|
|
|
Last Updated: Jul 21st, 2009 - 11:51:41 |
Shell to Pay Out $15.5 Million to Settle Landmark Lawsuit over Death of Nigerian Activist Ken Saro-Wiwa
The oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay a $15.5
 |
| Ken Saro-Wiwa |
million settlement to avoid a trial over its alleged involvement in human rights violations in the Niger Delta. The case was brought on behalf of ten plaintiffs who accused Shell of complicity in the 1995 executions of Nigerian writer and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others. Ken Saro-Wiwa was the founding member and president of MOSOP, the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, a group committed to use nonviolence to stop the repression and exploitation of the Ogoni and their land by Shell and the Nigerian government.
Shell was accused of working closely with and financing the Nigerian military government to brutally quell the peaceful resistance against its presence. The plaintiffs had promised to unveil extensive evidence of Shell’s complicity in the killings during the trial.
The case was brought under the US Alien Torts Claim Act and the Torture Victim Protection Act, which allows foreigners to file cases against Americans for crimes committed abroad. The settlement caps a legal battle that began thirteen years ago, one year after Ken Saro-Wiwa’s murder. The plaintiffs say they’ll put $5 million of the settlement money towards a trust fund benefiting the Ogoni people.
Shell did not respond to our interview request. But in a statement, the company said the settlement does not mean it admits to any wrongdoing. Malcolm Brinded, head of the Shell’s exploration and production unit, said, quote, “Shell has always maintained the allegations were false. While we were prepared to go to court to clear our name, we believe the right way forward is to focus on the future for Ogoni people, which is important for peace and stability in the region.”
The son of Ken Saro-Wiwa, one of the plaintiffs in the case, spoke by telephone shortly after the settlement was announced.
KEN WIWA: Well, obviously I’m relieved, because we now have an opportunity to draw a line on the sad past and [inaudible] face the future with some hope that what we’ve done here will have changed the way, helped to change the way in which businesses regard their operations abroad. And hopefully, you know, the trust will be set up. Again, we’ll be given indication that we need to focus on the development needs of the people.
Democracy Now: Can you talk more about this trust that you’ve established?
KEN WIWA: Well, it’s just—we felt that, you know, any settlements—my father always emphasized to me that there was no such thing as individual success in a collective failure. So when the settlement was being mooted, we thought that one of the things we had to ensure was that there was something given back to the community, as we were very much aware that this was not a class action suit. It was not a suit on behalf of the Ogoni; it was ten private individuals who brought a suit against Shell for their private grief. And so, nevertheless, we felt that it wasn’t—that it wouldn’t be—we wouldn’t be satisfied unless we were able to give something back to the community.
Von Brunn Charged with Murder in Holocaust Museum Shooting
The white supremacist James von Brunn has been charged with murder for Wednesday’s shooting death of a security guard at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. The security guard, Stephen Johns, was thirty-nine years old. On Thursday, Johns’s mother, Jacqueline Carter, spoke of her son’s life.
Jacqueline Carter: “He was just a beautiful person. He liked his job, and he worked a lot. And it would be just like him to try to, you know, protect people from harm.”
Von Brunn remains in critical condition from wounds sustained when other security guards returned fire. Meanwhile, on Thursday the FBI acknowledged it had been “aware” of Von Brunn’s hateful writings about religious and ethnic minorities but that it never launched a criminal probe. The attack marks at least the third recent shooting involving a gunman with ties to the white nationalist movement.
Charges Dropped in Dragging Death of Black Man in Texas
In the Texas town of Paris, protesters gathered outside the local courthouse Monday condemning the recent dismissal of murder charges against two White men in the dragging death of a Black man. Twenty-four-year-old Brandon McClelland died last year after he was dragged from beneath a truck until his body was nearly dismembered. The two men originally charged in the crime were both friends of McClelland. They were released last week after being held for eight months in jail awaiting trial. Officials said the case had been unraveling in recent months because of a lack of eyewitnesses and physical evidence. Last month, a gravel truck driver gave a sworn statement acknowledging he might have accidentally run over McClelland, who authorities say got out of the car to walk home.
