Showing posts with label Big Oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Big Oil. Show all posts
Friday, May 29, 2009
Does MEND Know? Royal Dutch Shell Goes On Trial In Bribery For Nigerian Environment Activist/Reporter State Executions
Update June 14 2009:
Nigerian activists score victory
(Settlement: $15.5 million) against Shell Oil
Nigerian activists score victory
(Settlement: $15.5 million) against Shell Oil
A Follow-Up on a couple of recent Buffalo Twitters
Does MEND Know?
Mr. Saro-Wiwa, a popular author who helped create a peaceful mass movement on behalf of the Ogoni people, was executed in November 1995 along with eight other environmental and human rights activists on what many contended were trumped-up murder charges. His body was burned with acid and thrown in an unmarked grave.
Lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell accuses them of helping frame Nigerian journalist for execution
More on Shell Oil Bribery for execution of Nigerian Journalist Here.
Update:
On Tuesday (May 26 2009), there was a last-minute announcement that the trial is postponed with no new date given but it is expected to commence soon, and the plaintiffs -- Ogoni villagers and family members of people who were killed -- will finally have their day in court.There has been a flurry of media attention as the lawyers prepare for battle in the courtroom.
However, some of the most interesting events are happening behind-the-scenes in the lead up to the trial. They show that Shell continues to do everything in its power to keep the truth from coming out.
On May 12, Shell's lawyers filed a motion opposing the admission of prominent human rights attorney Paul Hoffman to serve as trial counsel for the plaintiffs.
[download PDF of the document]
As standard procedure for a trial of this kind, Hoffman had filed a "pro hac vice" application with the court. The Latin pro hac vice is a legal term meaning "for this occasion," and refers to the lawyer being granted permission to serve in a state where he or she may not hold a law license. In this case, California-based Hoffman was filing to represent the plaintiffs in federal court in New York.
In the motion by Shell's lawyers to oppose Hoffman as counsel, they explain how seriously they take it:
"Defendants' counsel have over 70 years of experience among us, and none of the three of us has ever had occasion to oppose a pro hac vice application."So why was Shell opposing Hoffman's participation in the trial?
The video Shell doesn’t want you to see
May 5th, 2009
This 8 1/2-minute mini-documentary is an excellent introduction to what is at stake in the upcoming Wiwa v. Shell trial. It was produced by Rikshaw Films for EarthRights International (ERI) & the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the plaintiffs’ co-counsel in the case.
Business as usual: Shell trying to suppress the truth. The video was a highlight of the WiwavShell.org website run by ERI & CCR to educate the public about the trial but it was recently removed. Investigation of public legal documents reveal that the video was removed under order from the trial judge after legal motions by Shell. Read the story about it on Huffington Post.
After watching, SIGN UP for updates & action alerts, and TAKE ACTION to support our campaign.
[Source]
Friday, May 15, 2009
No More 'Fun & Games' - Nigeria's MEND declares 'all-out war' in the Niger Delta
Fun & Games you say?
Two years ago, Global Guerrillas:
Sunday, 06 May 2007
JOURNAL: Shell facilities disappear from Niger Delta (UPDATE)
Last year, Shell Oil abandoned facilities that produced 600,000 barrels a day of oil due relentless attacks by the global guerrilla facilitator MEND.
Upon its return to these facilities this month, the company found much of its infrastructure missing. In the area near the Forcados terminal alone, 435 miles of pipeline disappeared (likely disassembled by hand, loaded onto barges, offloaded onto Ukrainian transport ships offshore, and delivered to Chinese scrap metal dealers -- globalization is grand, isn't it).
Estimates of the reconstruction costs now exceed $2 billion, under the assumption both Shell and its construction partners will be allowed to return unimpeded.
That isn't a good bet: 11 Daewoo construction workers working on a power plant deep inland (which shows the guerrillas have more reach than ever) were kidnapped and two assaults were made on off-shore platforms as recently as last week. Further, MEND like its counter-parts in Iraq, are very adept at the disruption of corporate activity.
