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Politics : Stop the War! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Techplayer who wrote (8724)	4/6/2003 6:48:23 PM
From: Doug R	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21614

In fact, The New York Times confirmed that Shell not only transported, but even paid salary bonuses to soldiers taking part in the attacks on the Ogoni. "This ruling means that the families of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his Ogoni colleagues may yet get some measure of justice for the unlawful executions and other abuses in which Shell was complicit," said co-counsel Richard Herz, an attorney with EarthRights International. "More broadly, it sends a strong message to other multinational companies that they cannot participate in egregious human rights abuses with impunity." Ken himself foresaw such a turn of events. In his last statement to the military tribunal that convicted him, he warned that Shell would pay for its actions: "Shell is here on trial. The company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come." The ruling against Shell provides a hopeful contrast to the Bush administration's success in quashing a human-rights lawsuit filed by villagers in the Indonesian province of Aceh. That suit charged that U.S.-based ExxonMobil contracted with Indonesian military and militia forces to murder, torture and rape local residents who were interfering with the company's ability to profit there. Similar suits targeting oil companies for human rights abuses have been brought against Unocal by members of ethnic minorities in Burma (Myanmar), against Chevron-Texaco by other Nigerian groups, and against Texaco by Ecuadorean indigenous communities. While the sickening price paid by Ken Saro-Wiwa and God knows how many other Nigerians is horrifiying, we can take courage from his example – and from the idea that with commitment, justice is still within reach. To force a global oil corporation out from behind the cover of a corrupt and ruthless government – not just in the streets, but in a court of law – is no small achievement. And it sends a powerful message: Even though, like Exxon in Indonesia, they may sometimes dodge responsibility, multinational corporations no longer have carte blanche to abuse human rights, whether directly or by proxy. Besides holding Shell to account for its criminal abuses of human rights, Judge Wood's ruling helps to advance the cause of liberty in Nigeria and around the world. It looks like Ken's dreams of freedom weren't in vain. alternet.org You are indeed blind.