Shell settles Saro Wiwa lawsuit
It's been over a decade since Ken Saro Wiwa and other Ogoni environmental rights activists were executed by the Abacha government in Nigeria. Saro Wiwa had led a peaceful protest against the environmental degradation brought about by Shell's oil exploitation in the Ogoniland region. Saro Wiwa was very successful in garnishing international attention for the plight of his people, and Shell and the Nigerian government wanted him out of the way - they thus conspired to have him tried on made up charges by a military tribunal. Despite the best efforts of thousands of human rights activists worldwide, Saro Wiwa and other activists were quickly found guilty and executed.
His family and his people continued to fight for justice - suing Shell for complicity in the torture, killing, and other abuses of Saro Wiwa and his colleagues. Today, on the eve of the start of the trial, Shell settled for $15.5 million - thus tacitly admitting responsibility for such crimes.
Of course, money does not equate justice. Brian Anderson, the head of Shell's Nigeria operations, and the others who conspired in the torture and eath of the Ogoni activists should face criminal charges as well - but every step towards justice is a good one. I congratulate Earth Rights, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the private lawyers who worked tirelessly on this effort.
What follows is the press release by the organizations that sponsored the trial.