U.S. Judge Says Nigerians Can Sue Chevron For Attacks On Protestors

[AtomicKitten]

San Francisco Chronicle
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/15/BAGVPRJ1QK5.DTL&tsp=1
Chevron can be sued for attacks on Nigerians, U.S. judge rules

Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

(08-15) 12:58 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Nigerian villagers can go to trial in San Francisco in a lawsuit that seeks to hold Chevron Corp. responsible for military attacks that killed and wounded protesters at oil company facilities in 1998 and 1999, a federal judge has ruled.

In a series of decisions Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston narrowed the lawsuit against Chevron but said a jury could consider the gist of the villagers' claims -- that the oil giant summoned troops to the protests, directed their actions and should be held accountable for the injuries and deaths of peaceful demonstrators.

"This is a major victory,'' plaintiffs' lawyer Barbara Hadsell said today. "It's an affirmation of holding corporations accountable here for their conduct abroad. If they make the profit there, they have to pay the consequences if things go bad.''

Chevron said in a statement that it is confident a jury will "reject this ultimate Nigerian scam.''

* snip *

The suit was filed by nine Nigerians on behalf of themselves or their relatives who were shot during the protests.

In the first incident, in May 1998, military police opened fire on a Chevron Nigeria offshore oil rig that had been occupied by more than 100 people protesting the company's practices, which they said had polluted their land and water and denied employment to their people. Two people were killed and two were wounded, according to the suit, and others were arrested and beaten.

The plaintiffs said Chevron had summoned government forces to the scene, supplied their helicopters and supervised their actions. Chevron said it had sought government help to free its workers but had requested that the rescue be handled peacefully.

The other attacks took place in January 1999 in villages near oil facilities where residents had protested pollution. The plaintiffs said government troops, using a helicopter and boats supplied by Chevron, killed at least four unarmed people and burned two villages to the ground.

[Stargazer99]

1. Its about time someone taught Chevron and other corps

that personal responsibility that the Republicans are always blubbering about also includes them.

[EFerrari]

2. Good! Will Condi Rice be a co defendant?