> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 12:22:49 -0700 >From: "Claudia K. White" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >September 26, 2000 > >Ogonis have their day in court > >CAMERON DUODU > >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >The United States Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a case against the >transnational petroleum conglomerate Royal Dutch/Shell Group, filed by >relatives of the Ogoni Nine who were hanged in 1995 by the government of the >late Nigerian dictator, General Sani Abacha, can be heard in the US courts. >The case, which alleges that Shell collaborated with the Abacha government in >its brutal treatment of the Ogonis, was filed on behalf of three Ogonis, >including Dr Owens Wiwa, the brother of writer Ken Saro-Wiwa. > >When the case was first taken to the US in 1996, the lower court ruled that >the court had jurisdiction to hear it. But this ruling was overturned in 1998 >by a district court before which an appeal had been lodged. > >The London-based Independent newspaper quotes Circuit Court of Appeals Judge >Pierre Leval as saying the district court had "failed to give weight" to three >factors that favoured US jurisdiction in the matter. First, some of the >plaintiffs now live in the US; second, the lower court had ignored interests >of the US in providing a forum for human rights claims; and third, the factors >that led the district court to dismiss the case in favour of a British forum >were "not compelling". > >He further found that the district court had failed to consider the financial >hardship the plaintiffs would suffer if the case was moved to Britain. > >Judge Leval said new formulations of the Torture Victims' Protection Act >passed by the US Congress in 1991 convey the message that acts of torture >committed under the law of a foreign nation, in violation of international >law, are also violations of US domestic law. > >If the case goes to trial before a jury in the US, it will prove embarrassing >for Shell. The Ogonis have persistently charged the company with ignoring >their human rights in the course of its petroleum drilling operations on their >land. According to the Ogonis, Shell's operations pollute their rivers and >destroy the fishing industry from which many Ogonis gain their livelihood. >They also claim that Shell's practice of flaring the gas that is emitted as a >by-product of petroleum has polluted the air. > >Environmental considerations aside, the Ogonis say that Shell's complaints to >the Abacha government against the Ogonis for disrupting the company's >operations unleashed a reign of terror. The feared "mobile police" force, >whose reputation in Nigeria is characterised by the sobriquet "the >kill-and-go-police", had been set on the Ogonis on occasion. > >Based on documents leaked to the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People >(Mosop), the Ogonis' suspect that the provincial administration in the Ogoni >area was in cahoots with Shell in planning how to frustrate the Ogonis' >struggle to win a fair share of the money that flows into the coffers of the >Nigerian government from petroleum produced on Ogoni land. > >The late leader of the Ogoni struggle, Saro-Wiwa, was prepared to win some >local autonomy for his people and gave them an Ogoni "national anthem" and an >Ogoni flag. This infuriated the government and Saro-Wiwa was stitched up with >a murder charge for which he was tried by a kangaroo court and hanged, with >eight other Ogoni activists. > >With a civilian government now in charge of Nigeria, many of the documents >covering the relationship between Shell and the former military administration >are likely to become available to the litigants in the US, and could prove to >be an unprecedented source of information about the way so-called "apolitical" >transnational companies interfere in the affairs of developing countries. > >For instance, Shell used to purchase weapons for the Nigerian police >detachments that guarded its installations. When the Observer newspaper broke >the story of the arms purchases, the former Nigerian chief of the defence >staff, Lieutenant General Alani Akinrinade, said that the police were armed to >the teeth and did not need Shell to buy them weapons. The implication was that >Shell was buying the arms for the police in order to get them obligated to >Shell. > >Shell insisted, however, that the practice of buying arms for the police was >common to many of the companies that operated in Nigeria and that needed >protection. > >The Ogonis' case could be a win for human rights everywhere. Many >transnational companies suppress the rights of their workers and ignore the >environmental concerns of the communities whose natural resources they >exploit, because they believe the regimes in whose territory they operate will >not act against them for fear that they will jeopardise the huge taxes or >dividends that the companies pay. > >But the US is known for its "class action suits", which encourage people whose >rights have been abused to seek redress, and the willingness of its lawyers to >take cases to court on a no-win-no-fee basis. Therefore, if acts of inhumanity >committed outside the US can now be seen to be actionable in the US, the field >will be open for oppressed people to emulate the Ogonis' example. > >The case could herald the dawning of a new relationship between the peoples of >developing countries and the transnational corporations that make their lives >a misery while churning up huge profits from their lands. > >-- The Mail&Guardian, September 26, 2000. > >Web Page Address: http://www.mg.co.za/za/africa/2000sep/26sep-ogoni.html > > > >To SUBSCRIBE, send a blank message (nothing needed in the subject or the body) >to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > >--------- End Forwarded Message --------- > ============================= >Claudia White~Main Line News >http://www.mainlinenews.net >Web Archives & Main Page: >http://www.angelfire.com/ut/Angel1 >============================= > > > > > >Angelfire for your free web-based e-mail. http://www.angelfire.com > > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb >Content-Type: text/html >Content-Language: en >Content-Length: 9018 > ><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD W3 HTML//EN"> ><HTML> ><HEAD> > ><META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type> ><META content='"MSHTML 4.72.3110.7"' name=GENERATOR> ></HEAD> ><BODY bgColor=#ffffff>STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK > ><P> > ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>September 26, 2000 </FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Ogonis have their day in court </FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>CAMERON DUODU </FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 >size=2>-----------------------------------------------------------------------< >BR>The >United States Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a case against the >transnational petroleum conglomerate Royal Dutch/Shell Group, filed by >relatives >of the Ogoni Nine who were hanged in 1995 by the government of the late >Nigerian >dictator, General Sani Abacha, can be heard in the US courts.