[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
NEWS - SARO-WIWA'S Family Sues Shel
- Subject: NEWS - SARO-WIWA'S Family Sues Shel
- From: Rangoonp@xxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 26 May 1999 21:35:00
Subject: NEWS - SARO-WIWA'S Family Sues Shell Nigeria
SARO-WIWA'S Family Sues Shell Nigeria
Africa News Service
24-MAY-99
Lagos (P.M. News, May 24, 1999) - The family of writer
Ken
Saro-Wiwa, who was executed in 1995 b= y order of the
Nigerian government, is seeking millions of pounds in
dama=
ges from Shell in a US lawsuit alleging that human rights
violations perp= etrated by the Abuja government are
partly
the responsibility of the oil = company, Britain's Sunday
Independent has reported..
"We believe Shell facilitated Saro-Wiwa's execution,"
said
Jenny Green= , a lawyer for the family at the New
York-based Center for Constitutional= Rights. "We believe
there is a basis in US law to hold Shell accountable=
Shell
denies all wrongdoing and is appealing on a technicality
to
stop= the lawsuit from being heard.
The New York District Court ruled in January that it had
jurisdiction,= but said the case would be better heard in
London. Shell is contending i= n the Second Circuit Court
of
Appeals in New York that the US does not ha= ve
jurisdiction for this case. Saro-Wiwa's family is
cross-appealing that= New York is a better venue than
London. Oral arguments are scheduled for= this autumn.
The existence of the lawsuit emerged last week as a
result
of demonstr= ations outside the annual general meeting of
Premier Oil in London. Activ= ists from The Burma
Campaign
UK and the World Development Movement want P= remier
to halt construction of a natural gas pipeline running
from the
An= daman Sea through Burma to Thailand.
Activists say the pipeline is being built with forced
labour.
Premier = Oil denies this and says it has a policy of
constructive engagement with = Burmese authorities to
stop
human rights abuses by linking the local econ= omy to the
outside world.
US activists working along side the campaigners are suing
Unocal, a US= oil company also building a natural gas
pipeline in Burma.
The Center for Constitutional Rights and EarthRights
International say= Unocal is responsible for the Burmese
Army forcing locals to work on the= pipeline.
Unocal denies this charge and is appealing a decision in
a
California = court which says the US has jurisdiction to
hear
the case.
If successful, the legal initiatives against Shell and
Unocal
could ha= ve far-reaching implications. US human rights
activists want to extend le= gal precedents established
in the
US to make multinationals financially l= iable for human
rights abuses in the Third World.
Jenny Green at the Center for Constitutional Law claims
that
the Saro-= Wiwa family and a second group of defendants
from the writer's Ogoni trib= e have affidavits in which
Shell
said to the Saro-Wiwa family, when Ken S= aro-Wiwa was in
custody: "If you call off the international campaign
mayb= e
there's something that can be done to help."
The family of writer Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed in
1995 by order = of the Nigerian government, is seeking
millions of pounds in damages from= Shell in a US lawsuit
alleging that human rights violations perpetrated = by
the
Lagos government are partly the responsibility of the oil
company.= "We believe Shell facilitated Saro-Wiwa's
execution," said Jenny Green= , a lawyer for the family
at the
New York-based Center for Constitutional= Rights. "We
believe there is a basis in US law to hold Shell
accountable=
Shell denies all wrongdoing and is appealing on a
technicality to stop= the lawsuit from being heard.
The New York District Court ruled in January that it had
jurisdiction,= but said the case would be better heard in
London. Shell is contending i= n the Second Circuit Court
of
Appeals in New York that the US does not ha= ve
jurisdiction for this case. Saro-Wiwa's family is
cross-appealing that= New York is a better venue than
London. Oral arguments are scheduled for= this autumn.
The existence of the lawsuit emerged last week as a
result
of demonstr= ations outside the annual general meeting of
Premier Oil in London. Activ= ists from The Burma
Campaign
UK and the World Development Movement want P= remier
to halt construction of a natural gas pipeline running
from the
An= daman Sea through Burma to Thailand.
Activists say the pipeline is being built with forced
labour.
Premier = Oil denies this and says it has a policy of
constructive engagement with = Burmese authorities to
stop
human rights abuses by linking the local econ= omy to the
outside world.
US activists working along side the campaigners are suing
Unocal, a US= oil company also building a natural gas
pipeline in Burma.
The Center for Constitutional Rights and EarthRights
International say= Unocal is responsible for the Burmese
Army forcing locals to work on the= pipeline.
Unocal denies this charge and is appealing a decision in
a
California = court which says the US has jurisdiction to
hear
the case.
If successful, the legal initiatives against Shell and
Unocal
could ha= ve far-reaching implications. US human rights
activists want to extend le= gal precedents established
in the
US to make multinationals financially l= iable for human
rights abuses in the Third World.
Jenny Green at the Center for Constitutional Law claims
that
the Saro-= Wiwa family and a second group of defendants
from the writer's Ogoni trib= e have affidavits in which
Shell
said to the Saro-Wiwa family, when Ken S= aro-Wiwa was in
custody: "If you call off the international campaign
mayb= e
there's something that can be done to help."
Copyright 1999 P.M. News. Distributed via Africa News
Online.