From countercorp-news at countercorp.org Tue Jun 9 16:12:37 2009 From: countercorp-news at countercorp.org (CounterCorp News and Events List) Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 13:12:37 -0700 Subject: [CounterCorp] Festival-related update: Fearing trial, Shell settles case on its role in activists' deaths Message-ID: <9E3B9E52-16F0-45CB-BCCF-D77C8DEFCBDA@countercorp.org> [NOTE: The opening-night film at this year's Anti-Corporate Film Festival, "Sweet Crude", documented the ongoing struggle of people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to resist the crimes, abuses, and devastation caused by international oil companies such as Shell, and seek justice and compensation for past illegal and abusive activities] Settlement Reached in Human Rights Cases Against Shell Oil On eve of trial, agreement provides $15.5 million for compensation to Nigerian human rights activists, establishes trust fund (Center for Constitutional Rights, June 8) -- Shell Oil agreed to settle human rights claims charging the company, its Nigerian subsidiary, and the former head of its Nigerian operation with complicity in the torture, killing, and other abuses of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other non-violent Nigerian activists in the mid-1990s in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta. The settlement provides a total of $15.5 million to compensate the 10 plaintiffs, including family members of the deceased victims; establish a trust intended to benefit the people of the Ogoni tribe; and cover a portion of plaintiffs' legal fees and costs. "The case has been pending for many years, and this settlement puts an end to what would likely have been yet another long round of appeals," said co-counsel Agnieszka Fryszman. The settlement is only on behalf of the individual plaintiffs for their individual claims, and does not resolve outstanding issues between Shell and the Ogoni people. Plaintiff Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jr., son of Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa, explained: "In reaching this settlement, we were very much aware that we are not the only Ogonis who have suffered in our struggle with Shell, which is why we insisted on creating the Kiisi Trust." The Kiisi ("Progress" in the Ogoni language) Trust will allow for initiatives in Ogoni for educational endowments, skills development, agricultural development, women's programs, small enterprise support, and adult literacy. "The fortitude shown by our clients in the 13-year struggle to hold Shell accountable has helped establish a principle that goes beyond Shell and Nigeria," said Judith Chomsky, one of the attorneys who initiated the lawsuit. "Corporations, no matter how powerful, will be held to universal human rights standards." "This was one of the first cases to charge a multinational corporation with human rights violations," added Jennie Green, the staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) who initiated the lawsuit in 1996, "and this settlement confirms that multinational corporations can no longer act with the impunity they once enjoyed." CCR, EarthRights International (ERI), and private law firms filed three lawsuits on behalf of relatives of murdered Ogoni activists and other injured Ogonis who were fighting for human rights and environmental justice in their homeland. The plaintiffs charged Royal Dutch Shell, its subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC, or Shell Nigeria), and SPDC executive Brian Anderson with complicity in extrajudicial killing, crimes against humanity, torture, and other human rights claims. Plaintiffs in the case include the relatives of Ken Saro-Wiwa and five other the executed activists. Ken Saro-Wiwa's brother Owens, and Michael Tema Vizor, both brought claims for torture and detention that resulted in their exile from Nigeria. Further claims were brought by Karalolo Kogbara, who lost her arm, and on behalf of Uebari N-nah, who was killed in attacks on Ogoni civilians. "This settlement is only a first step towards the resolution of still outstanding issues between Shell and the Ogoni people," said human rights attorney Paul Hoffman, trial counsel in the Wiwa cases. Oil operations in Nigeria have been chief among Shell's assets for many decades. Critics charge Shell with aiming for the lowest possible production cost, without regard for the resulting damage to the surrounding people and land, and wreaking havoc on local communities and the environment, including the on-going practice of flaring oil- related gas. In the early 1990s, the Ogoni people, led by Ken Saro-Wiwa, began non- violent protests against Shell's practices. Shell grew increasingly concerned with the heightened international prominence of the Ogoni movement, and paid Nigerian security forces that they knew were engaging in human rights violations against the local communities. The military government violently repressed the demonstrations, arrested Ogoni activists, falsely accused nine of them of murder, and bribed witnesses to give fake testimony. The nine, including Ken Saro- Wiwa, were denied a fair trial and then hanged on November 10, 1995. "The courts repeatedly rejected Shell's