|
Shell settles Nigeria deaths case
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Magnetonium |
I'll be damned. So Shell was involved directly in those murders, as well as helping execute the leader of the local group which wanted to protect their communities from corporate greed (oil).
So, you still want to get that nitrogen-enriched gasoline for your car? Remember - there's some blood of innocent African civilians in it.
Yet Shell still gets away from the murders, and the $15 million USD payout is a joke - pocket change for corporation like Shell. Total joke. Is there any justice out there in the world? These poor people think they won - but did they?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8090493.stm
Shell settles Nigeria deaths case
| quote: |
Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay $15.5m to settle a lawsuit which accused the oil firm of complicity in rights abuses in Nigeria.
The case, due for trial in the US next week, was brought by relatives of a group of anti-Shell activists executed in 1995 by Nigeria's military rulers.
The families say Shell helped the government to punish the campaigners.
But the company insists it did nothing wrong and said the payment was part of a "process of reconciliation".
Shell official Malcolm Brinded said: "This gesture also acknowledges that, even though Shell had no part in the violence that took place, the plaintiffs and others have suffered."
'Victory' for campaigners
Among those executed was Ken Saro-Wiwa, a prominent writer.
He and other activists had formed a group in 1990 aimed at showing the world the environmental damage they said Shell's drilling was causing in the Niger Delta.
But the campaigners were jailed on charges of ordering the 1994 murder of four local leaders.
After a trial, they were hanged.
Their relatives have pursued Shell through the courts ever since.
Ken Saro-Wiwa's 40-year-old son, Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr, said his father would have been happy with the result.
He told the Associated Press that Shell's settlement represented a "victory for us". |
|
|
|
| Sunsnail |
| As an employee of shell, i guess im part of the problem :p |
|
|
| yukii |
what a ing joke :mad:
after seeing those cute commercials with the anglo, asian, & female (lol) promoting their nitrogen-enriched gasoline- i was like HEY that sounds cool :toocool:
i didn't know this kind of actually happened, & it makes me sad for my ignorance :( I can't believe corporations can get away with that. :confused: |
|
|
| Halcyon+On+On |
| I'm sorry, but where is it indicated that Shell was directly involved in murder? I'm no fan of what they're doing - though I totally purchase gasoline so I guess I'm just another part of the problem - but accusing them of something for which there is little evidence seems kind of petty. |
|
|
| Magnetonium |
| quote: | Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On
I'm sorry, but where is it indicated that Shell was directly involved in murder? I'm no fan of what they're doing - though I totally purchase gasoline so I guess I'm just another part of the problem - but accusing them of something for which there is little evidence seems kind of petty. |
I thought the same, too. Shell was quick to reiterate that, as well.
Yes, they were not convicted of involvement in the murders. It seems like they just settled to avoid possibly losing the case, which would be a big image killer. Now at least they can shut the case and close the book on the past. A bit bitter, but what else can be done?
If Shell was clean I don't think they would have settled here. Even though 15 million is pocket change to them, they made much more than that in Niger Delta.
This is a victory for Shell if anything else. A clever corporate ploy. "They gave 15 million to help poor, starving people in Niger Delta and they took it". If this case was about justice, those Plaintiffs would have not settled for money and instead went all the way - and I dont think there's much evidence to convict a powerful corporation like Shell with top-level lawyers. Shell wins. |
|
|
| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On
I'm sorry, but where is it indicated that Shell was directly involved in murder? I'm no fan of what they're doing - though I totally purchase gasoline so I guess I'm just another part of the problem - but accusing them of something for which there is little evidence seems kind of petty. |
Bingo. This is a very contentious issue, even within Nigeria. There's basically been no evidence brought forward to condemn Shell, and while the possibility of the Nigerian government acting in a way they believed would be positively viewed by the corporation is certainly plausible, it doesn't exactly make Shell complicit in Saro-Wiwa's murder.
It's a very emotional topic, and the fact that the accusers accepted a small settlement so quickly suggests to me that they knew their case wasn't based on very much. |
|
|
| jerZ07002 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Magnetonium
If Shell was clean I don't think they would have settled here. Even though 15 million is pocket change to them, they made much more than that in Niger Delta.
. |
Corporations settle all the time despite being unconnected to a claim. They do so after a cost benefit analysis. The attorneys fees likely would have been comparable to the settlement, and then there would also be the chance of losing. Also consider, juries tend to be unsympathetic to large foreign corporations. |
|
|
| Lebezniatnikov |
| quote: | Originally posted by jerZ07002
Corporations settle all the time despite being unconnected to a claim. They do so after a cost benefit analysis. The attorneys fees likely would have been comparable to the settlement, and then there would also be the chance of losing. Also consider, juries tend to be unsympathetic to large foreign corporations. |
Especially juries in countries like Nigeria, where foreign oil companies are viewed with about as much esteem as corporations like Halliburton are here. |
|
|
| jerZ07002 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Lebezniatnikov
Especially juries in countries like Nigeria, where foreign oil companies are viewed with about as much esteem as corporations like Halliburton are here. |
the case was to be tried in a US court. Royal Dutch Shell would have received no sympathy from a US jury. |
|
|
|
|
