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Nigeria: Delta Oil & Human Rights
AfricaFocus Bulletin
Nov 13, 2005 (051113)
(Reposted from sources cited below)
Editor's Note
Ten years after the execution of human rights campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight of his
colleagues by the Nigerian government, the issues of human rights
and environmental devastation in the oil-producing Niger Delta
remain unresolved. Despite the return to civilian rule in 1999 and
pledges by oil companies to implement voluntary corporate
responsibility standards, new reports by Environmental Rights
Action and Amnesty International document only limited action to
correct abuses and deliver benefits to the residents of the
oil-producing areas.
This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains excerpts from a report from
Amnesty International ("Ten Years On: Injustice and Violence Haunt
the Oil Delta") and a press release from Environmental Rights
Action (ERA) / Friends of the Earth Nigeria on the release of
a new report focused on Shell's operations in particular.
The full Amnesty report is available at
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engafr440222005
The report from Environmental Rights Action is available on the ERA
website at http://www.eraction.org, and at
http://allafrica.com/sustainable/resources/00010734.html
An earlier ERA report on gas flaring in Nigeria is available at
http://www.climatelaw.org/gas.flaring/report/report
For an additional reflection on the tenth anniversary of the
execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, by his son Ken Wiwa, see
http://www.blackcommentator.com/158/158_saro_wiwa_pf.html
For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on Nigeria, on oil and violence
in the Delta and other topics, as well as additional links, visit
http://www.africafocus.org/country/nigeria.php
++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++++++++
Ten years on: Injustice and violence haunt the oil Delta
Amnesty International
[Excerpts only; for full report, including footnotes, see
http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engafr440222005]
November 3, 2005
1. Introduction
Ten years after the executions of writer and human rights
campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Ogoni
ethnic community horrified the world, the exploitation of oil in
the Niger Delta continues to result in deprivation, injustice and
violence. Despite a return to civilian government in 1999 under
President Olusegun Obasanjo, those responsible for human rights
violations under military governments have not been brought to
justice. The security forces continue to kill people and raze
communities with impunity. The environmental harm to health and
livelihoods that impelled the Ogoni campaign for economic and
social rights remains the reality for many inhabitants of the Delta
region.
Ken Saro-Wiwa, Baribor Bera, Saturday Doobee, Nordu Eawo, Daniel
Gbokoo, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Paul Levura and Felix Nuate
were hanged on 10 November 1995, raising a storm of outrage across
the globe. Their politically motivated prosecution and unfair trial
for the killings of four traditional rulers, before a special
tribunal appointed by the military government, came to exemplify
the authorities' repression of human rights. In 1993 Shell Nigeria
had withdrawn personnel from its facilities in Ogoni in the face of
local protests. The executions, carried out in defiance of appeals
for clemency from heads of state, intergovernmental bodies and
human rights groups worldwide, earned Nigeria international
sanctions, suspension from the Commonwealth, and unprecedented
scrutiny and denunciation. Shell too faced widespread condemnation
for its ambiguous and belated interventions.
Steps undertaken by the Nigerian government to address the
long-standing demands of people living in the oil-producing states
have been inadequate. Under the 1999 Constitution, the state
administrations should receive a higher percentage of national oil
revenues - up from 1.5 to 13 per cent - to be used for development
purposes. However, in response to a legal challenge by the federal
government, in 2002 the Supreme Court ruled that this provision
applied to revenues from onshore oil only, slashing payments to
states in some cases. In June 2005 delegates from oil-producing
states walked out of the National Political Reform Conference after
the federal government refused to offer more than 17 per cent. In
addition, many federal government payments owed to states, and to
the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) established by the
government in 2000, are long overdue. Some oil companies expected
to contribute to the funding for the NDDC have also withheld their
full contributions. Corruption and mismanagement further deprive
the Niger Delta people of the benefits of their region's resources.
The Nigerian government has obligations under international law to
respect, protect and fulfil human rights, but it has frequently
failed to do so. Given the importance of oil in Nigeria's economy,
in Amnesty International's view the government has failed to
protect communities in oil producing areas, while providing
security to the oil industry. Domestic regulation of companies to
ensure protection of human rights is clearly inadequate.
