groups joined in encouraging concerned people around the world to take action.
The campaigners have pedged to continue working to gain restitution for local communities impacted by Shell's operations.
"Shell will be dragged from the boardroom to the courthouse, time and again, until the company addresses the injustices at the root of the Niger Delta crisis and puts an end to its environmental devastation," said Friends of the Earth's Elizabeth Bast. "Communities, human rights lawyers, and activists will continue to demand justice with the same determination and hope shown by Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni people."
The Niger Delta region is rich in oil and Shell and other companies have made huge profits mining the resources there. But practically none of the wealth has been transferred to those living in the region, which remains extremely underdeveloped and poor.
The groups in the ShellGuilty coalition hope the outcome of the Shell trial will put other companies on notice as well.
"This case should be a wake up call to multinational corporations that they will be held accountable for violations of international law, no matter where they occur," said Han Shan of Oil Change International.
Execution of Activist Ken Saro-Wiwa
The worldwide push to hold Shell accountable for accusations of human rights abuses in the Niger Delta was re-ignited in April, when a U.S. judge ruled that the oil company had to stand trial for its alleged role in the torture and execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Nigerian activists.
"Ken Saro-Wiwa's hanging revealed the true price of oil," said Kretzmann of Oil Change International.
The Nigerian activist was a leader in the movement to defend the rights of Nigeria's Ogoni people and bring an end to Shell's gas flaring in Ogoni regions. Detained, imprisoned, and tortured during the early 1990s, he was executed by the state alongside eight fellow Ogoni activists in 1995.
"Substantial evidence indicates Shell collaborated with the Nigerian government in a campaign of brutal crackdowns that culminated in the execution of Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues," noted the ShellGuilty coalition.
Humanitarian and Environmental Crimes
Aside from inciting discontent and violence, the booming oil industry in the Niger Delta has had negative effects on the region's environment and the health of those who live in the area.
Decades of contamination of the water and soil from oil and gas operations mean most food must now be imported, said advocacy group Justice for Nigeria Now. The practice of "gas flaring" has also placed a toxic pall over many villages.
"During the drilling for crude oil, gas usually comes to the surface as well and is often vented or flared instead of used, particularly in countries that lack effective regulations, gas markets, and the necessary infrastructure to utilize the gas," explains the World Bank, which has launched a public-private partnership to help reduce the amount of gas flared in countries around the world.
The Bank estimates that globally around 150 billion cubic meters of gas -- an amount equal to 30 percent of the European Union's total gas consumption -- are flared or burned every year, causing some 400 million tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions. Figures show that more gas is flared in Nigeria than any other country in the world except Russia.
But economic waste and carbon emissions are not the concerns that have brought Nigerians out en masse against the practice. "Huge flames billow in the air over Ebocha, Nigeria, and above them, black clouds leap into the sky," reported National Public Radio's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton from the region in 2007, noting the noxious fumes that loom over homes, farms, and shops, and the "strange smell" and "audible hiss" in the air.
"In the areas close to the gas flares, medical staff report treating patients with all sorts of illnesses that they believe are related to the flames: bronchial, chest, rheumatic, and eye problems, among others," she said, adding that local residents have a hard time sleeping because of the noise.
"Gas flaring in Nigeria, where Shell is by far the largest oil company, poisons Niger Delta communities and is a large, wasteful source of global warming pollution," noted Friends of the Earth's Bast.
* * *
Royal Dutch Shell Forced to Settle Human Rights Case Out of Court
From: ShellGuilty.com
6/8/09
New York- After legal battles lasting nearly fourteen years, oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has been forced to pay a $15.5 million out-of-court settlement. Plaintiffs from the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta have successfully held Shell accountable for complicity in human rights atrocities committed against the Ogoni people in the 1990s, including the execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. The legal action is one of the few cases brought under the U.S. Alien Tort Statute that have been resolved in favor of the plaintiffs. The settlement includes establishment of a $5 million trust to benefit local communities in Ogoni.
“We congratulate the plaintiffs on their victory. Let there be no doubt that Shell has emerged guilty. With this settlement, Shell is seeking to keep the overwhelming evidence of its crimes away from the scrutiny of a jury trial,” said Ben Amunwa from the UK-based Remember Saro-Wiwa project. “Shell could not stand the damage of bad publicity around this human rights case. Global campaigners have helped to highlight Shell’s abuses and we share in this historic victory.”
