Posts under ‘Oil Spill’

By Umar Ali: 12 FEBRUARY 2019

Judges in The Hague, Netherlands will begin hearing a case against Shell on Tuesday, with the oil company facing allegations of complicity in a number of human rights violations in Nigeria.

They will hear testimonies from four women of the Ogoni people, who hold Shell partly responsible for the execution of their husbands by the Nigerian military in 1995.

Nine men, including protest leader Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed by the Nigerian military regime. The “Ogoni Nine” were outspoken critics of Shell’s operations in Ogoniland, a 1,000km² kingdom in southern Nigeria, and the plaintiffs claim that Shell encouraged the Nigerian Government to unlawfully detain and execute these men. read more

Amnesty International sign: Esther Kiobel standing outside Dutch Court building 12 February 2019

Declaration of Esther Kiobel

Hon. (Dr) Barinem Nubari Kiobel was a man with a prodigy with refined heart that cared for others. A kind-hearted man that was selfless. He was a wonderful husband, a God-fearing man, good Father, brother and a best Friend. He was the finest definition of refinement, consummate technocrat and upright character. He has been very much missed and will always be remembered. read more

Graeme Gallagher | Contributor: 21 Feb 2019

The Royal Dutch Shell Oil Company is on trial for complicity in the death of four Nigerian activists over 20 years ago, according to Amnesty International.

The wives of those four activists — Esther Kiobel, Victoria Bera, Blessing Eawo and Charity Levula — are all demanding compensation and an apology for the death of their husbands in a civil case that started on Tuesday in The Hague, Netherlands.

The four husbands were part of nine activists who were hanged by the military regime due to their massive protests against oil pollution in the Nigerian Ogoniland in 1995. The case brought by the four women accuses Shell of being complicity with the executions.

“These women believe that their husbands would still be alive today were it not for the brazen self-interest of Shell, which encouraged the Nigerian government’s bloody crackdown on protesters even when it knew the human cost,” said Mark Dummett, business and human rights researcher at Amnesty International.

The four plaintiffs are accusing Shell of the unlawful detention of their husbands, the violation of their husbands’ integrity, the violation of the right to a fair trial and to life, and their own right to a family life, according to the Amnesty report. In addition, the plaintiffs are calling for the court to order Shell to hand over more than 100,000 related documents to the case.

The Dutch-based oil company has denied these allegations.

“We have always denied, in the strongest possible terms, the allegations made in this tragic case,” Shell said in a statement. “The Shell Petroleum Development Company did not collude with the authorities to suppress community unrest, it in no way encouraged or advocated any act of violence in Nigeria, and it had no role in the arrest, trial and execution of these men.”

Kioble and Victoria Bera were in court today, with the other two being unable to make it due to denied visas.

“The abuses my family and l went through are such an awful experience that has left us traumatized to date without help,” wrote Kiobel in a written statement.  “We all have lived with so much pain and agony, but rather than giving up, the thought of how ruthlessly my husband was killed … has spurred me to remain resilient in my fight for justice.”

Kiobel has been fighting since she first filed her case in 2002. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, ruled that it had no jurisdiction in the case in 2013, in which the court never fully examined the allegations. Amnesty International has helped Kiobel’s legal team bring the case to the Netherlands in 2017.

“It’s time to bring an end to decades of impunity for Shell,” said Dummett, “These women’s courage, resilience and determination to clear their husband’s names and bring Shell to account is inspirational. They have the support of Amnesty International activists all over the world.” read more

Rod Austin: Tue 12 Feb 2019

Four Nigerian women at the centre of a long-running legal battle against oil giant Royal Dutch Shell saw their historic case reach the Hague on Tuesday.

The company is accused of complicity in the state execution of nine Ogoni protesters and human right abuses dating back to 1993. The allegations concern the 1990s violent government crackdown in Ogoniland, in the oil-rich Niger delta region, where oil spills inflicted environmental damage on a huge scale.

The Netherlands court will decide whether a case can proceed after hearing arguments from both sides on Tuesday. read more

12 Feb 2019

The widow of a Nigerian activist suing oil giant Shell over the execution of her husband says his death left her “traumatised” and “poverty-stricken”.

Esther Kiobel is testifying in court in The Hague, demanding compensation from the Netherlands-based firm.

She is among four women who accuse Shell of being complicit in the hanging of their husbands by Nigeria’s military in 1995. Shell denies the allegation. read more

A banner displayed outside the court in support of one of the widows expected to testify

12 Feb 2019

A civil court case is getting underway in the Netherlands, brought by Nigerian Ogoni activists against The Hague-based oil company, Royal Dutch Shell.