<BR>The case, >which >alleges that Shell collaborated with the Abacha government in its brutal >treatment of the Ogonis, was filed on behalf of three Ogonis, including Dr >Owens >Wiwa, the brother of writer Ken Saro-Wiwa.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>When the case was first taken to the US in >1996, >the lower court ruled that the court had jurisdiction to hear it. But this >ruling was overturned in 1998 by a district court before which an appeal had >been lodged.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>The London-based Independent newspaper quotes >Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Pierre Leval as saying the district court had >"failed to give weight" to three factors that favoured US >jurisdiction >in the matter. First, some of the plaintiffs now live in the US; second, the >lower court had ignored interests of the US in providing a forum for human >rights claims; and third, the factors that led the district court to dismiss >the >case in favour of a British forum were "not compelling".</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>He further found that the district court had >failed to consider the financial hardship the plaintiffs would suffer if the >case was moved to Britain.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Judge Leval said new formulations of the >Torture >Victims' Protection Act passed by the US Congress in 1991 convey the message >that acts of torture committed under the law of a foreign nation, in violation >of international law, are also violations of US domestic law.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>If the case goes to trial before a jury in the >US, it will prove embarrassing for Shell. The Ogonis have persistently charged >the company with ignoring their human rights in the course of its petroleum >drilling operations on their land. According to the Ogonis, Shell's operations >pollute their rivers and destroy the fishing industry from which many Ogonis >gain their livelihood. They also claim that Shell's practice of flaring the >gas >that is emitted as a by-product of petroleum has polluted the air.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Environmental considerations aside, the Ogonis >say that Shell's complaints to the Abacha government against the Ogonis for >disrupting the company's operations unleashed a reign of terror. The feared >"mobile police" force, whose reputation in Nigeria is characterised >by >the sobriquet "the kill-and-go-police", had been set on the Ogonis >on >occasion.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Based on documents leaked to the Movement for >the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop), the Ogonis' suspect that the >provincial administration in the Ogoni area was in cahoots with Shell in >planning how to frustrate the Ogonis' struggle to win a fair share of the >money >that flows into the coffers of the Nigerian government from petroleum produced >on Ogoni land.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>The late leader of the Ogoni struggle, >Saro-Wiwa, was prepared to win some local autonomy for his people and gave >them >an Ogoni "national anthem" and an Ogoni flag. This infuriated the >government and Saro-Wiwa was stitched up with a murder charge for which he was >tried by a kangaroo court and hanged, with eight other Ogoni >activists.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>With a civilian government now in charge of >Nigeria, many of the documents covering the relationship between Shell and the >former military administration are likely to become available to the litigants >in the US, and could prove to be an unprecedented source of information about >the way so-called "apolitical" transnational companies interfere in >the affairs of developing countries.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>For instance, Shell used to purchase weapons >for >the Nigerian police detachments that guarded its installations. When the >Observer newspaper broke the story of the arms purchases, the former Nigerian >chief of the defence staff, Lieutenant General Alani Akinrinade, said that the >police were armed to the teeth and did not need Shell to buy them weapons. The >implication was that Shell was buying the arms for the police in order to get >them obligated to Shell.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Shell insisted, however, that the practice of >buying arms for the police was common to many of the companies that operated >in >Nigeria and that needed protection.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>The Ogonis' case could be a win for human >rights >everywhere. Many transnational companies suppress the rights of their workers >and ignore the environmental concerns of the communities whose natural >resources >they exploit, because they believe the regimes in whose territory they operate >will not act against them for fear that they will jeopardise the huge taxes or >dividends that the companies pay.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>But the US is known for its "class action >suits", which encourage people whose rights have been abused to seek >redress, and the willingness of its lawyers to take cases to court on a >no-win-no-fee basis. Therefore, if acts of inhumanity committed outside the US >can now be seen to be actionable in the US, the field will be open for >oppressed >people to emulate the Ogonis' example.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>The case could herald the dawning of a new >relationship between the peoples of developing countries and the transnational >corporations that make their lives a misery while churning up huge profits >from >their lands.</FONT></DIV> ><DIV> </DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>-- The Mail&Guardian, September 26, >2000.<BR></FONT></DIV> ><DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Web Page Address: </FONT><FONT >color=#000000 size=2> <A >href="http://www.mg.co.za/za/africa/2000sep/26sep-ogoni.html">http://www.mg.co. >za/za/africa/2000sep/26sep-ogoni.html</A></FONT></DIV> ><PRE>To POST A MESSAGE to the list, send your message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To SUBSCRIBE, send a blank message (nothing needed in the subject or the body) >to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a blank message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >If you have any problems using the list, send a message to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] ></PRE> ><PRE>___________________________________________________________ >T O P I C A The Email You Want. <A >HREF="http://www.topica.com/t/16">http://www.topica.com/t/16</A> >Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics</PRE> > > ><hr> >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]<br> >Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb<BR> ></BODY></HTML> > _______________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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