This report is part of Amnesty International's worldwide campaign
to demonstrate - by showing how companies avoid their
responsibilities - the need to establish universally recognised
standards applicable to companies. For oil companies operating in
the Niger Delta and for governments to take action to ensure that
the human rights of the people of the region are not subordinated
to the "law and order" agenda that exploration and extraction of
oil demands. Amnesty International is calling for urgent and
independent inquiries by the Nigerian Federal government into
allegations that its security forces killed and injured civilians
in incidents involving the Ugborodo community in Delta State and
the town of Odioma in Bayelsa State in February 2005. It is urging
the parent oil companies Chevron and Shell to investigate their
involvement and responsibility of their local subsidiaries -
Chevron Nigeria in relation to the Ugborodo protest, and Shell
Nigeria in relation to the attack on Odioma - and the UK and US
governments to ensure that the parent companies of subsidiaries
operating in the Niger Delta respect the human rights of the
communities where they operate.
1.1 Rights still under attack by the state
"The notion that the oil-bearing areas provide the revenue of the
country, and yet be denied a proper share of that revenue ... is
unjust, immoral, unnatural and ungodly. Why should the people on
oil-bearing land be tortured?" - Ken Saro-Wiwa(3)
Niger Delta communities see little of Nigeria's oil revenues. Vast
stretches of the region have erratic electricity supplies, poor
water quality, and few functioning schools, health care centres,
post offices or police stations. The only visible government
presence in many parts is a heavily-armed security apparatus. The
government provides very little infrastructure, public works or
conditions conducive to employment.
The Delta is criss-crossed with pipelines, and dotted with
well-heads and flow stations. At night, often the only light
visible for miles is from flares burning unwanted gas which is
contaminating the environment.(4) Frequent oil spills have affected
fish stocks and polluted water holes.(5) To alleviate the
frustrations of communities without development or employment,
companies offer "ghost" jobs, paying money to people who are not
expected to work. In an environment in which company personnel and
assets have increasingly become targets of hostage-taking, sabotage
and large-scale theft of oil, companies also sometimes employ
community members to protect oil pipelines from sabotage. While
some acts of sabotage and the resulting oil spills are aimed at
seeking compensation or clean-up contracts, pipelines are often in
poor condition and, some international experts say, not replaced as
frequently as they would be in industrialized countries.
The Delta's marginalized peoples vigorously pursue the campaign for
their rights. Yet their ability to claim their economic and social
rights is impeded by continued threats to civil and political
freedoms. Human rights defenders and journalists, including foreign
reporters and television crews, have been harassed, detained and
sometimes beaten for investigating oil spills or violations by the
security forces. The inhabitants of communities suspected of
obstructing oil production or harbouring criminals are sometimes
targeted by the security forces. The federal government has in many
cases rejected calls for independent and impartial inquiries into
abuses by these forces, which operate under its direct control.
The actions of the security forces have resulted in the death and
injury of unarmed civilians and the razing of whole communities. In
several instances, the use of force has been excessive. Leading
these forces has been a Joint Task Force, an army-led unit that
includes officers from the navy, military, paramilitary Mobile
Police (MOPOL) and regular police force. The Joint Task Force was
formed in 2003, with codename "Operation Restore Hope", to protect
major oil installations as strategic national assets and to combat
increasing kidnappings of oil company personnel, attacks on police
stations and military patrols, interruptions to oil production and
oil thefts, as well as communal unrest.(6) Amnesty International
believes that in 2003 and 2004, over 1,500 people died, most of
them in the area around Warri, the commercial capital of Delta
State, in intercommunal conflicts over oil and oil revenues as well
as in grievances over political boundaries.
Protests put down with excessive force arise from government
failures to respect, protect and fulfil economic and social rights.
No effective recourse exists for harm resulting from excessive use
of force or from the proximity of pipelines, oil spills and gas
flaring to homes, farms and waterways. Few of the region's
inhabitants have the resources to seek compensation through
protracted, prohibitively expensive and uncertain legal action
against powerful oil companies, and through a legal system widely
perceived as corrupt. In spite of windfall gains for the Nigerian
government as global oil prices have more than doubled in the last
two years, the inhabitants of the Niger Delta remain among the most
deprived oil communities in the world - 70 per cent live on less
than US$1 a day, the standard economic measure of absolute poverty.
...