The firm is accused of having been complicit in the executions of nine Ogoni men during a Nigerian military crackdown in 1995.

Four of their widows are suing Shell for compensation and demanding an apology.

Shell denies any wrongdoing, saying it never colluded with Nigerian authorities or advocated any act of violence. read more

By AFP: PUBLISHED: 11:20, 12 February 2019 | UPDATED: 15:05, 12 February 2019

The husbands of Victoria Bera (L) and Esther Kiobel (R), were executed in 1995

The widows of four Nigerian activists executed by the military regime in the 1990s launched a court case in the Netherlands Tuesday against oil giant Shell for complicity in their deaths.

Esther Kiobel, whose husband Barinem was hanged in 1995 along with famed writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and seven others, said the “horrible” experience had left her “traumatised”.

The widows allege that Anglo-Dutch Shell helped in the arrest of the men, who had sought to peacefully disrupt the oil giant’s work in Nigeria’s Ogoni region because of health and environmental impacts.

Shell said it was “inconceivable” that it could have been involved in the death of the men.

Kiobel and one of the other widows, Victoria Bera, were in court in The Hague for opening arguments in the case against Shell, while the other two women whose husbands were killed were denied visas to attend.

“My husband had a good heart. Now I am a poor widow who has lost everything,” Kiobel was quoted as telling the court in The Hague by Dutch news agency ANP.

“The abuses that my family and I went through were a horrible experience that has traumatised us to this day,” added Kiobel, who fled Nigeria in 1998 and now lives in the United States. read more

12 February 2019, 00:01 UTC

A Dutch court will today hear the first arguments in a historic case against Shell, in which the oil giant stands accused of instigating a raft of horrifying human rights violations committed by the Nigerian government against the Ogoni people in the 1990s. Esther Kiobel, Victoria Bera, Blessing Eawo and Charity Levula are suing Shell over what they say is its role in the unlawful arrest, detention and execution of their husbands by the Nigerian military, following a brutal crackdown on Ogoni protests against Shell’s devastating pollution of the region.

Amnesty International, which is supporting the plaintiffs and legal team bringing the case, has independently documented Shell’s role in killings, rape and torture carried out by the Nigerian government in its effort to crush protests. Barinem Kiobel, Baribor Bera, Nordu Eawo and Paul Levula were hanged in 1995 after a sham trial. Their widows are now demanding compensation and a public apology from Shell. Five other men, including protest leader Ken Saro-Wiwa, were executed alongside them and they have become collectively known as the Ogoni Nine. read more

U.S. Supreme Court Esther Kiobel decision on Monday 7 Jan 2019

Esther Kiobels’ late husband Dr Barinem Kiobel was one of the “Ogoni 9” executed by hanging two decades ago by a corrupt Nigerian military regime in bed with Shell. Esther holds Shell responsible for complicity in her husbands’ death and has sought justice ever since.

Her action in the U.S. courts against Shell which commenced in 1996, took a decade to reach the U.S. Supreme Court. Their decision on a legal technicality ended the litigation. In a precedent-setting decision, the U.S. Supreme court decided in April 2012 that Esther could not sue Shell in the USA for human rights crimes that took place in a foreign jurisdiction – Nigeria.

At that point, Esther contacted me to see if I could help, as she needed funding for any further litigation and advice on how best to proceed.

Astonishingly, Esther’s basic case has never been heard in court. Shell has successfully blocked her litigation for over 20 years by exploiting legal technicalities. 

I introduced her to a Dutch law firm with the intention of suing Shell in its home country. With the help and support of Amnesty International, a Writ was served on Shell in the Netherlands in June 2017. That litigation is in progress with the first court hearing due next month.

In preparation for the Dutch litigation, Esther applied to the U.S. courts in Oct 2016 for access to Shell discovery assembled for the thwarted U.S. litigation. The action was against Shell’s U.S. law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP who had retained 100,000 plus discovery items in a secure warehouse.

A U.S. Federal judge ordered Cravath to hand over the Shell internal discovery docs. Cravath appealed against his decision on 14 February 2018, and his decision was reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals.

Lawyers acting for Esther then petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.

On Monday 7 Jan 2019 the U.S. Supreme Court declined to do so.

So two U.S. Supreme Court wins for commercial Goliath (Shell) and nothing but disappointment for the destitute outraged widow of a Nigerian official hanged on trumped-up charges by a corrupt Nigerian despot carrying out Shell’s ruthless orders.

The trial was widely discredited. The verdict ignited global outrage. It led to Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth.

Esther now lives in the USA where she is training to be a nurse.