Nation’s Unemployment Rate Surges to 9.4%
The nation’s unemployment rate has surged to 9.4 percent, the highest it has been since 1983. 345,000 jobs were lost during the month of May. The current unemployment rate would jump to 16.8 percent if it included laid-off workers who have given up looking for new jobs or have had to settle for part-time work. The latest government statistics also reveal the nation’s long-term unemployment rate is at the highest it’s been since the government began keeping records in 1948. 4.5 percent of the work force has been out of work for fifteen weeks or more.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis: “I would say to you that the number, in terms of unemployment rate, is still very, very high and not acceptable. We know that we have to do much, much more to put American workers back to work. We have seen some leveling off in comparison to the last few months, that we do see jobs that aren’t being lost as quickly, but I think that’s just—that’s going to happen between now and, I think, the next few months.”
Bankruptcy Filings Projected to Reach 1.5M
New figures show consumer and commercial bankruptcies are on pace to reach more than 1.5 million this year. The figure is the highest since Congress passed legislation making it harder to file for bankruptcy in 2005.
Study: Medical Bills Account for Over 60% of US Bankruptcies
A new study, meanwhile, says ballooning medical bills are now responsible for more than 60 percent of bankruptcies in the United States. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says the percentage of bankruptcies linked to medical bills increased by 50 percent from 2001 to 2007, the last year for which data is available. More than 75 percent of bankrupt families had health insurance but were still crippled by medical debts.
Katrina Victims to Remain in Trailer Homes
The Obama administration has announced it will let thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims remain in trailers they had been told to leave by the end of last month. The White House says the Gulf Coast residents will be allowed to purchase their trailers for nominal fees of $5 or less. And it says it will give the more than 3,400 families living in trailers priority for $50 million in housing vouchers. The eviction plans had come under wide criticism, because almost none of the housing destroyed by Katrina has been rebuilt or replaced. Wake Held for Slain African American NYPD Officer
Wake Held for Slain African American NYPD Officer
And here in New York, a wake was held June 2 for an off-duty African American police officer killed last week by a white officer who mistook him for a criminal. The slain officer, twenty-five-year-old Omar Edwards, had come across a man breaking into his vehicle. He chased the man with his gun drawn, when three police officers came upon him and one of them opened fire. Edwards was recently married and the father of two children. Democratic Congress member Charles Rangel of New York says he wants the Justice Department to probe Edwards’ killing.
Domestic Workers Fight for Bill of Rights
The Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, if passed, would amend New York state labor law and guarantee the over 200,000 nannies and housekeepers in New York state a living wage, overtime pay, sick leave, severance and health benefits, and protection from employment discrimination. It would be the first such bill in the country to challenge the exclusion of the nearly two million domestic workers countrywide from national labor law and set an important precedent for other states. We speak with a nanny-turned-organizer.
Contradicting Obama, Sen. Baucus Rules Out “Public” Healthcare
President Obama was in Green Bay, Wisconsin, June 11 to promote his push for healthcare reform. Speaking at a town hall-style event, Obama rejected criticism of his calls for creating a government-run public insurance program that would compete with private insurers.
President Obama: “To those who criticize our efforts, I ask them, ’What’s the alternative?’ What else do we say to all the families who spend more on healthcare than on housing or on food? What do we tell those businesses that are choosing between closing their doors and letting their workers go?”
Obama’s comments were aimed at critics who have opposed any type of public health plan. Private insurers have opposed a government-run program out of fear they’d be unable to compete with its cheaper costs. Obama did not, however, address his progressive critics who advocate the creation of a single-payer system that would eliminate for-profit insurance companies entirely. As Obama promoted his version of a public insurance program, a key Senate Democrat said he would oppose any form of public healthcare. Max Baucus, the Senate Finance Committee chair leading congressional efforts on healthcare reform, said he would propose a plan based on creating member-based insurance cooperatives not run by the government. Baucus explicitly ruled out using the word “public,” saying, “It’s not going to be public, we won’t call it public, but it will be tough enough to keep insurance companies’ feet to the fire.”