1.4 Companies fail to live up to human rights principles
International oil companies have operated in the Niger Delta area
of Nigeria since 1956, when oil was first discovered in Oloibiri,
in what is now Bayelsa State.(7) Over the past half-century, the
Nigerian government has earned billions of US dollars from its oil
sector. Oil now accounts for over 98 per cent of Nigeria's exports
and oil revenues for nearly 80 per cent of the national budget.(8)
As the Nigeria government is failing to respect, protect and fulfil
the human rights of its people, communities turn for jobs and
essential services to oil companies, the most powerful, visible and
functioning entities in the Niger Delta. Local politicians
encourage such thinking. The relationship between companies and
communities is increasingly governed by agreements, called
Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs). Under these agreements,
companies provide development projects in return for promises by
communities to provide a peaceful operating environment. Some
company-funded projects have functioned. Others have been poorly
run and accessible to a few communities only, or companies have
awarded contracts and benefits in an arbitrary manner that
perpetuates discrimination, marginalization and inequities. In many
cases, companies do not deliver what they have promised, stoking
resentment and community protests.
Some of those employed by companies or their subcontractors to
ensure security for oil operations have themselves been involved in
illegal activities, according to Amnesty International sources.
Criminal groups illegally tap oil from pipelines and sell it on the
international market. Such groups recruit and arm local men to
protect their operations, and this is one of the reasons for the
rise in vigilante groups and small arms proliferation. The wealth
from oil production has made oil producing areas attractive, and
illegal tapping of oil has resulted in attacks on rival
communities.
Oil companies are seen to benefit from the repression of protests
by local communities or the razing of communities accused of
harbouring criminals. The companies' security arrangements, whether
involving government forces or private individuals, have a human
rights impact for which they are not held to account. Companies
have admitted that some of their activities have contributed to the
violence.(9) This significantly raises the risk of companies being
complicit in abuses committed by the security forces. International
standards on complicity of companies and other non-state actors in
human rights abuses are developing, and so are the legal
implications of complicity of a company's conduct. However, under
standards drawn from domestic and even international human rights
law and international criminal law a company's actions or failures
to take action may risk complicity with human rights violations,
for example, if they are close to, have knowledge of, aid and abet,
or benefit from a violation.
Following the Ogoni executions, companies came under greater
scrutiny and many companies adopted codes of conduct on corporate
social responsibility, however to Amnesty International's knowledge
only 91 companies have adopted explicit policies on human rights.
Several companies operating in the Niger Delta are signatories of
the Voluntary Principles for Security and Human Rights for
companies in the extractive sector, including Chevron and Shell.
These principles are intended to guide companies in maintaining the
safety and security of their operations within a framework that
ensures respect for human rights. They apply wherever the company
operates but have no monitoring mechanism, making it difficult to
evaluate companies' adherence.
...
4.2 Impunity reigns, 10 years on
Ten years on, many of the human rights abuses in the Niger Delta
that impelled the Ogoni campaign have not been resolved. Frequent
oil spills blacken the land and pollute the waterways. Gas flaring
from hundreds of wells turns the sky sepulchral by day and ablaze
at night. Impunity persists for those responsible for killings and
other serious human rights violations against the Ogoni and other
Delta communities, and solutions offered by the government and the
oil companies are insufficient.
In 2001, in response to a complaint brought by two NGOs against
Shell Nigeria and the Nigerian government in 1996, the African
Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the African Commission)
recognized some of the claims of the Ogoni community. (84) It found
that, inter alia:
"Despite its obligation to protect persons against
interferences in the enjoyment of their rights, the Government of
Nigeria facilitated the destruction of the Ogoniland... [It] has
given the green light to private actors, and the oil Companies in
particular, to devastatingly affect the well-being of the Ogonis."
...
The complainants had argued that the company had not paid due
regard to the health and environment of local communities when
exploiting oil in Ogoniland. They also complained that the
government condoned and facilitated violations of international
environmental standards by "placing the legal and military powers
of the State at the disposal of the oil companies"; withholding
information from the communities about the dangers of oil
activities; ignoring the concerns of the communities; and
responding to protests "with massive violence and execution of
Ogoni leaders".
