Shell hearing in Dutch Parliament
News 27.01.2011
Friends of the Earth International and Amnesty International have filed a complaint against Royal Dutch Shell with the OECD, alleging that Shell has published misleading data about oil spills in Nigeria.
In a parliamentary hearing in The Hague on January 26, they accused Shell of abusing human rights, failing to clean up the disastrous oil spills and continuing the hazardous practice of flaring gas. Shell is the largest foreign oil operator in Nigeria’s Delta region.
Chair of Friends of the Earth International, Nnimmo Bassey (Nigeria, RLA 2010), stated: “Shell (…) should take full responsibility for the pollution of the Niger Delta and embark on thorough clean up of the environment. It must also stop gas flaring which not only fouls our air with a toxic cocktail but is also an economic drain.”
Read more in the New York Times
In US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks last November, it was stated that Shell’s Nigeria head, Ann Pickard, claimed to have infiltrated the country’s government.
Ken Saro-Wiwa, (Nigeria, RLA 1994) was killed for his fight against Shell’s oil pollution in the Ogoni area of Nigeria.
