Greed, carelessness, and callous disregard for human life sum up the causes of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster - Request for Assistance for Bhopal Survivors' Petition
Dear all,
My
name is Adriane Raff Corwin, and I have been a volunteer with the International
Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB) for many years. ICJB has hired me
temporarily as Online Organizer in the USA in order to get signatures for a
White House petition.
You can sign the petition here: https://wh.gov/isOdv
After
you sign, you must confirm your signature in an email, otherwise it won’t be
counted.
As most of you know,
the survivors of the 1984 Bhopal disaster have never received justice in the
form of proper compensation, and the corporations liable for the disaster - Dow
Chemical and Union Carbide - have been absconding from Indian court for decades.
In the past 2 years, the Indian government has sent the US Dept. of Justice
(DoJ) four court notices to serve to Dow Chemical. The DoJ has ignored three of
them and stalled on one.
The US government is required to serve these notices
from India to Dow because of the criminal Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty
between the two countries. But the US government continues to shield Dow with
the same excuses it has used all along - there’s not enough information, the
charges aren’t clear enough for the US government to comply with, etc. The CBI
has sent the DoJ a long letter answering in detail all the questions of the
DoJ. Many months later, the DoJ has yet to respond. Very similar stalling
tactics were used to draw out the extradition request from India for Warren
Anderson, Union Carbide CEO at the time of the disaster.
The only entity with
the power to force Dow to show up to court in India is the US government. ICJB
is petitioning the White House to stop shielding Dow Chemical from these court
notices, as a first step to getting the US government to act. If we are able to
gather 100,000 signatures by June 14th, the White House guarantees it will
respond to the petition. Anyone of any nationality can sign, as long as
they are 13 years or older and have a valid email address. I am writing to you
all to ask that you share this petition with your networks.
The disaster itself is over 31 years old, and
it is getting harder and harder to get any form of justice. This fall, Dow
Chemical is planning to merge with DuPont, which may make it even more
difficult to impel the corporation to come to court in Bhopal. We must act now,
before it is too late. Please consider emailing and telling your
networks about this petition. With your help, we could collect
thousands of signatures. We’ve found social media posts don’t garner nearly as
many signatures, so email or personal messages are best.
Pasted below is an
outreach email that I have been using in the USA, in case it is useful.
If you have ideas on
how to garner more signatures via yours or other networks, or would like more
information, please email me at enairda@riseup.net
You can also WhatsApp me
at 001-201-543-1928
You can follow ICJB’s
social media accounts here:
Thank you for your
support -
Sincerely,
Adriane
Greed,
carelessness, and a callous disregard for human life - these words sum up the
causes of the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster.
In 1984, 8,000+
residents of Bhopal, India died within hours of being exposed to a toxic gas
that escaped from a nearby poorly maintained chemical factory. Hundreds of
thousands who survived exposure remain permanently disabled and are dying
severely premature deaths.
Dow Chemical, an
American corporation, and its subsidiary the Union Carbide Corporation are
legally responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster. But Dow-Carbide has
refused to show up to court and face criminal charges that have been pending in
India for 25+ years. Dow-Carbide has gotten away with this because the
US government keeps acting as its special protector, guarding it from all
accusations and accountability.
You can shine a
spotlight on injustice and shame the US government into changing how it deals
with corporate criminals. Sign this petition demanding that the US
Government uphold international law and stop shielding Dow Chemical from
accountability for its crimes in Bhopal, India. (If the link doesn't work,
visit https://wh.gov/isOdv to
sign.)
Right now the White
House and the US Department of Justice are shielding Dow-Carbide from
FOUR court notices sent by the Indian Judicial system, which per
international treaty must be served to Dow. It’s time we told the US Department
of Justice to do its job properly and serve the court notices to Dow. Sign the petition, forward this email to your friends and
family, and post about it on your social media accounts.
IMPORTANT NOTE: After you sign the petition, you will quickly
receive an email from the White House asking you to confirm your signature. Your
signature will only be counted after you confirm it. If you don't
receive a confirmation email, make sure to check your spam folder.
Thank you for your
support! The International
Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB)
ICJB is a coalition of
Bhopal survivors' groups and international supporters. Visit www.bhopal.net to learn
more about the Bhopal disaster and its aftermath.