Bombay Shell protest press release

[Charles Bennington <operator@essential.org>]

  Message from Ann Leonard (aleonard@essential.org):
  
  
  Indian activists are holding two protests in honor of Ken Saro-Wiwa today.
  One takes place at noon at a Shell Petrol station in a crowded tourist area
  on Janpath Street in New Delhi. At least two Members of Parliament and a
  political street theatre group will participate. The other takes place at
  3:30 at Shell's Indian headquarters in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and
  includes a protest march and mock hanging with 9 activists wearing black
  cloth hoods with Shell logos on them. We will send an update after the
  protests have finished. 
  
  For more information on the Indian Campaign, contact Nity at nj@ilban.ernet.in
  
  The struggle continues...
  Nity and Annie
  
  
  
  For Immediate Release					10 November, '97
  
  
  Ken Saro-wiwa's last words: "Lord take my soul, but the struggle continues!"
  
  10 November 1997 (Mumbai) – Nine human rights activists with black masks
  and hangman's nooses around their necks demonstrated alongwith nearly two
  hundred other environmental, human rights and labour activists outside
  Shell India's headquarters in Mumbai. The protest is in memory of Ken
  Saro-Wiwa and eight other Nigerian activists who were executed two years
  ago today by the Nigerian military rulers for their role in protesting
  against the environmental and human rights violations perpetrated by Shell
  Petroleum Development Corporation in Nigeria. Participating organisations
  include India Centre for Human Rights & Law, Samata Party, Hind Mazdoor
  Kisan Panchayat (HMKP), People's Union for Civil Liberties, Centre for
  Protection of Democratic Rights and Washington, D.C.-based Essential Action.
  
  "HMKP will mobilise all its forces to fight against Shell condemning its
  Nigerian incident," declared Sharad Rao, general secretary of Hind Mazdoor
  Kisan Panchayat and Samata Party.
  
  The activists resolved to collect more than 1000 signatures within 30 days
  in support of a memorandum calling for an independent UN-led scrutiny into
  the role of various governmental and private players (including Shell) in
  the executions of the Ogoni Nine and the conditions leading up to it. The
  memorandum will be presented to Mr. Soli Sorabjee, who was appointed last
  month as special envoy of the United Nations Human Rights Commission to
  Nigeria.
  
  Similar protests and demonstrations are also being staged in solidarity at
  various places around the world including New Delhi, Washington, D.C,
  Vancouver, Canada, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Germany.
  
  Ken Saro-Wiwa's brother, Dr. Owens Wiwa who fled Nigeria after Ken's
  execution, is calling for an international boycott of Shell Oil until they
  compensate the Ogonis, rehabilitate the devastated environment of Ogoniland
  and withdraw from Nigeria. Dr. Wiwa said "The support of people in India
  will be a critical factor that may change our fortune. The population of
  India alone can send Shell worrying. The Ogoni people are grateful for your
  support." Shell India has recently announced plans to invest upwards of $2
  billion in India. It also plans to explore for gas in the politically
  unstable Northeastern state of Tripura.
  
  Since the 1950's, Shell has extracted over US$30 billion worth of oil from
  Ogoniland, leaving behind a legacy of severe environmental contamination
  and human rights violations. While Shell is the world's most profitable
  company, the Ogoni people live in abject poverty in an area without
  electricity and clean drinking water.
  
  Human rights and environmental activists around the world agree that Shell,
  the largest investor in Nigeria, is directly culpable for the miserable
  human and environmental condition in Ogoniland. In January, 1996, Shell
  even admitted to the Observer UK that it had imported arms into Nigeria "to
  help arm the police."
  
  "This is only the beginning of an avalanche of protest against Shell in
  India," said Bittu Sahgal, a noted environmentalist. "We are aware of
  Shell's appalling environmental and human rights track record in Nigeria
  and are committed to doing our bit to make them pay for their crimes."
  
  
  
  
  For more information, contact India Centre for Human Rights & Law, 4/f
  Engineers' House, Bombay Samachar Marg, Mumbai 400 021, or contact
  (Nity)anand Jayaraman at 6427793