Distributed Digital Property Board

[goin fishn]

Alea-

Here is another side to the dilemma of corporate power-

http://www.ratical.org/corporations/ShellNigeria.html

Anglo-Dutch oil company fails to have
a multi-million pound civil claim by Nigerian emigres
thrown out by New York appeal court

by Karen McGregor in Durban
INDEPENDENT (London)
19 September 2000


Allegations that the oil multinational Shell aided and abetted the torture and murder of Nigerian activists including the executed writer Ken Saro-Wiwa will be tested by a full jury trial in New York, after the oil company's attempts to have the case thrown out were rejected.
Shell will also stand accused of orchestrating a series of raids by the Nigerian military on villages in the Ogoni region that left more than 1,000 people dead and 20,000 homeless.

Saro-Wiwa and eight others were arrested in 1994 after a fatal attack on former leaders of their Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (Mosop). In a case that shocked the world, and was widely reported to be a legal farce, they were found guilty of the murders by military tribunal and executed in November 1995.

Now the case of the "Ogoni Nine", as they became known, has come back to haunt the Dutch and British owners of Shell Nigeria.

The lawsuit was lodged by the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York on behalf of three Nigerian emigrs to the US, including Saro-Wiwa's brother Dr Owens Wiwa, and a woman identified as "Jane Doe" to protect her safety.

Their claims could run to tens of millions of pounds in damages against the oil company. "We believe Shell facilitated Saro-Wiwa's execution," said Jenny Green, of the Center for Constitutional Rights, after the judgment. "We believe there is a basis in US law to hold Shell accountable."

Dr Owens Wiwa and the other plaintiffs claim to have suffered abuse or be related to victims of a state terror campaign against Ogonis who fought oil exploration in Nigeria's Rivers State. They specifically allege that Shell Nigeria:

-Lent boats to Nigerian troops in September 1993 which were used to attack Ogoni villages. On the days of the attacks, a helicopter chartered by Shell reconnoitred three villages where military operations led to the massacre of more than 1,000 villagers.

-Made cash payments to military police who shot a 74-year-old man and two youths in the presence of Shell employees.

-Specifically requested the assistance of Nigeria's notorious "kill-and-go" mobile police force to quell protests. In late 1990 these police carried out massive "scorched earth" operations, culminating in the massacre of 80 villagers and the destruction of hundreds of homes.

-Called in government troops to fire on Biara villagers who were peacefully protesting at the destruction of their homes to build the Rumuekpe-Bomu oil pipeline

-Participated in the fabrication of murder charges and the bribery of witnesses to give false testimony against Saro-Wiwa, the youth leader John Kpuinen and other protest leaders, who were repeatedly detained and tortured by the government and later convicted of murder and hanged.

-Coercively appropriated land for oil development without adequate compensation, and proceeded to seriously pollute air and water in Ogoniland.


They also contend they and family members were imprisoned, tortured and killed by the Nigerian government at the instigation of the oil company, in reprisal for their opposition to oil exploration, and were not afforded the legal protection required by international law.

I think the lawsuit is still active. Here is a link on Saro-Wiwa's life:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Saro-Wiwa

Corporations, like governments are large concentrations of wealth, resulting in large concentrations of power. They also have an important psychological effect. They depersonalize situations (It's not personal, it's business...). When people are depersonalized, and thus more anonymus, they are more likely to perform immoral or criminal acts. Psychological research is very clear on this point.

I'm sure Mark Moody-Stuart, CEO of Shell, didn't want anyone executed, but it happened.


Philosopher Noam Chomsky observed,

“Slavery, or other forms of tyranny are inherently monstrous, but the individuals participating in them may be the nicest guys you can imagine—benevolent, friendly, nice to their children, even nice to their slaves, [and] caring about other people. As individuals, they may be anything, [yet] in their institutional role they are monsters, because the institution is monstrous.”

Milton Friedman
Nobel Prize-winning economist
"Asking a corporation to be socially responsible makes no more sense than asking a building to be."

My comment-
I believe that just as government should legislate to ensure the building won't fall on us, so it should legislate to safeguard society from corporations corrosive effects, while preserving their benefits for society.