“Shell is guilty. Despite this victory, justice will not be served in Ogoni and throughout the Delta until the gas flares are put out, the spills cleaned up, and the military stops protecting the oil companies and starts serving the people,” said Steve Kretzmann, Executive Director of Oil Change International. “This issue will not be solved until these legitimate grievances of the community are addressed.”
“This case should be a wake up call to multinational corporations that they will be held accountable for violations of international law, no matter where they occur,” said Han Shan, ShellGuilty Campaign Coordinator for Oil Change International.
The next phase of the struggle continues with another case with an Ogoni plaintiff pending in the New York District Court, and a further legal action in The Hague, Netherlands, where Royal Dutch Shell is headquartered. The company faces a legal action there for repeated oil spills, brought by residents of the Niger Delta, with support from Friends of the Earth Netherlands and Friends of the Earth Nigeria.
“Shell will be dragged from the boardroom to the courthouse, time and again, until the company addresses the injustices at the root of the Niger Delta crisis and put an end to its environmental devastation,” said Elizabeth Bast, International Program Director for Friends of the Earth U.S. “Communities, human rights lawyers and activists will continue to demand justice with the same determination and hope shown by Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni people.”
Представьте: всякие дикари, которым не повезло прильнуть устами к живительному источнику евро-североамериканской цивилизации, колошматят друг-друга почём зря, в то время, как у Бритиш Петролеум и Шелл сердце обливается кровью, когда они видят неразумных детей природы. В конце-концов рыцари доллара и евро не выдерживают и вмешиваются. После чего в отдельно взятой банановой республике настаёт рай.
Shell Settles with Nigeria Villagers for $15M
WASHINGTON, Jun 10 (OneWorld.net) - After a decade of legal battles and pressure from activists, the Royal Dutch Shell oil company -- accused of human rights abuses in the oil-rich Niger Delta -- has agreed to pay a settlement to the communities in the region rather than face trial.
What's the Story?
Shell has decided to settle the controversial case out of court for $15.5 million; the oil company will not face the trial originally scheduled for next week in the United States. Shell maintained that its name was clear, saying the settlement is part of a reconciliation process for the unstable region.
The oil company will set up a $5 million fund to benefit local Ogoni communities -- indigenous people in the Niger Delta who have fought for years against exploitation by oil companies. Shell will also make payments to the families of activists, like writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, who were executed by Nigeria's military government in 1995.
But the fight is not yet over, say activists. Groups are still campaigning to ensure local communities receive a greater share of the oil wealth and to stop "gas flaring," a process harmful to both the environment and the health of people living in communities nearby. Shell, which earned record profits of $31 billion in 2008, is facing at least two more legal actions related to its oil operations in the Niger Delta. (Read the full story from ShellGuilty below.)
Bittersweet Victory for Activist Groups
"We congratulate the plaintiffs on their victory. Let there be no doubt that Shell has emerged guilty," said Ben Amunwa, a member of the Remember Saro-Wiwa project. While he acknowledged the historic victory, Amunwa added: "With this settlement, Shell is seeking to keep the overwhelming evidence of its crimes away from the scrutiny of a jury trial."
"Despite this victory, justice will not be served in Ogoni and throughout the Delta until the gas flares are put out, the spills cleaned up, and the military stops protecting the oil companies and starts serving the people," said Steve Kretzmann, executive director of Oil Change International.
The ShellGuilty Campaign was launched in April by Friends of the Earth to pressure the oil company to stop gas flaring in Nigeria and take responsibility for human rights abuses. Several other environmental and human rights groups joined in encouraging concerned people around the world to take action.
The campaigners have pedged to continue working to gain restitution for local communities impacted by Shell's operations.
"Shell will be dragged from the boardroom to the courthouse, time and again, until the company addresses the injustices at the root of the Niger Delta crisis and puts an end to its environmental devastation," said Friends of the Earth's Elizabeth Bast. "Communities, human rights lawyers, and activists will continue to demand justice with the same determination and hope shown by Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni people."
The Niger Delta region is rich in oil and Shell and other companies have made huge profits mining the resources there. But practically none of the wealth has been transferred to those living in the region, which remains extremely underdeveloped and poor.
The groups in the ShellGuilty coalition hope the outcome of the Shell trial will put other companies on notice as well.
"This case should be a wake up call to multinational corporations that they will be held accountable for violations of international law, no matter where they occur," said Han Shan of Oil Change International.
Execution of Activist Ken Saro-Wiwa
The worldwide push to hold Shell accountable for accusations of human rights abuses in the Niger Delta was re-ignited in April, when a U.S. judge ruled that the oil company had to stand trial for its alleged role in the torture and execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Nigerian activists.