Dems to Hold Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings in July
Senate Democrats have announced they’ll hold confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor in just over a month. The July 13th date has angered Republicans who say the process will be too rushed. But Democrats say they’re on track to vote on Sotomayor’s nomination on the same time line as prior nominees, including Chief Justice John Roberts.
FBI Defends Use of Informants Inside Mosques
FBI Director Robert Mueller has defended the agency’s use of informants inside mosques, despite complaints from Muslim organizations that worshippers and clerics are being targeted instead of possible terrorists. Mueller said, “We don’t investigate places, we investigate individuals.” Several Muslim organizations have publicly complained that the FBI has planted spies in their mosques. Shakeel Syed of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California accused the FBI of "trying to incite and entrap” law-abiding people.
Survey: 2.8M Homes Unprepared for Switch to Digital TV
And analog television signals will shut off June 12 as the US completes the transition to digital TV. The survey group Nielson says around 2.8 million homes remain unprepared for the switch. Most of the unprepared households fall in the low-income, elderly and rural demographics.
General Motors Declares Bankruptcy
General Motors is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in what is expected to be one of the largest and most complex bankruptcy cases ever. The bankruptcy filing caps a remarkable fall for the 100-year-old company which was once the world’s largest car manufacturer. Under the proposed restructuring plan, the US government will invest another $30 billion in GM and take ownership of 60 percent of the company. The Canadian government, a union health trust and current bondholders would own the rest. The restructuring will result in the loss of 21,000 more jobs, the shuttering of at least twelve factories, and the closing of 2,600 car dealers. President Obama is expected to outline the proposed restructuring in a speech today. Administration officials said the government will remove itself from day-to-day operations of GM once a new management team is in place. Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio urged the White House not to subsidize GM’s overseas growth at the expense of US workers. In a statement, Kucinich said, “We must not allow GM to use US taxpayer dollars to close plants in America in order to open markets for products made in China and other countries.” Residents of Detroit said they were saddened and anxious by the bankruptcy of GM.
Mary Ann Bielaczyc, Detroit area resident: “They’re all scared. I mean, their day-to-day existence is depending on this. I have a brother who’s a contract worker for GM, and he never knows from one day to the next if he’s going to have a job. My next door neighbor’s son works for GM, or used to, found out that his job was eliminated. And, I mean, it’s scary.”
In other auto news, a federal judge has cleared a path for Chrysler to get out of bankruptcy by approving a sale of most of the company’s assets to a new entity to be run by the Italian company Fiat.
Top UN Official Calls for Global Ban on Plastic Bags
In environmental news, a top UN official is urging a global ban on plastic bags, in part because plastic is the most pervasive form of ocean litter. Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Program, said, "Single-use plastic bags, which choke marine life, should be banned or phased out rapidly everywhere. There is simply zero justification for manufacturing them anymore, anywhere.” The campaign to ban plastic bags is gaining steam internationally. China banned free plastic bags last year, saving the country an estimated 40 billion plastic bags. Here in this country, San Francisco is the only large city to have banned plastic bags.
Oregon National Guard Members Sue KBR for Toxic Exposure
In Oregon, five current and former Army National Guard soldiers have filed a lawsuit accusing the war contractor KBR of knowingly exposing them to a cancer-causing chemical in Iraq. A group of sixteen Indiana National Guard soldiers filed a similar suit last year. The soldiers were providing security for KBR during repairs of a water treatment plant in southern Iraq shortly after the US invasion. The National Guard members claim the site was contaminated for six months by hexavalent chromium, “one of the most potent carcinogens” on record. They allege KBR knew the plant was contaminated but concealed the danger. Attorneys for the soldiers say they expect several West Virginia National Guard members to file a similar suit.
AMA Opposes Public Health Insurance Plan
In other healthcare news, the nation’s largest physician organization has announced it will oppose Democratic plans for a new government-sponsored insurance program that would compete with private insurers. In a statement, the American Medical Association said healthcare should be provided solely through “private markets.” The announcement comes just days before President Obama is set to travel to Chicago to address the AMA on Monday. The AMA represents around 250,000 doctors across the United States. Its position comes despite recent polls showing as many as 60 percent of doctors support the creation of a national public insurance plan.
