Ogonis charge Shell Oil with murder in landmark case
The plaintiffs are relatives of victims murdered by Nigeria’s former military regime which was allegedly recruited by Shell to eliminate the opposition to oil exploration in the Niger Delta.
Royal Dutch Shell, Europe’s biggest oil company, is at the centre of a major test of U.S. law that allows foreign nationals to sue corporations in U.S. courts for claims of genocide, rape and other serious human rights abuses.
Shell seeks dismissal of the suit now before the U.S. Supreme Court filed by Nigerians seeking damages for torture and murders committed by their government in the early 1990s. Lawyers for the oil giant say the Alien Tort Statute, which dates to 1789, can’t be used to sue corporations.
The Nigerian plaintiffs claim there’s nothing in the law that limits liability to individuals.
The plaintiffs, from Ogoniland, are relatives of victims murdered by Nigeria’s former military regime which was allegedly recruited by Shell to eliminate the opposition to oil exploration in the Niger Delta.
"All that we're saying in this case is that when a corporation contributes to genocide or crimes against humanity, that they should be held liable ... the same way they would be held liable if one of their agents is engaged in an automobile accident that injures somebody" on the job, said Paul Hoffman, who is representing the Nigerians.
But according to Shell: “Even if the corporation had jointly operated torture centers with the military dictatorship in Nigeria to detain, torture and kill all opponents of Shell’s operations in Ogoni, the victims would have no claim.”
The case could have wide implications for U.S. companies that operate abroad under the cover of repressive regimes.
Among the Ogoni victims was Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. He and 8 others were executed in 1995 after what plaintiffs said was a sham trial by a military tribunal, backed by the oil giant.
Also bringing charges is a Seventh-day Adventist bishop and a local leader's widow, who was raped and beaten after her husband was arrested and summarily executed.
Survivor Charles Wiwa, now living in the U.S., recalls being picked up and beaten by 18 soldiers after he led a rally in his home village. "They started beating me — horsewhipping me, clubbing me, [kicking me with their"> boots for a really long time," Wiwa says. The beating lasted more than two hours.
The U.S. government, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and numerous human rights organizations have filed briefs supporting the victims' argument that the Alien Tort Statute does allow for corporate liability. Backing Shell are more than two-dozen multinational corporations, business groups, and even several countries — Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
A decision in the case is expected by the summer.
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