Nigeria Action Week

["Douglas J. Tilton" <tilton@africapolicy.org>]

  Date:          Tue, 12 Aug 1997 13:12:52 -0700 (PDT)
  From:          Sierra Club DC <scdc1@igc.apc.org>
  Subject:       Nigeria Action Week
  
  Environmental Rights are Human Rights
  
  Come to Washington, D.C. to participate in
  
  NATIONAL ACTION WEEK FOR NIGERIA!!
  Sept. 15-19, 1997
  
    Join activists from environmental, human rights, labor, religious, African
  American and Nigerian democracy organizations to demand a return to
  democracy, an end to human rights violations and an end to environmental
  devastation in Nigeria.
  
    On Nov. 10, 1995, the Nigerian military government hanged writer Ken
  Saro-Wiwa and eight other minority rights campaigners.  The Sierra Club and
  others believe that the nine were executed because of Saro-Wiwa's effective
  grassroots organizing directed at the environmental devastation caused by
  Shell's oil exploitation.  
  
    According to the New York Times, among Nigeria's roughly 7,000 political
  prisoners, are 20 Ogoni activists still being held for the same murders for
  which Ken Saro-Wiwa was falsely accused. Most have been in prison for three
  years, several in solitary confinement. One of the group died, one has gone
  blind and another lost his fingers during torture. "Mr. Abacha knows that
  executing or even trying them would draw unwanted attention," said the Times
  editorial. "Instead he seems prepared to let them die in jail untried."
  
    Nigeria's military junta has suspended the democratic constitution,
  stripping the Nigerian people of their most basic human and civil rights,
  including the right to demonstrate, organize or protest for environmental
  protection.  In wealthy Nigeria, nearly 40 percent of Nigerian children
  suffer from malnutrition and the diseases of acute poverty while the
  generals spend millions of dollars on lobbyists in Washington.
  The U.S. Responds  
  
    In response to this crisis, Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ10) has introduced H.R.
  1786, "The Nigeria Democracy Act."  The bill currently has 22 cosponsors.
  In addition to codifying limited sanctions already imposed by the Clinton
  administration, the bill would also ban new U.S. corporate investment in
  Nigeria until such time as the country has demonstrated progress toward
  restoring democracy.  The bill's other key provisions include:
  
  * A ban on U.S. arms sales
  * Denial of visas to member of the military government
  * A ban on direct air travel between the U.S. and Nigeria
  *.Denial of U.S. economic aid except for human rights and democracy programs
  * A freeze on the personal assets of members of the regime
  * U.S. opposition to loans from the IMF and the World Bank
  
    The Nigerian government, in conjunction with the multinational oil
  companies that do business in Nigeria, lobbied hard to defeat similar
  legislation in the last Congress.  We are sure that they will marshal their
  vast resources to do again.  That's why we need YOUR help.  The Washington
  Post reported that Nigeria spent more than $10 million in the U.S. on
  lobbying and public relations efforts in the year following the execution of
  Saro-Wiwa.
  
    Nigeria receives more than $10 billion a year from oil --  accounting for
  more than 90 percent of its foreign export earnings and 80 percent of
  government revenues.  While royalties from these sales line the pockets of
  Nigeria's military leaders, rich farmland has been poisoned by oil spills
  and the venting of toxic gasses.  Meanwhile many communities lack running
  water, electricity, or adequate schools or health care.  Americans are the
  largest customer for Nigerian oil, approximately 8% of our total oil
  imports.  However, this amounts to only 3.5% of our total oil consumption in
  this country.  Americans can do without Nigerian oil.
  
    In brief, there has been no change in the horrible conditions in Nigeria's
  Ogoniland since Saro-Wiwa's execution, except for the fact that Ogoni is now
  a military zone and MOSOP has been forced underground.  Not only are outside
  visitors strictly prohibited, but the Ogoni themselves are forbidden to
  assemble in groups larger than two, to discuss environmental protection, or
  even to mention Ken's name or work. Teachers are arrested if they mention
  Ken Saro-Wiwa in the classroom, preachers are arrested if they mention Ken
  in church.
  
                  ***WHAT YOU CAN DO***
  
    Come to Washington, D.C. on Sept. 15 and 16 to participate in the "Nigeria
  Advocacy Days." 
  
    During the week of Sept. 15, call or fax your Representative to urge
  support for H.R. 1786, "The Nigeria Democracy Act".  The phone number for
  the U.S. Capitol switchboard is (202) 224-3121.
  
    The Sierra Club has long held that citizen participation in government
  decision-making is indeed the key to environmental protection.  In order for
  people worldwide to take action to protect their environment, their rights
  concerning political participation, personal security, and personal autonomy
  -- for example, the freedom to speak and organize -- must be recognized and
  respected by their governments.  Environmental activists must be free from
  the threat of retaliation for exercising these rights.
  
    Nigeria's human rights and environmental crisis can, we believe, only be
  solved together.  Without respect for human rights, the Nigerian government
  will continue to repress Ogoni demands for justice from Royal/Dutch Shell
  and other multinational oil companies.  At the same time, the powerful
  democratic spirit unleashed in the Ogoni struggle for environmental justice
  will contribute mightily to the broad campaign for democracy and human
  rights in Nigeria. 
  
    For more information, contact Stephen Mills, Human Rights and the
  Environment Campaign Director, Sierra Club, 408 C Street, N.E., Washington,
  D.C. 20002.  Tel: (202) 675-6691, Fax: (202) 547-6009, E-mail:
  stephen.mills@sierraclub.org, or visit our web page at
  http://www.sierraclub.org/human-rights.