efforts to dismiss this case, setting important legal precedents for the continued prosecution of corporations in breach of international law," said Marco Simons, ERI legal director. "This reinforces the plaintiffs' demands that corporations such as Shell safeguard human rights and the environment." From countercorp-news at countercorp.org Wed Jun 10 16:58:49 2009 From: countercorp-news at countercorp.org (CounterCorp News and Events List) Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:58:49 -0700 Subject: [CounterCorp] Festival-related update: Fearing trial, Shell settles case on its role in activists' deaths Message-ID: [NOTE: The opening-night film at this year's Anti-Corporate Film Festival, "Sweet Crude", documented the ongoing struggle of people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to resist the crimes, abuses, and devastation caused by international oil companies such as Shell, and seek justice and compensation for past illegal and abusive activities] Settlement Reached in Human Rights Cases Against Shell Oil On eve of trial, agreement provides $15.5 million for compensation to Nigerian human rights activists, establishes trust fund (Center for Constitutional Rights, June 8) -- Shell Oil agreed to settle human rights claims charging the company, its Nigerian subsidiary, and the former head of its Nigerian operation with complicity in the torture, killing, and other abuses of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other non-violent Nigerian activists in the mid-1990s in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta. The settlement provides a total of $15.5 million to compensate the 10 plaintiffs, including family members of the deceased victims; establish a trust intended to benefit the people of the Ogoni tribe; and cover a portion of plaintiffs' legal fees and costs. "The case has been pending for many years, and this settlement puts an end to what would likely have been yet another long round of appeals," said co-counsel Agnieszka Fryszman. The settlement is only on behalf of the individual plaintiffs for their individual claims, and does not resolve outstanding issues between Shell and the Ogoni people. Plaintiff Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jr., son of Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa, explained: "In reaching this settlement, we were very much aware that we are not the only Ogonis who have suffered in our struggle with Shell, which is why we insisted on creating the Kiisi Trust." The Kiisi ("Progress" in the Ogoni language) Trust will allow for initiatives in Ogoni for educational endowments, skills development, agricultural development, women's programs, small enterprise support, and adult literacy. "The fortitude shown by our clients in the 13-year struggle to hold Shell accountable has helped establish a principle that goes beyond Shell and Nigeria," said Judith Chomsky, one of the attorneys who initiated the lawsuit. "Corporations, no matter how powerful, will be held to universal human rights standards." "This was one of the first cases to charge a multinational corporation with human rights violations," added Jennie Green, the staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) who initiated the lawsuit in 1996, "and this settlement confirms that multinational corporations can no longer act with the impunity they once enjoyed." CCR, EarthRights International (ERI), and private law firms filed three lawsuits on behalf of relatives of murdered Ogoni activists and other injured Ogonis who were fighting for human rights and environmental justice in their homeland. The plaintiffs charged Royal Dutch Shell, its subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC, or Shell Nigeria), and SPDC executive Brian Anderson with complicity in extrajudicial killing, crimes against humanity, torture, and other human rights claims. Plaintiffs in the case include the relatives of Ken Saro-Wiwa and five other the executed activists. Ken Saro-Wiwa's brother Owens, and Michael Tema Vizor, both brought claims for torture and detention that resulted in their exile from Nigeria. Further claims were brought by Karalolo Kogbara, who lost her arm, and on behalf of Uebari N-nah, who was killed in attacks on Ogoni civilians. "This settlement is only a first step towards the resolution of still outstanding issues between Shell and the Ogoni people," said human rights attorney Paul Hoffman, trial counsel in the Wiwa cases. Oil operations in Nigeria have been chief among Shell's assets for many decades. Critics charge Shell with aiming for the lowest possible production cost, without regard for the resulting damage to the surrounding people and land, and wreaking havoc on local communities and the environment, including the on-going practice of flaring oil- related gas. In the early 1990s, the Ogoni people, led by Ken Saro-Wiwa, began non- violent protests against Shell's practices. Shell grew increasingly concerned with the heightened international prominence of the Ogoni movement, and paid Nigerian security forces that they knew were engaging in human rights violations against the local communities. The military government violently repressed the demonstrations, arrested