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December 9th, 2013:

Activists seek sharp swords in human rights battle

Human rights organizations were bitterly disappointed when the United States Supreme Court rejected legal claims made by the family of Nigerian activist Barinem Kiobel against oil multinational Shell earlier this year. Kiobel and eight other activists had been sentenced to death and executed in 1995 for protesting against oil extraction in the Niger Delta. The plaintiffs in the case had accused the company of colluding with the Nigerian government in the activists’ deaths.

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Human rights sometimes suffer when companies extract oil, mine the earth or produce cheap clothing. When those affected take the matter to court, they often have little hope of compensation or support.

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  • Date 09.12.2013
  • Author Jennifer Fraczek / sad
  • Editor Nancy Isenson, André Leslie

Human rights organizations were bitterly disappointed when the United States Supreme Court rejected legal claims made by the family of Nigerian activist Barinem Kiobel against oil multinational Shell earlier this year. Kiobel and eight other activists had been sentenced to death and executed in 1995 for protesting against oil extraction in the Niger Delta. The plaintiffs in the case had accused the company of colluding with the Nigerian government in the activists’ deaths.

The Kiobel v. Shell case was prosecuted in the United States as a result of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), which allows foreigners to seek compensation for human rights violations there, regardless of where the alleged abuses occurred. More than 100 cases have been adjudicated under ATS, including crimes committed during Apartheid-era South Africa and under Argentina’s dictatorship. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Rush for the Arctic’s Riches

Screen Shot 2013-01-11 at 20.09.51The severe challenges of operating in the Arctic have already proved daunting for Shell, which has spent $4.5 billion to exploit reserves off Alaska but has yet to drill a single producing well. In the summer of 2012, during Royal Dutch Shell’s first attempt to probe its Arctic deposits, shifting winds and floating ice halted drilling. Several months later, when one of its drilling rigs ran aground during an especially severe storm, Shell announced that it would suspend operations in Alaska’s Arctic waters. Shell’s misfortunes have heightened concern that Arctic drilling poses an unacceptable threat to the region.

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By MICHAEL T. KLARE: A version of this op-ed appears in print on December 9, 2013, in The International New York Times.

AMHERST, Mass. — While many existing oil and gas reserves in other parts of the world are facing steep decline, the Arctic is thought to possess vast untapped reservoirs. Approximately 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil deposits and 30 percent of its natural gas reserves are above the Arctic Circle, according to the United States Geological Survey. Eager to tap into this largess, Russia and its Arctic neighbors — Canada, Norway, the United States, Iceland and Denmark (by virtue of its authority over Greenland) — have encouraged energy companies to drill in the region. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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