"Ken Saro-Wiwa's hanging revealed the true price of oil," said Kretzmann of Oil Change International.
The Nigerian activist was a leader in the movement to defend the rights of Nigeria's Ogoni people and bring an end to Shell's gas flaring in Ogoni regions. Detained, imprisoned, and tortured during the early 1990s, he was executed by the state alongside eight fellow Ogoni activists in 1995.
"Substantial evidence indicates Shell collaborated with the Nigerian government in a campaign of brutal crackdowns that culminated in the execution of Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues," noted the ShellGuilty coalition.
Humanitarian and Environmental Crimes
Aside from inciting discontent and violence, the booming oil industry in the Niger Delta has had negative effects on the region's environment and the health of those who live in the area.
Decades of contamination of the water and soil from oil and gas operations mean most food must now be imported, said advocacy group Justice for Nigeria Now. The practice of "gas flaring" has also placed a toxic pall over many villages.
"During the drilling for crude oil, gas usually comes to the surface as well and is often vented or flared instead of used, particularly in countries that lack effective regulations, gas markets, and the necessary infrastructure to utilize the gas," explains the World Bank, which has launched a public-private partnership to help reduce the amount of gas flared in countries around the world.
The Bank estimates that globally around 150 billion cubic meters of gas -- an amount equal to 30 percent of the European Union's total gas consumption -- are flared or burned every year, causing some 400 million tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions. Figures show that more gas is flared in Nigeria than any other country in the world except Russia.
But economic waste and carbon emissions are not the concerns that have brought Nigerians out en masse against the practice. "Huge flames billow in the air over Ebocha, Nigeria, and above them, black clouds leap into the sky," reported National Public Radio's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton from the region in 2007, noting the noxious fumes that loom over homes, farms, and shops, and the "strange smell" and "audible hiss" in the air.
"In the areas close to the gas flares, medical staff report treating patients with all sorts of illnesses that they believe are related to the flames: bronchial, chest, rheumatic, and eye problems, among others," she said, adding that local residents have a hard time sleeping because of the noise.
"Gas flaring in Nigeria, where Shell is by far the largest oil company, poisons Niger Delta communities and is a large, wasteful source of global warming pollution," noted Friends of the Earth's Bast.
* * *
Royal Dutch Shell Forced to Settle Human Rights Case Out of Court
From: ShellGuilty.com
6/8/09
New York- After legal battles lasting nearly fourteen years, oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has been forced to pay a $15.5 million out-of-court settlement. Plaintiffs from the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta have successfully held Shell accountable for complicity in human rights atrocities committed against the Ogoni people in the 1990s, including the execution of writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. The legal action is one of the few cases brought under the U.S. Alien Tort Statute that have been resolved in favor of the plaintiffs. The settlement includes establishment of a $5 million trust to benefit local communities in Ogoni.
“We congratulate the plaintiffs on their victory. Let there be no doubt that Shell has emerged guilty. With this settlement, Shell is seeking to keep the overwhelming evidence of its crimes away from the scrutiny of a jury trial,” said Ben Amunwa from the UK-based Remember Saro-Wiwa project. “Shell could not stand the damage of bad publicity around this human rights case. Global campaigners have helped to highlight Shell’s abuses and we share in this historic victory.”
“Shell is guilty. Despite this victory, justice will not be served in Ogoni and throughout the Delta until the gas flares are put out, the spills cleaned up, and the military stops protecting the oil companies and starts serving the people,” said Steve Kretzmann, Executive Director of Oil Change International. “This issue will not be solved until these legitimate grievances of the community are addressed.”
“This case should be a wake up call to multinational corporations that they will be held accountable for violations of international law, no matter where they occur,” said Han Shan, ShellGuilty Campaign Coordinator for Oil Change International.
The next phase of the struggle continues with another case with an Ogoni plaintiff pending in the New York District Court, and a further legal action in The Hague, Netherlands, where Royal Dutch Shell is headquartered. The company faces a legal action there for repeated oil spills, brought by residents of the Niger Delta, with support from Friends of the Earth Netherlands and Friends of the Earth Nigeria.
“Shell will be dragged from the boardroom to the courthouse, time and again, until the company addresses the injustices at the root of the Niger Delta crisis and put an end to its environmental devastation,” said Elizabeth Bast, International Program Director for Friends of the Earth U.S. “Communities, human rights lawyers and activists will continue to demand justice with the same determination and hope shown by Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni people.”