Ogoni activists, falsely accused nine of them of murder, and bribed witnesses to give fake testimony. The nine, including Ken Saro- Wiwa, were denied a fair trial and then hanged on November 10, 1995. "The courts repeatedly rejected Shell's efforts to dismiss this case, setting important legal precedents for the continued prosecution of corporations in breach of international law," said Marco Simons, ERI legal director. "This reinforces the plaintiffs' demands that corporations such as Shell safeguard human rights and the environment." From countercorp-news at countercorp.org Wed Jun 10 17:05:12 2009 From: countercorp-news at countercorp.org (CounterCorp News and Events List) Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:05:12 -0700 Subject: [CounterCorp] Festival-related update: Fearing trial, Shell settles case on its role in activists' deaths Message-ID: <0D53F2B1-E397-4770-9823-BD4AF6790C95@countercorp.org> [NOTE: The opening-night film at this year's Anti-Corporate Film Festival, "Sweet Crude", documented the ongoing struggle of people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to resist the crimes, abuses, and devastation caused by international oil companies such as Shell, and seek justice and compensation for past illegal and abusive activities] Settlement Reached in Human Rights Cases Against Shell Oil On eve of trial, agreement provides $15.5 million for compensation to Nigerian human rights activists, establishes trust fund (Center for Constitutional Rights, June 8) -- Shell Oil agreed to settle human rights claims charging the company, its Nigerian subsidiary, and the former head of its Nigerian operation with complicity in the torture, killing, and other abuses of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other non-violent Nigerian activists in the mid-1990s in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta. The settlement provides a total of $15.5 million to compensate the ten plaintiffs, including family members of the deceased victims; establish a trust intended to benefit the people of the Ogoni tribe; and cover a portion of plaintiffs' legal fees and costs. "The case has been pending for many years, and this settlement puts an end to what would likely have been yet another long round of appeals," said co-counsel Agnieszka Fryszman. The settlement is only on behalf of the individual plaintiffs for their individual claims, and does not resolve outstanding issues between Shell and the Ogoni people. Plaintiff Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jr., son of Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa, explained: "In reaching this settlement, we were very much aware that we are not the only Ogonis who have suffered in our struggle with Shell, which is why we insisted on creating the Kiisi Trust." The Kiisi ("Progress" in the Ogoni language) Trust will allow for initiatives in Ogoni for educational endowments, skills development, agricultural development, women's programs, small enterprise support, and adult literacy. "The fortitude shown by our clients in the 13-year struggle to hold Shell accountable has helped establish a principle that goes beyond Shell and Nigeria," said Judith Chomsky, one of the attorneys who initiated the lawsuit. "Corporations, no matter how powerful, will be held to universal human rights standards." "This was one of the first cases to charge a multinational corporation with human rights violations," added Jennie Green, the staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) who initiated the lawsuit in 1996, "and this settlement confirms that multinational corporations can no longer act with the impunity they once enjoyed." CCR, EarthRights International (ERI), and private law firms filed three lawsuits on behalf of relatives of murdered Ogoni activists and other injured Ogonis who were fighting for human rights and environmental justice in their homeland. The plaintiffs charged Royal Dutch Shell, its subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC, or Shell Nigeria), and SPDC executive Brian Anderson with complicity in extrajudicial killing, crimes against humanity, torture, and other human rights claims. Plaintiffs in the case include the relatives of Ken Saro-Wiwa and five other the executed activists. Ken Saro-Wiwa's brother Owens, and Michael Tema Vizor, both brought claims for torture and detention that resulted in their exile from Nigeria. Further claims were brought by Karalolo Kogbara, who lost her arm, and on behalf of Uebari N-nah, who was killed in attacks on Ogoni civilians. "This settlement is only a first step towards the resolution of still outstanding issues between Shell and the Ogoni people," said human rights attorney Paul Hoffman, trial counsel in the Wiwa cases. Oil operations in Nigeria have been chief among Shell's assets for many decades. Critics charge Shell with aiming for the lowest possible production cost, without regard for the resulting damage to the surrounding people and land, and wreaking havoc on local communities and the environment, including the on-going practice of flaring oil- related gas. In the early 1990s, the Ogoni people, led by Ken Saro-Wiwa, began non- violent protests against Shell's