So far, the returns on its investments (ROIs) have been stellar. [In Full]
More details on events in that time period @ Reuters
MEND offered a ceasefire a little over a year later
Nigeria’s main rebel group, Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), today declared a ceasefire a week after it launched an “oil war” in the country’s restive, oil-producing region.
"Effective 0100 Hrs, September 21, 2008, exactly one week (since) we launched our reprisal, MEND will begin a unilateral ceasefire till further notice," the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said in a statement.
“After one week of intense lopsided fighting and an unprecedented sabotage on the oil industry prompted by an unprovoked attack on one of our positions including indiscriminate attacks on civilian communities, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) will downgrade the oil war code named Hurricane Barbarossa to a state of alert code named Tropical Storm Vigilant.
“We hope that the military has learnt a bitter lesson. The next unprovoked attack will start another oil war that will be so ferocious that it will dim the pleas of the elders. That blood oil war will come in the form of another hurricane and its devastation and mode of operation will be different from what was seen with Barbarossa.
“MEND can only speak for itself and will not vouch for the other angry groups that aligned with the operation.” [Source]
Fast forward to last month, April 15 2009
[In Full] (article now archived. create an account)
Here and now:
May 15 (2009)
Nigeria's MEND declares 'all-out war' in Niger DeltaLAGOS (AFP) — The rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) Friday declared "all-out war" in Nigeria's southern oil region, blaming the security forces for the death of one of their hostages.
The group also alleged the army had deliberated targeted civilians in its latest attacks.
Nigeria's military denied both accusations.
The hostage was killed by a stray army bullet during a clash between MEND's fighters and the Nigerian security forces in the oil-rich region, said a statement from the movement.
"He is a Filipino national," a spokesman for MEND said a statement to AFP.
Earlier Friday, MEND repeated a warning to foreign oil producers to pull out of the region by midnight (2300 GMT) or risk being caught up in increasing violence.
"MEND is declaring an all-out war in the region and calls upon all men of fighting age to enlist for our freedom," the group said in a statement to the media.
"The Nigerian armed forces today launched indiscriminate aerial bombardment on the defenceless civilians in the Gbaramatu region of Delta State," MEND charged.
Oil markets, however, remained largely indifferent to the warning, with two benchmark contracts falling back towards the 58-dollar mark.
MEND has so far provided no further details on the hostage they say was killed.
It has not said if he was part of the group of 15 foreigners held hostage aboard the 'MV Spirit' tanker hijacked on Wednesday.
"One hostage has been killed by stray bullets from the Nigerian army who attacked an area (where) they were being held in Delta state," the MEND said in an earlier email.
A spokesman of the special military unit in the volatile region, Colonel Rabe Abubakar, denied the rebel account of their gun battle with the MEND fighters.
"It is a lie. None of them was killed," he told AFP.
Earlier, he denied accusations that his forces had targeted civilians, and dismissed rebel claims that they had got the better of his men. Operations were still ongoing, he said.
"We did not target civilians in the operation because these are the people we are out to defend and protect," he told AFP.
"Our target is the militants, who are the criminals and we will not stop until they are completely flushed out."
He refused to comment on MEND reports of air attacks, describing the operation as "multi-faceted."
Earlier Friday, Jonjon Oyeinfie, an activist and former ethnic Ijaw youth leader in the region, said a fierce battle was raging along the Warri-Forcados river, with the army deploying 13 gunboats and helicopter gunships.
A Warri resident reported having seen clouds of smoke rising from the Chanomi Creek area in Gbaramatu.
MEND also said it had captured a "warship deployed from Liberia to assist the military... along with its entire crew of officers and ratings" and was in the process of setting it ablaze.
Navy spokesman Commodore David Nabaida dismissed MEND's statement.
"This claim is mere propaganda," he told AFP.
"MEND has no capacity to capture our warship or any of our ships for that matter. Again, we do not have any ship deployed from Liberia to Niger Delta."
