August 28, 2008
Contact:
Riptide Communications: Sara Koenig, 212-260-5000 or Elaine Elinson, 415-203-4378
Dan Stormer, Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson & Renick, 626-585-9600
Marco Simons, EarthRights International, 202-466-5188 x103
Villagers Seek Court Assistance to Testify in Landmark Suit against Oil Giant
August 28, 2008, San Francisco, CA – At least a dozen Nigerian villagers set to testify against Chevron in a landmark human rights case in San Francisco federal court have been denied visas by the U.S. State Department. The trial is set to begin in just one month, on September 29, but the U.S. Consulate in Lagos, Nigeria, has been systematically denying visas despite the fact that U.S. District court Judge Susan Illston has provided a letter stating that these plaintiffs, witnesses, and translators are set to participate in the trial. The villagers are seeking immediate assistance from the Court with the visa process, a short delay of the trial and an account from Chevron about whether it attempted to interfere with the visa process in any way.
“These people suffered a brutal attack at Chevron’s command and have worked for nine years to have their day in court,” noted Dan Stormer of Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson & Renick (HSKRR), one of the plaintiffs’ trial counsel. “Now that the court has granted them a trial, it is disturbing to think that the U.S. Consulate might be playing politics with their visas.”
The lawsuit, Bowoto v. Chevron, charges the multinational company with gross human rights abuses arising from its use of the notorious Nigerian military and "kill and go" mobile police against those who protest environmental and economic harms caused by oil production in the Niger Delta. The lawsuit is based on a 1998 incident in which Nigerian soldiers shot nonviolent protesters at Chevron's Parabe offshore platform. The soldiers were admittedly paid by Chevron, ferried to the platform in Chevron helicopters and supervised by Chevron personnel. Two demonstrators were killed, others were shot and wounded, and several others were detained and tortured after the attack.
The lead plaintiff in the case, Larry Bowoto, has visited the United States three times without encountering visa problems. “But now that the trial is going forward, women and children whose husbands and fathers were tortured and killed, and individuals who witnessed the killings, are being blocked,” added plaintiffs’ counsel Marco Simons, Legal Director of Earthrights International (ERI). “The U.S. government should be facilitating justice for human rights victims, not hindering it.” Chevron has not answered questions about whether it has had any role in the denial of the visas.
Bowoto v. Chevron Corp., No. 99-2506, is before Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In addition to ERI and HSKRR, the plaintiffs are represented by the private law firms of Traber & Voorhees and Siegel & Yee; and Cindy Cohn, Robert Newman, Paul Hoffman, Richard Wiebe, Anthony DiCaprio, Michael Sorgen, and Judith Chomsky.
For more information about the case, please visit www.earthrights.org.
EarthRights International (ERI) is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that combines the power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment. Focusing on earth rights, we work at the intersection of human rights and the environment. We specialize in fact-finding, legal actions against perpetrators of earth rights abuses, training for grassroots and community leaders, and advocacy campaigns that seek to end earth rights abuses and promote and protect earth rights. For more information, please visit: www.earthrights.org
Riptide Communications: Sara Koenig, 212-260-5000 or Elaine Elinson, 415-203-4378
Dan Stormer, Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson & Renick, 626-585-9600
Marco Simons, EarthRights International, 202-466-5188 x103
Villagers Seek Court Assistance to Testify in Landmark Suit against Oil Giant
August 28, 2008, San Francisco, CA – At least a dozen Nigerian villagers set to testify against Chevron in a landmark human rights case in San Francisco federal court have been denied visas by the U.S. State Department. The trial is set to begin in just one month, on September 29, but the U.S. Consulate in Lagos, Nigeria, has been systematically denying visas despite the fact that U.S. District court Judge Susan Illston has provided a letter stating that these plaintiffs, witnesses, and translators are set to participate in the trial. The villagers are seeking immediate assistance from the Court with the visa process, a short delay of the trial and an account from Chevron about whether it attempted to interfere with the visa process in any way.
“These people suffered a brutal attack at Chevron’s command and have worked for nine years to have their day in court,” noted Dan Stormer of Hadsell Stormer Keeny Richardson & Renick (HSKRR), one of the plaintiffs’ trial counsel. “Now that the court has granted them a trial, it is disturbing to think that the U.S. Consulate might be playing politics with their visas.”
The lawsuit, Bowoto v. Chevron, charges the multinational company with gross human rights abuses arising from its use of the notorious Nigerian military and "kill and go" mobile police against those who protest environmental and economic harms caused by oil production in the Niger Delta. The lawsuit is based on a 1998 incident in which Nigerian soldiers shot nonviolent protesters at Chevron's Parabe offshore platform. The soldiers were admittedly paid by Chevron, ferried to the platform in Chevron helicopters and supervised by Chevron personnel. Two demonstrators were killed, others were shot and wounded, and several others were detained and tortured after the attack.
The lead plaintiff in the case, Larry Bowoto, has visited the United States three times without encountering visa problems. “But now that the trial is going forward, women and children whose husbands and fathers were tortured and killed, and individuals who witnessed the killings, are being blocked,” added plaintiffs’ counsel Marco Simons, Legal Director of Earthrights International (ERI). “The U.S. government should be facilitating justice for human rights victims, not hindering it.” Chevron has not answered questions about whether it has had any role in the denial of the visas.
Bowoto v. Chevron Corp., No. 99-2506, is before Judge Susan Illston of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In addition to ERI and HSKRR, the plaintiffs are represented by the private law firms of Traber & Voorhees and Siegel & Yee; and Cindy Cohn, Robert Newman, Paul Hoffman, Richard Wiebe, Anthony DiCaprio, Michael Sorgen, and Judith Chomsky.
For more information about the case, please visit www.earthrights.org.
EarthRights International (ERI) is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization that combines the power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment. Focusing on earth rights, we work at the intersection of human rights and the environment. We specialize in fact-finding, legal actions against perpetrators of earth rights abuses, training for grassroots and community leaders, and advocacy campaigns that seek to end earth rights abuses and promote and protect earth rights. For more information, please visit: www.earthrights.org
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