practices. Shell grew increasingly concerned with the heightened international prominence of the Ogoni movement, and paid Nigerian security forces that they knew were engaging in human rights violations against the local communities. The military government violently repressed the demonstrations, arrested Ogoni activists, falsely accused nine of them of murder, and bribed witnesses to give fake testimony. The nine, including Ken Saro- Wiwa, were denied a fair trial and then hanged on November 10, 1995. "The courts repeatedly rejected Shell's efforts to dismiss this case, setting important legal precedents for the continued prosecution of corporations in breach of international law," said Marco Simons, ERI legal director. "This reinforces the plaintiffs' demands that corporations such as Shell safeguard human rights and the environment." From countercorp-news at countercorp.org Wed Jun 10 17:12:12 2009 From: countercorp-news at countercorp.org (CounterCorp News and Events List) Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:12:12 -0700 Subject: [CounterCorp] Festival-related update: Fearing trial, Shell settles case on its role in activists' deaths Message-ID: [NOTE: The opening-night film at this year's Anti-Corporate Film Festival, "Sweet Crude", documented the ongoing struggle of people in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria to resist the crimes, abuses, and devastation caused by international oil companies such as Shell, and seek justice and compensation for past illegal and abusive activities] Settlement Reached in Human Rights Cases Against Shell Oil On eve of trial, agreement provides $15.5 million for compensation to Nigerian human rights activists, establishes trust fund (Center for Constitutional Rights, June 8) -- Shell Oil agreed to settle human rights claims charging the company, its Nigerian subsidiary, and the former head of its Nigerian operation with complicity in the torture, killing, and other abuses of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other non-violent Nigerian activists in the mid-1990s in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta. The settlement provides a total of $15.5 million to compensate the ten plaintiffs, including family members of the deceased victims; establish a trust intended to benefit the people of the Ogoni tribe; and cover a portion of plaintiffs' legal fees and costs. "The case has been pending for many years, and this settlement puts an end to what would likely have been yet another long round of appeals," said co-counsel Agnieszka Fryszman. The settlement is only on behalf of the individual plaintiffs for their individual claims, and does not resolve outstanding issues between Shell and the Ogoni people. Plaintiff Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jr., son of Ogoni leader Ken Saro-Wiwa, explained: "In reaching this settlement, we were very much aware that we are not the only Ogonis who have suffered in our struggle with Shell, which is why we insisted on creating the Kiisi Trust." The Kiisi ("Progress" in the Ogoni language) Trust will allow for initiatives in Ogoni for educational endowments, skills development, agricultural development, women's programs, small enterprise support, and adult literacy. "The fortitude shown by our clients in the 13-year struggle to hold Shell accountable has helped establish a principle that goes beyond Shell and Nigeria," said Judith Chomsky, one of the attorneys who initiated the lawsuit. "Corporations, no matter how powerful, will be held to universal human rights standards." "This was one of the first cases to charge a multinational corporation with human rights violations," added Jennie Green, the staff attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) who initiated the lawsuit in 1996, "and this settlement confirms that multinational corporations can no longer act with the impunity they once enjoyed." CCR, EarthRights International (ERI), and private law firms filed three lawsuits on behalf of relatives of murdered Ogoni activists and other injured Ogonis who were fighting for human rights and environmental justice in their homeland. The plaintiffs charged Royal Dutch Shell, its subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC, or Shell Nigeria), and SPDC executive Brian Anderson with complicity in extrajudicial killing, crimes against humanity, torture, and other human rights claims. Plaintiffs in the case include the relatives of Ken Saro-Wiwa and five other the executed activists. Ken Saro-Wiwa's brother Owens, and Michael Tema Vizor, both brought claims for torture and detention that resulted in their exile from Nigeria. Further claims were brought by Karalolo Kogbara, who lost her arm, and on behalf of Uebari N-nah, who was killed in attacks on Ogoni civilians. "This settlement is only a first step towards the resolution of still outstanding issues between Shell and the Ogoni people," said human rights attorney Paul Hoffman, trial counsel in the Wiwa cases. Oil operations in Nigeria have been chief among Shell's assets for many decades. Critics charge Shell with aiming for the lowest possible production cost, without regard for the resulting damage to the surrounding people and land, and