PRESS ADVISORY: DC Vigil for Ken Saro-Wiwa

[stephen.mills@sfsierra.sierraclub.org]

   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  CONTACT:
   November 6, 1997       Stephen Mills, (202) 675-6691
   
   *** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
   
   DEMONSTRATORS TO HOLD CANDLELIGHT MARCH IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
   FROM SHELL OIL OFFICE TO NIGERIAN EMBASSY
    Announce Campaign to Urge D.C. City Council to Rename Street Adjacent to 
   Embassy to Honor Ken Saro-Wiwa
   
   WHAT:  Marking the two-year anniversary of the execution of Nigerian writer, 
   television producer and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa, local human rights 
   and environmental activists will participate in a candlelight march from 
   Shell Oil's lobbying headquarters to the Nigerian Embassy in Washington, D.C. 
   At the embassy representatives of the Sierra Club and Amnesty International 
   will unveil a mock-up of the new street sign and announce a campaign to have 
   the street adjacent to the embassy renamed, "Ken Saro-Wiwa Place" in memory 
   of their fallen colleague.  Minimal rush-hour traffic disruption expected.
   
   WHERE: Vigil will begin at Shell lobbying headquarters, 14th & I Streets, NW 
   and proceed to Nigerian Embassy at 1333 16th Street, NW.
   
   WHEN:  Monday, January 10, 5:00 p.m.
   
   WHO:   Michael Dorsey, member Sierra Club Board of Directors; Adotei Akwei, 
   Director of Amnesty International Africa Program; Dr. Deborah Robinson, 
   author of the World Council of Churches report, "Ogoni, The Struggle 
   Continues"; plus many members and supporters of environmental, human rights, 
   religious, labor and Nigerian pro-democracy organizations.
   
   WHY:   On Nov. 10, 1995,  Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni  
   minority-rights advocates were hanged by the Nigerian military following a 
   trial which lacked any independence or impartiality.  Key witnesses for the 
   prosecution subsequently recanted their testimony and have signed sworn 
   statements indicating that they were bribed by the Nigerian military and 
   Shell to testify against Saro-Wiwa. Another 20 Ogoni,  arrested with 
   Saro-Wiwa two years ago, languish in jail under gruesome conditions.  The 
   Ogoni region of Nigeria is now military zone where Saro-Wiwa's supporters are 
   routinely jailed and tortured.
   
       While the Clinton administration has failed to impose any effective 
   sanctions against Nigeria, it has not stopped cities across the U.S. from 
   adopting local ordinances canceling Shell contracts and barring business with 
   companies that do business with Nigeria.  Cities which have passed such 
   ordinances include Amherst and Cambridge, MA; Berkeley and Oakland, CA; New 
   Orleans, LA; New York, NY; and St. Louis, MO.  The U.S. Council of Mayors, 
   the Harvard Undergraduate Council and Alameda County in California have also 
   passed resolutions condemning Nigeria.  In June Rep. Donald Payne (D-NY10) 
   introduced the "Nigeria Democracy Act" (HR 1786), a bill to impose sanctions 
   against Nigeria.
   
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