Below is a link (and screenshot) for the U.S. Supreme Court website confirming the decision to decline the Petition.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from a Nigerian activist’s widow who asked the court to review the Second Circuit’s decision barring her from obtaining Royal Dutch Shell PLC documents held by Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP for her suit against the energy giant in the Netherlands…

Disclosure by the author of this article: The lead claimant Esther Kiobel, her lawyer Channa Samkalden of the Dutch human rights law firm Prakken d’Oliveira representing the widows, and the acclaimed human rights organisation Amnesty International, have all acknowledged the involvement of John Donovan in bringing *this case. (*See Writ of Summons in English and Dutch served on Shell 28 June 2017 – copy obtained from US Pacer public electronic court records) read more

Shell’s confirmation that it is expanding the Shearwater hub could lead to further North Sea investment, according to an analyst. The Shearwater platform will serve newly-sanctioned projects like Fram and Arran, as well as the nearby Columbus field. FULL ARTICLE

While it is true that Royal Dutch Shell gave shareholder activists on climate an early Christmas present, agreeing to reduce its carbon footprint by 20 per cent by 2035 and 50 per cent by 2050 ( FT View, December 7), a closer look reveals that the commitment is a cynical game. read more

Nsuke called for the removal of Shell from the governing council of HYPREP and the Board of trustees as the company (Shell) is still seen by the Ogoni people as a killer and an enemy.

Publicity Secretary of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Fegalo Nsuke, has said the Ogoni cleanup would end up as Nigeria’s biggest scam if left the way it is presently structured.

Speaking yesterday in Bori, headquarter of Khana local government area, when he met with youth leaders of the National Youth Council of the Ogoni People (NYCOP), Nsuke said HYPREP was desperate to spend money and not bothered about the integrity of the cleanup process and the welfare of the Ogoni people. read more

Leakage from an oilfield operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) at Aghoro community in Bayelsa has discharged some 1,114 barrels of crude oil into the environment. READ MORE

Jennifer Thompson: 7 October 2018

Shell’s largest UK pension fund is under pressure from a member who says it is failing to disclose how it deals with climate risk, in what is regarded as a test case for other UK pension funds. The £16bn Shell Contributory Pension Fund was contacted last week by Christoph Harwood and ClientEarth, the legal environmental campaign group. They requested proof of how it is dealing with the issue of climate change… read more

LONDON, Sept 23 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell pioneered Nigeria’s oil and gas industry and remains a major investor in the West African country. But over the decades it has come under fire over spills in the Delta region and struggles with oil theft, corruption and oil-fueled violence.

Following are some of the highlights of Shell’s history in Nigeria:

1936 – The Royal Dutch Shell Group establishes a Nigerian venture with the precursor company of BP Plc. The first shipment of oil from Nigeria takes place in 1958. read more

EMAIL BEING SENT THIS WEEKEND TO EVERY UK MP. 

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Hypocrisy

Justin Welby is in hot water again. He has criticised another controversial company, last time Wonga and this time the tax-shy Amazon. Both later embarrassingly revealed to be businesses in which the Church of England is an investor. 

BBC Newsnight aired a package on Friday 14 Sept drawing attention to the subject and the Church of England’s numerous questionable investments. In particular, its holdings in BP and Shell, both described as being toxic. 

I can speak with some authority in relation to the toxicity of Shell. read more

…clearly, they cannot absolve themselves of responsibility because they (Shell) brought in the soldiers to Ogoniland…In the last seven days, at least 50 persons excluding children died in Gokana alone… It appears a strategy for Shell to use the fear of death to compel our people to give up on the oil… The company (Shell) has in their racist conduct of business in Ogoniland carted away over $100 billion worth of oil, completely destroyed the environment and now unwilling to cleanup the mess from its operations. read more

..reacting to the allegation of intimidation, Mr Bamidele Odugbesan, Media Relations Manager of Shell, denied use of force to compel the company’s host communities to sign the JIV report.

27 August 2018

The Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta and oil major, Shell on Monday denied allegations of coercing the leadership of Aghoro 1 community in Bayelsa to sign a disputed report on oil spillage. FULL ARTICLE

Russia’s Gazprom PJSC owns the project, with Royal Dutch Shell Plc and four other investors including Germany’s Uniper SE and Wintershall AG providing half of the 9.5 billion-euro ($11 billion) in cost.

By Elena Mazneva and Anna Shiryaevskaya | Bloomberg
August 27 at 12:00 AM

A planned new natural-gas pipeline into Europe from Russia is shaking up geopolitics. Nord Stream 2, as it’s called, worries leaders in Eastern Europe, has stirred the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump and has put German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the hot seat. FULL ARTICLE read more