Cheap settlement with lasting consequences
A response to ‘Shell in Nigeria: The struggle for accountability’
25.02.2010
'Shell was held accountable, but can this really be considered justice?' asks UCT GSB.
Sure Shell was held accountable, but can this really be considered justice? If we are to define ‘just’ as consequence matching the action (or the crime in this case), can this judgement be considered just?
If my angle is not clear enough, I think the answer to those questions is an EMPHATIC NO! Sure, something is better than nothing but consider the damage that Shell has caused and IS causing still in communities and how many people they've affected (communities living off fishing only to find that they must eat fish that is fully contaminated with uncleared oil spills). This was a cheap settlement for damage that has lasting consequences.
-UCT GSB