Tiller Colleague Vows to Continue Performing Late-Term Abortions in Kansas
A doctor who worked in the clinic of the slain abortion provider Dr. George Tiller has announced he intends to continue performing late-term abortions in Kansas. Dr. LeRoy Carhart was one of a team of physicians to work with Tiller before his murder last month. Speaking to the Associated Press, Carhart declined to say whether the abortions would continue at Tiller’s clinic or whether he’d open a new site. His announcement comes one day after Tiller’s family announced the clinic’s permanent closure. It had been one of the only in the country to perform abortions in the third trimester.
Radio Journalist, Producer Sheryl Flowers Dies at 42
And the radio journalist and producer Sheryl Flowers has died at the age of forty-two. Flowers worked at Pacifica Radio’s KPFA in Berkeley before going on to National Public Radio. She was executive producer of the Tavis Smiley Show for the last eight years.
More International News
Time Warner-AOL to Split
In business news, the media giant Time Warner has announced it will spin off internet stalwart AOL into a separate company. The two corporations merged nine years ago
UN: Over 117,000 Displaced in Somalia
In Somalia, the UN says fighting between government forces and rebel fighters has now displaced more than 117,000 people in just over a month. More than 200 people have been killed, and an estimated 700 wounded, most of them civilians. On Tuesday, the UN said attacks on civilians are worsening, with increasing incidents of bombings, rape and kidnapping.
Thousands of Peruvians Rally Against Indigenous Crackdown
In Peru, thousands of people took part in nationwide demonstrations Thursday to support an indigenous protest against oil and natural gas exploration in the Amazon rainforest. Police used tear gas on a crowd of at least 20,000 protesters near the National Congress in Lima. Tensions have flared after last week’s police killings of scores of civilians at an indigenous roadblock. On a visit to Cuba, Bolivian President Evo Morales voiced support for the indigenous protests.
Bolivian President Evo Morales: “It’s not possible that the most oppressed people in Latin America’s history be humiliated like we have seen in recent days in some regions. We hope these problems are a lesson in understanding the demands, the demands of defending life, the environment, the planet earth and humanity, as Fidel said.”
The unrest in Peru has ties to US trade policy. The land laws that sparked the uprising were passed under “fast track” authority granted to Peruvian President Alan Garcia’s government to implement the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement.
Carter: Hamas Key to Future Peace Deal
Former President Jimmy Carter is renewing criticism of the US-led boycott of the elected Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. Speaking on a visit to Syria, Carter said the US and Israel should drop their refusal to deal with a Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas. Carter also called for a prisoner exchange that would see the return of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in Gaza for some of the more than 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Jimmy Carter: “I don’t believe there’s any possibility to have peace between Palestinians and Israel unless Hamas is involved directly in harmony with Fatah. My hope is that we could soon see some agreement between Hamas and Israel with the release of Shalit and an equivalent release of prisoners that Israel is holding of Palestinians.”
Haitian Priest, Activist Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste Dies at 62
And the Haitian spiritual and political leader, the Reverend Gérard Jean-Juste, has died. He was sixty-two years old. Doctors say he suffered a stroke unrelated to the leukemia he battled three years ago. Jean-Juste was well-known as an advocate for Haitian refugees and later an outspoken supporter of the ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide after his overthrow in the 2004 US-backed coup. The US-appointed provisional government jailed Jean-Juste two times during its rule. The latest came in 2005, right before he was expected to register as a favored candidate in Haiti’s national elections. In 2004, I interviewed Father Jean-Juste right after his release from his first prison term.
Fr. Gérard Jean-Juste: “Look what they have done to Haiti. It’s broken into pieces. Now we have to collect the pieces and allow the people to come together. And I don’t see any way now, unless President Aristide is restored to power and democracy has been corrected, the same way we did it in 1994.”
Read and search hundreds of news stories on SeeingBlack.com's 411 Channel.
Click here to view all our blogs and discussion groups, where you can comment on any news stories or post your own news.
Do you shop at Amazon? Please shop through our link and support
SeeingBlack.com!
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
Top of Page
|
|
|
|
