NIGERIA: Residents in oil rich Ogoni are hopeful about the court case brought against oil giant Shell in New York
Record ID:
235493
NIGERIA: Residents in oil rich Ogoni are hopeful about the court case brought against oil giant Shell in New York
- Title: NIGERIA: Residents in oil rich Ogoni are hopeful about the court case brought against oil giant Shell in New York
- Date: 27th May 2009
- Summary: OGONI, NIGERIA ( MAY 25, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BUSY ROAD AT SHOPPING CENTRE IN OGONI PORT HARCOURT, NIGERIA (MAY 25, 2009) (REUTERS) LEDIUM MITEE, PRESIDENT OF THE MOVEMENT FOR THE SURVIVAL OF OGONI PEOPLE (MOSOP) ATTENDING TO CLIENTS IN HIS LAW OFFICE PHOTOGRAPHS OF ALLEGEDLY TORTURED AND THEN MURDERED VICTIM DURING THE OGONI CRISIS (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEDIUM MITEE, SAYING: "The case coming up in New York now is of profound significance to the Ogonis and the Niger Delta. It is profound in the sense that it has brought the issue of corporate responsibility to the front banner and that one day corporations will have their day to account and that day for Shell is coming in a New York court." WIG AND GOWN BOOKS ON NIGERIA LAW (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEDIUM MATEE, SAYING: "Part of the problem in the Niger Delta has been that a seeming closure of that route of things, they cannot get justice in time through legal channels, and I say this as someone who practices law, one of the frustrating things have been when the companies use their resources to just delay the trial and delay and delay and ultimately the people get fed up." ANNKIO BRIGG, NIGERIA HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS, WOMEN AGAINST GENOCIDE, WITH FRIENDS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANNKIO BRIGGS, SAYING: "It is a great encouragement, it is a great achievement on behalf of the Ken Saro-Wiwa family, on behalf of Ogoni people and also on behalf of Niger Delta people that are agitating for the same things Ken Saro-Wiwa agitated for on behalf of his people." OGONI, NIGERIA (MAY 25, 2009) (REUTERS) HARRY SARO-WIWA AND FRIEND AT THE FAMILY HOME IN OGONI WOMAN HANGING CLOTHES TO DRY (SOUNDBITE) (English) HARRY SARO-WIWA, HEAD OF THE KEN SARO-WIWA FAMILY, SAYING: "If the case goes through and we win, I believe justice would have been done, but then how do I believe we will win when the same man or people that need the oil are the same people handling the case? But as government has a rule of law, it may take place, my only hope is the rule of law, if not, that a man that is killing you is the same man that is handling your case...wonderful..." POSTER CONDEMNING SHELL ON KEN SARO-WIWA'S HOUSE EMPTY KEN SARO-WIWA HOUSE SIGN BOARD POINTING TO BURIAL PLACE FOR KEN SARO-WIWA FLAG AT KEN SARO-WIWA, BURIAL SITE SMALL HOUSE WHERE KEN SARO-WIWA WAS BURIED
- Embargoed: 11th June 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria
- Country: Nigeria
- Topics: Legal System,Energy
- Reuters ID: LVAATW8K92L5NYUB6HMG38R9TEYG
- Story Text: A civil trial that will judge any involvement by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell in the executions of protesters in Nigeria starts on Tuesday (May 26) in New York City, more than 13 years after their deaths.
Nigerian activists in Ogoni believe that the trial in New York would end many years of injustice and make corporations more accountable.
Ledium Mitee, the leader of the Ogoni people and lawyer in Nigeria's oil hub city of Port Harcourt said the success of the case would hold several other companies operating in the Niger Delta accountable for their deeds.
"The case coming up in New York now is of profound significance to the Ogonis and the Niger Delta. It is profound in the sense that it has brought the issue of corporate responsibility to the front banner and that one day corporations will have their day to account and that day for Shell is coming in a New York court," Ledium said on Monday (May 25).
Shell is accused of human rights abuses, including in connection with the 1995 hangings of prominent activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other protesters by Nigeria's then-military government. Shell has denied allegations of involvement.
Ledium said that cases held in Nigeria against Shell had been frustrated through delays causing anger amongst the people in the oil producing delta.
"Part of the problem in the Niger Delta has been that a seeming closure of that route of things, they cannot get justice in time through legal channels, and I say this as someone who practices law, one of the frustrating things have been when the companies use their resources to just delay the trial and delay and delay and ultimately the people get fed up," he said.
The protesters, who campaigned non-violently for a fairer share of Nigeria's oil wealth for the poor and against environmental damage by the industry, had been convicted of murder in a trial that human rights groups labelled a sham.
"It is a great encouragement, it is a great achievement on behalf of the Ken Saro-Wiwa family, on behalf of Ogoni people and also on behalf of Niger Delta people that are agitating for the same things Ken Saro-Wiwa agitated for on behalf of his people," said Annkio Briggs, a human rights activist in the Niger Delta.
This trial in U.S. federal court in Manhattan stems from lawsuits filed by relatives of the protesters. They seek unspecified damages from Shell for backing the jailing, torturing and killing of the protesters, as well as for polluting the region's air and water.
Harry Saro-Wiwa, the elder brother to the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, said even though he was glad that Shell was at last going on trial, he doubted its outcome.
"If the case goes through and we win, I believe justice would have been done, but then how do I believe we will win when the same man or people that need the oil are the same people handling the case? But as government has a rule of law, it may take place, my only hope is the rule of law, if not, that a man that is killing you is the same man that is handling your case...wonderful...," he said.
The lawsuits were brought under a 1789 U.S. statute, the Alien Tort Claims Act, allowing non-citizens to file cases in U.S. courts for human rights abuses occurring overseas.
Protests led by Saro-Wiwa forced Shell in 1993 to abandon its oil fields in Ogoniland, a tiny part of the Niger Delta whose people Saro-Wiwa represented. Nigeria is the world's eighth biggest oil exporter.
Shell is also accused of other abuses against the Ogoni people, including torture and the forced exile of Saro-Wiwa's brother, Dr. Owens Wiwa, and the shootings of two other people in attacks on protesters.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, who include the late campaigner's son Ken Saro-Wiwa Junior, say evidence in the trial will include documents in which Shell called Saro-Wiwa a threat that should be eliminated.
Shell spokeswoman Robin Lebovitz said the allegations were "without merit." She said the company had tried to persuade the Nigerian government to "grant clemency" to the protesters and that Shell had been "shocked and saddened" by the executions.
A multinational company has never been found liable of human rights abuses by a U.S. jury, but a few have settled out of court. The Shell case, which could result in millions of dollars in damages, is the third to go to trial and the second involving a major oil company. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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