...Yet, despite this landmark decision by the African Commission,
local human rights activists are unanimous that the Nigerian
government has paid little serious attention to it. Felix Morka of
the Social and Economic Rights Action Centre told Amnesty
International that "the decision has influenced the work of human
rights activists who have used it in their capacity-building and
awareness raising on similar issues. However, since the decision is
from outside Nigeria, the government places little emphasis on it".
Without recognition of or remedy for the Ogoni complaints, there
has been scant progress in reconciling the Ogoni community to Shell
Nigeria, which said it would not go back to Ogoni without the
agreement of the community. In 1993 the company had withdrawn
personnel from its facilities in Ogoni in the face of MOSOP
protests. In 2005, the federal government appointed an independent
mediator, the Reverend Father Matthew H. Kukah, to assist
reconciliation, without which the company cannot return to Ogoni.
Both parties have publicly welcomed the initiative. However, Ledum
Mitee, MOSOP President and one of the defendants in the 1995 Ogoni
trials, said that transparent and genuine negotiations require
recognition of the human rights abuses of the past, including the
killing and forced displacement of Ogonis; public apologies and
compensation for victims and their families; and measures to
address environmental degradation.(86) Previous attempts at
negotiations have foundered on these issues and on the impunity
enjoyed by those responsible for human rights violations.
The Ogoni situation is not unique. No investigations have been
conducted into the vast majority of human rights violations in the
Niger Delta. Where inquiries have been instituted, their results
are rarely made public. Those responsible are rarely brought to
justice. The victims and their families have received no
acknowledgement that they have suffered human rights violations or
any form of reparation (restitution, compensation, satisfaction,
rehabilitation or guarantees of non-repetition).
The Shell Report: Continuing Abuses-10 Years After Ken Saro-Wiwa
November 08, 2005
Press Release
Environmental Rights Action / Friends of the Earth
http://www.eraction.org
As the world marks the 10th anniversary of the state murder of Ken
Saro-Wiwa and other leaders of the Movement for the Survival of
Ogoni People (MOSOP), the Environmental Rights Action (ERA)/Friends
of the Earth Nigeria (FoEN) has today published a report that
details environmental and social practices of Shell in the Niger
Delta.
The report uses case studies from communities in the Niger Delta
area to expose continuing abuses by Shell, 10 years after the oil
corporation supported Nigerian soldiers to kill and maim the Ogoni.
Nnimmo Bassey, Executive Director of ERA/FoEN comments:
This report shows that the Niger Delta environment has not fared
any better since those dark, evil days but rather that the forces
of oppression have become entrenched and in cases, have become far
more brutal than could have been imagined a decade ago. As the
world continues to hunger for hydrocarbons, so the oil giants
conveniently maintain a strangle hold on the Niger Delta in
indifference to the cries of the people. As the IMF, World Bank and
the Paris Club scheme on even more ingenious ways to skim off
whatever funds trickle into our national treasury, so the fangs or
rigs of the oil transnationals sink defiantly into the heartlands
and off shores of the oil coasts. The game is this: the richer
nation gets, the poorer she must become. In this open faced blind
man's game, the grassroots suffer and have been reduced to ghosts
of what they ought to be
The report, which is presented from the perspective of the
brutalised and impoverished communities show that Shell continues
to use obsolete facilities and corrupting community engagement
tactics, with the result that oil spills and blowouts have become
a matter of routine; social and moral disruptions are more
entrenched; toxic gases continue to be released through gas flares.
The chapters of the report cover the following issues:
- Continuing abuses in Ogoni and conflict in the community as Shell
and government agents scheme a return of the company to the
devastated area.
- Continuing reckless environmental practices of Shell including
burning of forests and community farmlands as a measure to contain
oil spills.
- Shell's plan to continue gas flaring beyond 2008.
- Fuelling of communal conflicts and using Nigerian military to
abuse human rights.
- Corruption in Nigeria: Shell is colluding with government
officials to defraud the country and its peoples.
- False solutions: Shell's response to the crisis it creates is to
deny responsibility, while the Nigerian government and
"international community" promotes voluntary codes for the oil
companies and military solutions to deal with communities.
The report concludes with recommendations of ERA/FoEN, which
include a demand for legally binding and internationally
enforceable laws to protect peoples of the world from the abuses of
Shell and other transnational corporations, as against sponsored
voluntary codes and mechanisms for corporate self-regulation.
AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication
providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with
a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus
Bulletin is edited by William Minter.
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