Over
three decades of oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon,Chevron dumped more
than 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into pristine rainforest.
The
company owes people living in the Amazon $9.5 billion -- but has
repeatedly refused to pay up, using its immense wealth and corporate
influence to wriggle out of all responsibility. Now, we finally have a chance
to make Chevron face justice.
Indigenous
and farmer communities are taking their fight to the International Criminal
Court (ICC), a body
that can legally prosecute individuals and corporations for crimes of genocide,
crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
While the
international community is listening, it’s time to make Chevron pay
once and for all. This is a true David and Goliath battle, and the
Ecuadorians need all the international support they can get.
Texaco
(now owned by Chevron) deliberately spilled billions of gallons of toxic waste
into Ecuador's pristine rainforest. Tens of thousands of people have suffered the
consequences. The lawsuit filed with the ICC alleges that through systemic harm
inflicted over decades, Chevron’s actions have effectively wiped out two ethnic
groups completely.
This is
corporate power at its worst. The company thinks it can get away scot-free,
because the area is remote and the community cannot afford to match
Chevron's army of ruthless corporate lawyers.It's repeatedly refused to pay
huge damages demanded by Ecuador's courts, even removing all its assets from
the country to avoid payment.
Ecuador
and the 80 Amazon-dwelling communities directly affected have been trying to
bring Chevron to justice for years. But John Watson, the company's CEO,
has promised them a “lifetime of litigation” saying he would fight the
case “until hell freezes over and then fight it out on the ice. This is
pure bullying -- by one of the world's richest corporations -- of
people who have lost everything.
The toxic
oil waste the company knowingly dumped in the Lago Agrio region between
1964 and 1992 has devastated thousands of lives. But Chevron thinks it's
above the law. It thinks it can get away with killing people, poisoning the
rainforest, and ignoring court rulings -- but these are crimes against
humanity.
While the
case is before the ICC, Chevron's bosses are under massive pressure to
comply and pay Ecuadorians once and for all. Now is the time to speak
up.
Thanks
for standing with the people of the Amazon,
Paul,
Ledys, Angus, and the rest of the SumOfUs team
**********
More
information:
Rainforest Communities Seek Criminal Investigation of
Chevron CEO Watson Before International Court, AmazonWatch, October
23 2014
Indigenous communities take Chevron to global court for
crimes against humanity, Interncontinental Cry, November 26 2014
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