Chico Mendes Award Press Release

[stephen.mills@sfsierra.sierraclub.org]

   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  CONTACT:
   September 17, 1997     Stephen Mills, (202) 675-6691
   
   SIERRA CLUB PRESENTS "CHICO MENDES AWARD" TO NIGERIAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS
   Group Calls on Military Government to Release Environmental Activists Held in 
   Detention
   
   Washington, D.C. -- The Sierra Club today presented its most prestigious 
   international award to Nigerian environmental activists who have been 
   persecuted by their government for demanding an oil company clean up it's 
   environmental pollution.
   
   "The Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People has inspired a community to 
   oppose irresponsible operations of Royal/Dutch Shell, and to fight the 
   corruption of a brutal military dictatorship," said Sierra Club Chairman 
   Michael McCloskey.  "More than 2000 Ogoni men, women and children have died 
   in clashes with the military since the environmental group's campaign against 
   Shell's pollution began," he continued.
   
   McCloskey, along with Members of Congress and Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole 
   Soyinka,  presented the award to leaders of MOSOP at a ceremony on Capitol 
   Hill.
   
   "We support MOSOP's struggle for freedom-from-pollution, and we applaud their 
   desire to organize themselves to protect the environment for future 
   generations," said McCloskey.
   
   In 1995, writer and MOSOP leader Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others were found 
   guilty on fraudulent murder charges and hanged.  The executions, following a 
   trial before a military tribunal, touched off an international outcry against 
   Nigeria.  Still ostracized by the nations of the former British Commonwealth, 
   the country has yet to recover. Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) has 
   introduced H.R. 1786, "The Nigeria Democracy Act"  in the U.S. House of 
   Representatives.  The bill would impose economic sanctions against Nigeria.
   
   "Americans may not follow or fully understand African politics," said 
   McCloskey, "but we do understand injustice -- and environmental injustice is 
   what Ken Saro-Wiwa's message was all about.  Like Brazilian rubber tapper and 
   rainforest advocate Chico Mendes, Ken Saro-Wiwa has become an environmental 
   martyr."
   
   "We call on Shell to use their influence to see that 20 Ogoni men now in 
   detention are released," said Stephen Mills, Director of the Sierra Club's 
   Human Rights and the Environment Campaign. "The Ogoni are being held under 
   the same trumped-up charged as were used in the kangaroo court of Ken 
   Saro-Wiwa," he said.
   
   Sierra Club's Chico Mendes Award recognizes either individuals or 
   non-governmental organizations, outside of the United States, who have 
   exhibited extraordinary courage and leadership in their efforts to protect 
   the environment.  Courage is the key word in this award, which was named 
   after the late Brazilian rubber tapper and environmentalist.  The Sierra Club 
   believes those who have endured significant risks (to their lives, their 
   freedom, their families, their livelihood), in their environmental campaigns, 
   should receive a very special form of recognition.
   
   In his remarks at the award ceremony, McCloskey made note of the millions of 
   dollars being spent by the Nigerian government and western oil companies on 
   public relations to improve the country's image and to forestall U.S. 
   sanctions.
   
   "However, no amount of spin can cover up the brutality and corruption of the 
   Nigerian military regime," said McCloskey.
   
   Following the 1995 execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Sierra Club Board of 
   Directors voted to boycott Shell Oil until the company cleaned up its 
   pollution in Ogoniland.  The Sierra Club is also actively supporting the 
   Payne bill to impose sanctions against Nigeria.
   
   Founded in 1892, the Sierra Club is the largest grassroots environmental 
   organization in the United States.  The Club currently has approximately 
   600,000 members and campaigns on  a variety of domestic and international 
   issues.
   
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