Shell pays out $15.5m over Saro-Wiwa killing (1 Viewer)

[steve albino]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/08/nigeria-usa

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 9 June 2009 00.07 BST

The oil giant Shell has agreed to pay $15.5m (£9.6m) in settlement of a legal action in which it was accused of having *collaborated in the execution of the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Ogoni tribe of southern Nigeria.
The settlement, reached on the eve of the trial in a federal court in New York, was one of the largest payouts agreed by a *multinational corporation charged with human rights violations.
The scale of the payment was being seen by experts in human rights law as a step towards international businesses being made accountable for their environmental and social actions.
Jennie Green, a lawyer with the Centre for Constitutional Rights who initiated the lawsuit in 1996, said: "This was one of the first cases to charge a multinational corporation with human rights violations, and this settlement confirms that multinational corporations can no longer act with the impunity they once enjoyed."...

 

[Froog]

jesus shell must be the biggest shower of cunts in the world by a long stretch.

 

[Red_Dog]

What no 'Shells out' pun?

 

[Froog]

oil think up a few later.

 

[nlgbbbblth]

and the "troops" who pulled the trigger - who is gonna punish them?

 

[D0njo]

Well, isn't it a good thing that the friggen top dudes had to pay out, instead of white washing the whole thing by chastising some gun-toter on the payroll??

 

[D0njo]

Sorry, it wasn't a "gun toter", it was a lynch mob...

 

[nlgbbbblth]

Well, isn't it a good thing that the friggen top dudes had to pay out, instead of white washing the whole thing by chastising some gun-toter on the payroll??

doesn't have to be one or the other

why not both?

 

[flashback]

15 million USD is going to seriously reign in Shell's profit margins for that afternoon.

 

[D0njo]

Ah yeah, they'll be thankful for their fish suppers that evening.

At least with the pay out they've been proven to be responsible in some way though

 

[steve albino]

"a step towards international businesses being made accountable for their environmental and social actions."

That's the part that sticks out in my reading.

As for Shell being proven to have been responsible in some way, later on in the article is written:

"... the fact that Shell had walked away from the trial suggested the company had been anxious about the evidence that would have been presented had it gone ahead. Stephen Kretzmann, director of Oil Change International, said Shell "knew the case was overwhelming against them, so they bought their way out of a trial"."

 

[Vinnie]

It's all horrendous but there's something particularly shocking about this part "Among the other plaintiffs was Karalolo Kogbara, who lost an arm after she was shot by Nigerian troops when she protested against the bulldozing of her village in 1993 to make way for a Shell pipeline"

They were bulldozing villages to make way for their fucking pipeline and shooting locals who objected.

And You Shell Know Us By The Trail Of Dead

 

[platters]

nuts!

what the hell went on in Mayo last night?

 

[D0njo]

Yeah, that sounds fucking horrible... I got a lump in my throat thinking about it...

 

[subbuteo !]

nuts!

what the hell went on in Mayo last night?

of shell to sea site.

"This is the definitive account of the sinking of the Iona Isle this morning from Pat O'Donnell himself.
Pat O'Donnell's fishing boat was boarded by four masked men, two of whom were armed, at approximately two o clock this morning whilst out at sea laying pots. The two armed men held Mr O'Donnell and his crewman Martin McDonnell in the wheelhouse of the boat while another two went below deck for 20 minutes. These men returned to the deck and the two crew members were held for one and a half hours until the engine went out. At this point the masked men alighted onto an unknown vessel that took them away. None of the men spoke good english. Mr O'Donnell went down to the engine room and realised that the boat was sinking.The two fishermen put out a mayday signal and attempted to inflate their lifeboat. The inflation mechanism failed a number of times but eventually worked with only moments left to spare. Once onboard the lifeboat Mr O'Donnell and Mr McDonnell sent out a distress flare. They were rescued at 4.30am by the 'Rachel Mary', another boat owned by Pat O’Donnell and operated by his son, Jonathan O’Donnell. He then rang the Gardai at around 6am to inform them of the incident.
Pat said '"I was in fear for my life, is there no end to what these thugs will try to do? All I am trying to do is protect my family and the seas that are our livelihood. I told Minster O'Cuiv in April that I needed protection by the state, but he wouldn't give it - now its time for the government to protect its people.I won't be intimidated by this."
Pat O’Donnell is a local fisherman with over thirty years experience in the waters off the coast of Ireland. It is assumed that Pat O'Donnell was targeted as he is one of the loudest objectors to Shell's Corrib Gas Project. As a fifth generation fisherman his livelihood will be crippled by pollution from the corrib project into Broadhaven bay. Determined to protect the waters for future generations of fishermen, Mr. O'Donnell has consistently refused to be paid off by Shell.



"Shell cannot legally remove his pots as he has a traditional right to fish there. If the pots were 'accidentally' destroyed, however, they would no longer pose an obstacle to Shell's proposed pipeline. Pat's near constant presence in his boat was the only thing keeping the pots safe. Now the boats gone.

Pat O'Donnell was twice arrested in 24 hours with no legal basis off his boat last year for fishing in an area where he has a constitutionally protected traditional right to fish as this area lies along the proposed pipeline route.
He made ministers Eamon Ryan and Eamon O'Cuiv (spotted yesterday sleeping in the Dail) aware of this at the time once again at public meeting some weeks ago but no investigation was carried out and no response given by the ministers to this..
Pat asked "Now that the law didn't work for you guys last year and Shell...am I going to meet them with balaclavas like Willie Corduff met his attackers?"

 

[Goff]

It's happening in our country, lads and the cops seem to be letting it happen. Crimes are being committed and no one is being brought to trial.

It's getting worse and it's getting fuck all media coverage.

At the very least, write to your local politico demanding an investigation into this alleged incident.

 

[D0njo]

There's a weird report about the sinking of Pat O'Donnell's boat on the Sinn Fein website which describe the attackers as having "short arms and Eastern European accents", http://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/16601
actually thats the only weird bit but anyway, there's more about it here-

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/92657

 

[nooleen]

There's a weird report about the sinking of Pat O'Donnell's boat on the Sinn Fein website which describe the attackers as having "short arms and Eastern European accents"http://www.indymedia.ie/article/92657

are you sure it wasn't short foresight and western european accents?

 

[D0njo]

GUNS, their actual arms were apparantly extremely long