London--31 October 1995--Shell Oil must share responsibility for Nigerian author and environmentalist Ken Saro Wiwa's death sentence, Greenpeace said today.
Saro Wiwa, 56, has received international awards for his work on the Ogoni peoples' peaceful campaign to expose and oppose the devastation caused by Shell's drilling in the Niger Delta. His sentence today comes at the end of a 17-month incarceration in Nigerian military prisons, and a trial before a military tribunal not recognised in the Nigerian legal system.
"Ken Saro-Wiwa has received the death sentence today because he and the Ogoni people have exposed the devastation wrought on their land by Shell. If this bizarre sentence is carried out, Shell shares responsibility for the death of Ken Saro Wiwa," said Paul Horsman of Greenpeace International.
Yesterday, five Ogoni imprisoned with Ken received the death sentence yesterday, and four more today. There were 28 Ogoni imprisoned and on trial with Ken Saro-Wiwa. At least four have died in prison this year.
More than 30 years of Shell's oil operations have resulted in appalling environmental degradation in Nigeria. The standards Shell applies to its Nigerian operations would not be permitted in Europe or North America.
Saro Wiwa's death sentence was given by a military tribunal widely slated by human rights groups and lawyers. In May last year he was arrested and accused of inciting the murder of four Ogoni elders. The only two prosecution witnesses who said during the trial that Saro Wiwa told his followers to carry out the murders later swore affidavits alleging Shell had bribed them to give evidence [1].
In August, the defence legal team quit the trial, saying the military tribunal was not an objective body to hear the case. There is no appeal against the ruling, which will be sent straight to General Abacha, who will decide on the dates of the death sentences.
"Due to Shell's oil operations in the Niger Delta, the Ogoni people have lost their farmlands, fisheries and livelihood. Following demonstrations against Shell, the Ogoni have been massacred, tortured and gagged by the Nigerian military. Shell's appalling environmental double standards are to blame for the plight of the Ogoni people and Ken Saro Wiwa's death sentence today," said Horsman.
According to Shell's latest review, Nigeria remains the one of the most important sources of Shell's equity oil production [2].
Over the past week, military action against the Ogoni people has been stepped up, with reports that over 2000 troops moved into Ogoniland at the weekend, and are now carrying out arbitrary arrests.
"With profitability comes responsibility; hence Greenpeace demands that Shell, one of Nigeria's largest creditors, to appeal to General Abacha against this barbaric sentence and save the lives of Ken Saro Wiwa and the condemned Ogoni," said Horsman. "If Shell allow Ken Saro Wiwa to die, the international community will know who to blame."
For information:
Cindy Baxter Greenpeace Communications ++44 171 833 0600. Paul
Horsman (Mobile) +31 65 323 5057; (w) +44 354 5100
[1] UK Criminal Bar Association's Human Rights Committee QC
Michael Birnbaum described the affidavits regarding the bribing
of witnesses. Of the tribunal itself, Birnbaum said:
"it is my view that the breaches of fundamental rights I
have identified are so serious as to arouse grave concern
that any trial before this tribunal will be fundamentally
flawed and unfair."
The witnesses also smuggled tapes of their sworn statements out of Nigeria to the UK.
[2] The Shell Review, 1995 supplement. Page 3: (Exploration and Production).