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MEDIA ADVISORY
Friends of the Earth
International
Embargo: 00.01h GMT Friday 10th November
2006
KEN SARO-WIWA REMEMBERED IN
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
November 10, 2006 -- Community groups all
over the world will be participating in an
international day of action against Shell
today November 10.
The groups are taking part in actions to
commemorate the lives and deaths of the
Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro Wiwa
and eight others who were executed 11 years
ago today.
Protests and actions are taking place in
Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa,
Barbados and Ireland – while in London the
Remember Saro Wiwa coalition will be
launching a memorial to the Nigerian writer
and activist [1]. He and the eight others
were sentenced to death for speaking out
against the impact of Shell and other oil
companies in the oil-rich Niger Delta in
Nigeria.
A number of communities around the world
have long-standing concerns about Shell's
operations and the impacts of the oil giant's
activities. They are coming together as part
of this international day of action to
highlight that there is an ongoing problem
with Shell's global operations – and that
these are not isolated cases. In Russia Shell
is accused by the government of committing
environmental crimes while the High Court in
Nigeria has ruled that gas flaring by Shell
is against the Nigeria Constitution.
Communities want to send out a clear message
that Shell is failing to operate the
standards of corporate governance it claims.
And they are calling for solidarity with the
community in Rossport, County Mayo, Ireland,
currently fighting to stop Shell building a
high-pressure pipeline across their land.
Friends of the Earth International
Corporates Campaigner Paul de Clerck
said:
“Eleven years on from the execution of Ken
Saro Wiwa, Shell is still failing to
recognise the rights and needs of the
communities where it operates. Communities
are living alongside terrible pollution,
while Shell banks record profits. It is time
the oil giant was forced to clean up its
operations and improve its standards of
corporate governance. Companies in the modern
world should not be allowed to operate in
this way.”
Protests and actions will be
happening in:
• Nigeria, where Shell's impacts over 50
years have included numerous oils spills and
fires and where Shell's continuous gas
flaring pollutes the air – activists will be
holding a candle-lit march, including
speeches and singing, and will visit Port
Harcourt Prisons where Ken Saro-Wiwa and
colleagues were held in solitary confinement
before being hanged.
• South Africa, Cape Town: a mass picket
will be held outside Shell House
• South Africa, South Durban: community
groups, supported by people from around the
world, plan to block off the Shell and BP
refinery which operates using ageing and
dangerous infrastructure and releases many
pollutants, including carcinogens and other
chemicals causing damage to human health and
the surrounding environment.
• Philippines, Manila where communities are
concerned about the impact of having an oil
depot located in the middle of a residential
area – people are holding a day of events
including a memorial meeting and press
conference, floral offerings on the Pasig
River, a candle-lit protest at the main
thoroughfare of Shell, and a chain of
children at Shell's oil depot gate.
• Barbados: farmers are seeking compensation
from Shell for contamination of their lands
with aviation fuel from a leaking
seven-mile-long pipeline and will be holding
a demonstration against Shell.
• Ireland, County Mayo, where the local
community is objecting to the development of
a high pressure pipeline – people are
organising a peaceful mass protest at the
site of the refinery in Ballanaboy, with
solidarity protests also taking place at
filling stations and depots in Cork and
solidarity actions elsewhere (see
http://www.corribsos.com/
)
FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT
:
Friends of the Earth International, Paul de
Clerck, +32-494380959 (Belgian mobile)
Friends of the Earth in London UK, Hannah
Griffiths +44-7855 841994 (UK mobile)
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