Amnesty International said today on the 40th anniversary of one of the world’s worst industrial disasters that environmental racism has led to a woefully inadequate and inadequate response to the victims and survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy over the past four decades. Ruthless.
Forty years ago, a deadly gas leak from a pesticide factory in the Indian city of Bhopal killed at least 22,000 people. Since then, Bhopal has become a “sacrifice zone” for the American chemical company Union Carbide (UCC) and its later owner Dow Chemical Company (Dow), as well as the US and Indian authorities, half of which continued for generations. Suffer.
“Little has changed over the past four decades. Unequal power dynamics ensure that justice is denied to victims, who primarily belong to low-income, marginalized and minority communities. At the same time, those responsible, especially those in the U.S. The company, shamefully, continues to evade its clear human rights responsibilities. It is a travesty that the Indian and US authorities have failed to hold to account all those responsible for this heinous crime of corporate negligence.
Almost nothing has changed in the past four decades…It is a travesty that the Indian and US authorities have failed to hold accountable all those responsible for this heinous crime of corporate negligence.
Mark Dummett, head of business and human rights at Amnesty International
“In the absence of adequate state and corporate support, survivor groups and their supporters continue to wage a truly inspiring fight for justice through legal action, scientific research and medical aid. Their stories of courage and resilience deserve our Learn, honor and remember this anniversary.
“Sacrifice Zone”
To date, thousands of tons of toxic waste remain buried in and around abandoned factories, causing water pollution to continue to grow. This clearly shows that the area is a “sacrifice zone” – an area that is so polluted or polluted that it has clearly damaging consequences for the health of local residents.
Dow Chemical Company, one of the world’s largest chemical companies, acquired the US company UCC in 2001, which owned a majority stake in the Bhopal plant at the time of the 1984 disaster. Dow has full control of UCC’s assets and interests, so it should also absorb its liabilities. Instead, Dow Chemical has shied away from taking any responsibility for survivors.
In 1989, the UCC reached a completely unfair and inadequate compensation agreement with the Indian government, which was reached without consulting Bhopal survivors.
Furthermore, U.S. government lobbying and pressure ensured that U.S. citizens and companies responsible for this disaster escaped criminal justice sanctions.
Survivor groups and their supporters continue to wage a truly inspiring fight for justice…their stories of courage and resilience are worth learning from, commemorating and remembering on this anniversary.
Mark Dummett
Deep-rooted “environmental racism”
Earlier this year, Amnesty International released 40 years of injustice in Bhopala report documenting how entrenched environmental racism, channeled through systemic and generational discrimination, has led to a lack of accountability on the part of state and corporate actors and the failure to ensure comprehensive reparations plans. For responses from each company, please see the report attachment.
The report identifies environmental racism as a multitude of interrelated human rights violations, including the adverse impact of environmental degradation on the rights to life, health, an adequate standard of living, education and other substantive rights, as well as the rights to cleanliness, health and hygiene of infringement.
The indifference and contempt that survivors and their descendants have been subjected to since the gas leak, the lack of appropriate and effective accountability by state and corporate actors for the gas leak and ongoing pollution, and the failure to ensure a reparations scheme that adequately addresses the deep-seated environmental racism have caused of all past and present harms.
As a result, Amnesty International has asked shareholders to end their relationship with Dow Chemical and consider divesting investments from the chemicals company if the company fails to take meaningful and prompt action by providing adequate compensation to all survivors as well as contamination Assess and clean up to resolve suffering.
No amount of denial of responsibility can take away the horror of the tragedy in Bhopal and will only prolong the suffering of survivors and hinder reparations.
Mark Dummett
Amnesty International also calls on the Indian government to continue to seek legal redress from Dow on behalf of victims and to redress any shortfalls for those who are still suffering or have been wrongfully denied redress.
“Forty years on from the Bhopal gas tragedy, the survivors and their families deserve at least justice. Yet, Dow continues to pursue the same old corporate tactics. No amount of denial of responsibility can take away the horror of the tragedy that occurred in Bhopal, It will only prolong the suffering of survivors and hinder compensation,” said Mark Dummett.
background
Around midnight on December 2, 1984, about 40 tons of deadly methyl isocyanate gas (MIC) leaked from the Bhopal pesticide plant, which was then owned by the Union Carbide Corporation of the United States. Thousands of people died in informal housing. It is estimated that more than 22,000 people have died prematurely due to direct exposure to the gas, and deaths continue to occur.
More than 500,000 people were injured or suffered permanent harm, including generational effects of MIC exposure on reproductive health, and water supplies contaminated by chemicals left at the site.
Amnesty International also released reports commemorating the 20th and 30th anniversaries of the Bhopal disaster.
