Chevron in San Francisco Court for Nigerian Human Rights Case

chevron in nigeria photo

Chevron Faces Torture, Wrongful Death, Assault, And Other Claims
Chevron is in San Francisco Federal Court this week, defending itself against charges that it helped kill two Nigerian villagers who were protesting the companies' lack of social responsibility and regard for the environment. At the heart of the case is the question of whether Nigerian protesters did so peacefully or with force. More below the fold.

Chevron has hired William J. Haynes, a former Bush Administration lawyer, to take their case. Nigerian protesters are testifying against Chevron in response to violent reactions to a 1998 protest they took part in on a barge tethered to a Chevron offshore rig. The 100 to 150 Nigerian protesters on the barge claim they were peacefully opposing the companies' environmental and economic wrong-doings in the region when, on May 28, 1998, helicopters flew Nigerian soldiers onto the rig. The soldiers fired into the crowd on the barge, killing two protesters and injuring others.

The case is expected to run through December and has just begun to highlight the environmental and economic damage Chevron is having on the Niger Delta.

Other human rights and environmentally related cases Chevron currently faces include:
-in Ecuador, Chevron lawyers and local government officials are being faced with charges for lying about environmental damages caused by what has been called the worst oil-related disaster on Earth
-in Burma, Chevron is being criticized for a pipeline project that produces close to $1 billion annually for the country's military regime

More on Chevron:
Chevron's Inhumane Energy
Chevron Pulls a Beyond Petroleum
Chevron in Ecuador
Chevron in Nigeria