Vereniging Milieudefensie
Milieudefensie blij met schikking Shell in zaak Saro-Wiwa
Amsterdam, 9 juni 2009 - Milieudefensie is blij dat Shell heeft
besloten tot een schikking in de rechstszaak die in de VS tegen het
olieconcern aangespannen was. Shell schikte voor 15,5 miljoen dollar
in de zaak, die ging over de vermeende betrokkenheid van het bedrijf
bij de dood van onder anderen de Nigeriaanse mensenrechtenactivist Ken
Saro-Wiwa.
Het is nog niet duidelijk wat de schikking in deze zaak betekent voor
de zaak die Milieudefensie samen met vier Nigerianen in Nederland
heeft voor het eerst geschikt aangespannen tegen Shell wegens
vervuiling bij de oliewinning in de Nigerdelta. "Maar het is wel de
eerste keer dat Shell in een dergelijke zaak schikt, en dat is heel
bijzonder," stelt Anne van Schaik, campagneleider Globalisering bij
Milieudefensie.
De advocaten van de vier Nigerianen en Milieudefensie, prof. dr.
Liesbeth Zegveld en mr. Michel Uiterwaal van het advocatenkantoor
Böhler Franken Koppe Wijngaarden, ontvingen in mei een antwoord van
Shell over de eerste dagvaarding in de Nederlandse zaak: die van het
dorp Oruma. Milieudefensie publiceert op 8 juli haar reactie op het
antwoord van Shell.
Lees meer over deze zaak op:
www.milieudefensie.nl/globalisering/activiteiten/shell
Lees hier het engelstalige bericht over de schikking in de zaak
Saro-Wiwa:
SHELL FORCED TO SETTLE HUMAN RIGHTS CASE OUT OF COURT
New York/Amsterdam/Brussels - 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 Paul de Clerck from Friends of the
Earth International, "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 Anne van Schaik from Friends of the Earth Netherlands.
"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."
www.ShellGuilty.com