The rebel group said it had captured three army gunboats intact and had sunk or destroyed nine others.
"Many soldiers have been killed and the military has made a hasty retreat," the group said.
Major oil companies, including Shell and ExxonMobil, have declined to comment on the threats.
In the past three and a half years MEND has been behind a series of kidnappings of staff and attacks on oil installations.
It says it is fighting for a greater share of the region's vast oil resources.
Unrest in the region means Nigeria last year lost its position as Africa's leading crude exporter, to Angola. Its oil output has fallen by about a quarter since 2006.
Nigeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, derives more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from crude oil.
[Source]
A Chronology of the war for the Niger Delta is HERE, from africamasterweb.com (Current >>> 2008)
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Stan Goff, Feral Scholar - "There are some obstacles, the greatest being the attitude that we should give Obama a chance before we start hectoring"
Before everyone gets TOO enthusiastic...
This Viral Video appeared during the election campaign.
It pretty much sums up the problem:
"We have some serious evils in our faces right now; and if we are going to confront them, then we need to list them, organize against them, and make that opposition felt in the principalities and powers.Excerpted from the comments:Big pharma.
Big food.
Big war.
Big oil.
Big banks.
Big prisons.
And the big-dick culture of me-first domination and revenge.
I have a litmus test, if anyone is interested.
Let’s see if Guantanamo is closed in the first month of the new administration."
Susan/catlady:Obama’s transition website, change.gov, is set up for citizens to make suggestions to the new administration.There are several pages under “Agenda,” listing current policy.
A search for “Guantanamo” comes up zilch.
A Look Under the Hood at the (Potential) Obama Administration
7th November 2008, 05:35 am
by Stan
[Hat tip to Lisa… this one merits a post.]
By Joshua Frank
November 06, 2008 — - Tuesday’s celebration hangovers have finally started to wear off, and the pieces are beginning to fall into place. Change will be coming to Washington in January, but it is difficult to decipher what form it will take. Early clues, however, suggest that Barack Obama’s administration will prove unlikely to alter the fundamental political machinery that has led us into war and economic turmoil. Below is a brief summary of Obama’s potential choices for a few key roles in his administration.
Chief of Staff
Obama’s key White House position will go to Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois. While Emanuel knows his way around the corridors of Washington, qualifying him in the traditional sense, this alone doesn’t mean he’s the guy you want drawing up Obama’s policy papers day after day.
For starters, Emanuel is a shameless neoliberal with close ties to the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), even co-authoring a strategy book with DLC president Bruce Reed. Without Emanuel, Bill Clinton would not have been able to thrust NAFTA down the throats of environmentalists and labor in the mid-1990s. Over the course of his career, Emanuel’s made it a point to cozy up to big business, making him one of the most effective corporate fundraisers in the Democratic Party. He’s also a staunch advocate of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
Emanuel’s shining moment came in 2006 as he helped funnel money and poured ground support into the offices of dozens of conservative Democrats, expanding his party’s control of the House of Representatives. Emanuel, who supports the War…
FULL
Stan: The best analog we have in history here is the administration of FDR, where the president was compelled by the perils of increasing popular discontent to provide the space for popular power. It was a development paradigm, eg, the TVA, so there is an ecological apsect to this that is completely and critically different.
Barring the revolutionary transformation of society in one fell swoop, the system is going to require some duct tape and bailing wire to hold it together for the time being, or folk will literally starve. This will likely require a Keynesian intervention of some kind (or it all goes over a cliff, and Obama’s administration is counted by history as more of the same shit). Key here is a public works jobs program; and if we don’t fight like crazy for one that focuses on reparing biospheric damage, then shame on every one of us.
Just as urgently, however, we have to rebuild an antiwar movement worthy of its name.
There are some obstacles, the greatest being the attitude that we should give Obama a chance before we start hectoring.
That’s dead wrong… immoral in fact.
Every day that these occupations go on is a terrible sin; and our silence and forebearance are forms of complicity.
In Full @ Feral Scholar
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