wreaking havoc on local communities and the environment, including the on-going practice of flaring oil- related gas. In the early 1990s, the Ogoni people, led by Ken Saro-Wiwa, began non- violent protests against Shell's practices. Shell grew increasingly concerned with the heightened international prominence of the Ogoni movement, and paid Nigerian security forces that they knew were engaging in human rights violations against the local communities. The military government violently repressed the demonstrations, arrested Ogoni activists, falsely accused nine of them of murder, and bribed witnesses to give fake testimony. The nine, including Ken Saro- Wiwa, were denied a fair trial and then hanged on November 10, 1995. "The courts repeatedly rejected Shell's efforts to dismiss this case, setting important legal precedents for the continued prosecution of corporations in breach of international law," said Marco Simons, ERI legal director. "This reinforces the plaintiffs' demands that corporations such as Shell safeguard human rights and the environment." From countercorp-news at countercorp.org Wed Jun 10 17:25:20 2009 From: countercorp-news at countercorp.org (CounterCorp News and Events List) Date: Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:25:20 -0700 Subject: [CounterCorp] Problem with mailing list fixed Message-ID: Dear CounterCorp News subscriber, Our apologies for your having received multiple copies of the same message this afternoon. The problem with the mailing list has been fixed. We now resume our regular programming, already in progress. List Editor CounterCorp: Putting An End to Business as Usual www.countercorp.org Subscribe to CounterCorp's News and Events e-mail list at http://list.countercorp.org/mailman/listinfo/countercorp-news Get the latest CounterCorp event details on your computer/ iPod: webcal://icalx.com/public/CounterCorp/CounterCorp.ics Subscribe to CounterCorp's "Corporation Watch" e-mail list: For more information, visit http://www.corporationwatch.org Donate to CounterCorp by selecting us on the drop-down menu at https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=695 From countercorp-news at countercorp.org Thu Jun 11 19:15:19 2009 From: countercorp-news at countercorp.org (CounterCorp News and Events List) Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:15:19 -0700 Subject: [CounterCorp] Best Anti-Corporate Film Festival ever! Message-ID: <985EF5D6-0B10-4A0D-B6BE-88EEE19DE28D@countercorp.org> Dear CounterCorp supporters, Apologies again for the problems we were having with the mailing list yesterday -- they have been resolved, and you should get only one copy of this message. Just a quick note to thank everyone who attended this year's 4th Annual Anti-Corporate Film Festival, and helped make it the best CounterCorp Festival so far! We had our highest audience numbers ever, and came closer to breaking even than ever before. We didn't quite make it -- we're still about $500 short of covering our costs -- but we came closer than we've ever have before, and a good indication that the Festival is definitely on the right track to future success, and hopefully improvement and expansion. Speaking of expansion, we had a bunch of "firsts" this year that distinguished it from the first three years of the Festival: 1) Three directors came to speak after their films -- from L.A., Seattle, and Montreal -- which is up from just one director last year, and represented fully half of our six films 2) Our first opening-night party was a huge success -- thanks the great crowd, venue, and donated food, drinks, and volunteer labor -- and sets the bar pretty high for future receptions 3) Our t-shirt sales got off to a great start, especially after we explained the deal: Buy a shirt for $20, and wear it to future screenings to get in for a discount (or even free!) -- check it out at www.countercorp.org/countercorp-tshirts.htm We're encouraged by the response to this year's Festival that moving it from October to May was the right move, and hopefully next year's Festival will be even bigger and better, now that we have a whole year to plan and organize it. In the meantime, stay tuned for some upcoming screening events (possibly including our first screening in the East Bay!), and news about changes to existing programs and the possible launch of a new one. And if you'd like to make a donation to help us reduce/eliminate our debt from the Festival, we always welcome contributions in any amount. You can donate online by selecting CounterCorp on the drop-down menu at https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=695. If you prefer to send contributions by mail, our office address is CounterCorp, 2017 Mission Street, 2nd floor, San Francisco, CA 94110. We are always grateful for any support you can provide -- we couldn't do any of this without your help! Best wishes and more news to follow, John Wilner Director CounterCorp: Putting An End to Business as Usual www.countercorp.org Subscribe to CounterCorp's "Corporation Watch" e-mail list: For more information, visit http://www.corporationwatch.org Get the latest CounterCorp event details on your computer/ iPod: webcal://icalx.com/public/CounterCorp/CounterCorp.ics