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October 3rd, 2012:

Shell, Corporate Social Responsibility and Respect for the Law

10/03/2012

This post is by Amol Mehra and Katie Shay

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court considered a case that strikes at the core of corporate social responsibility, Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum (Shell). The Kiobel plaintiffs allege that Shell was complicit in egregious human rights violations including rape, torture, and the extrajudicial killings of peaceful protesters who objected to Shell’s presence in Ogoniland, Nigeria. Shell, a Dutch corporation, argued that the law used to bring the company before a U.S. court, the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), should not apply. The multinational corporation argued that there is too tenuous a connection between what allegedly happened in Nigeria and the United States. Shell is essentially fighting to limit a law that remedies human rights abuses wherever they occur. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Big Oil Pleads Immunity From Prosecution for Human Rights Crimes

Posted: 10/03/2012 11:45 am

This fall the U.S. Supreme Court will decide a case that throws a spotlight on the oil industry’s toxic influence on our democracy — and why we need to move America beyond oil as quickly as possible.

In the 1990s, Shell Oil allegedly enlisted the Nigerian military dictatorship to suppress opposition to Shell’s oil operations. A 2002 lawsuit, Kiobel v. Shell, alleges that Shell “aided and abetted” the Nigerian military dictatorship in committing severe human rights abuses against members of the Ogoni people who were involved in a nonviolent movement to stop it from drilling for oil in their rich Niger River Delta homeland. But, in a challenge to a 200-year-old law, Shell is arguing that as a corporation it cannot be held responsible for human rights violations abroad. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Kiobel v Shell hoax could constitute a criminal offence

By John Donovan

We broke the news yesterday morning of an elaborate hoax in which fake emails purportedly from Shell, were apparently sent to 71,000 Shell employees in relation to the Kiobel v Shell case currently before the US Supreme Court.

Extracts from related news reports about the hoax:

BloombergBusinessWeek article: Activists send fake email to Shell workers

HOUSTON (AP) — Two activist groups said Tuesday they sent an email to more than 71,000 Shell Oil employees that pretended to be from a fake company division and provided information about a U.S. Supreme Court case involving the company. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Activists send fake email to Shell workers

Posted on October 02, 2012

HOUSTON (AP) — Two activist groups said Tuesday they sent an email to more than 71,000 Shell Oil employees that pretended to be from a fake company division and provided information about a U.S. Supreme Court case involving the company.

The groups, People Against Legalizing Murder and the Yes Lab, said that on Monday they sent the email that purported to be from Shell’s “Grassroots Employee Empowerment Division,” which doesn’t exist.

Business interests argue they are being subjected to claims over the bad behavior of foreign regimes, which are shielded from lawsuits here under U.S. law. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Total Sizes up Shell’s Game

Chuck Clusen’s Blog:Posted October 2, 2012

It isn’t often that an oil industry executive speaks out against oil exploration. Yet last week, the Financial Times reported that French oil giant Total’s chief executive, Christophe de Margerie, claimed the risk of an oil spill in [the Arctic] such an environmentally sensitive area was simply too high. Perhaps even more rare is the position I find myself in now—a conservationist in the strange position of being in agreement with a major oil company’s chief executive. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Nigeria: Pollution – Dutch Court to Hear Nigerians Suit Against Shell

By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku, 2 October 2012

Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell is to appear in a Dutch court to account for alleged environmental pollution in Nigeria, environmental rights group, Friends of the Earth International has said.

The court case against Shell’s oil spills in Nigeria had been filed by four Nigerian plaintiffs in conjunction with Friends of the Earth Netherlands and supported by Friends of the Earth Nigeria.

Friends of the Earth International said in a release that Shell would appear in a Dutch court on October 11, to account for damage it caused abroad. Lawyers for both parties will plea at the key hearing in The Hague, while the court verdict is expected early in 2013. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Rights groups sees swing for Kiobel

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 (UPI) — A rights group supporting Nigerian nationals before the U.S. Supreme Court said the case seemed to be moving against Royal Dutch Shell.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Monday in Kiobel vs. Royal Dutch Petroleum. Esther Kiobel filed the case in U.S. courts under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 law, saying her husband Barinem Kiobel was executed by the Nigerian military with the alleged backing of Shell.

Advocacy group EarthRights International said Monday’s arguments were viewed as favorable for Kiobel. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.