Fw: Dow Sues Protesters in Bhopal

[Guest guest]

Oh my God! The nerve of this evil corporation....suing survivors of their toxic spill! Those in charge at Dow are totally heartless, detestible and merciless. And that is putting it very mildly.

Patty

----- Original Message ----- From: ilena@... (Ilena)Newsgroups: alt.support.breast-implant,sci.environmentSubject: Dow Sues Protesters in Bhopal ...http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1169/context/outrageDow Sues Protesters in Bhopal Run Date: 01/04/03 (WOMENSENEWS)--The Dow Chemical Company has filed a lawsuit against agroup of female survivors of a toxic spill who demonstrated againstthe company in Bhopal, India last month.The lawsuit asks for $10,000 in damages from protesters whoparticipated in the peaceful two-hour protest, claiming the womencaused Dow employees "loss of work." The lawsuit also asks thatactivists be restrained from holding future demonstrations within 100meters of the Dow offices.The Dow Chemical Company did not return calls seeking comment on thelawsuit, filed two weeks ago. The Dec. 3 protest was held on the 18thanniversary of the lethal gas spill at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopalthat killed thousands of people and harmed hundreds of thousands.Union Carbide became a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company inFebruary 2001.About 200 women from the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila StationaryKarmachari Sangh, a trade union comprised of women gas spillsurvivors, and the International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, acoalition lobbying for survivors' rights, gathered contaminated waterand soil samples from the abandoned Union Carbide plant in Bhopal.They carried them to Dow's headquarters in Mumbai, India, and handedthem to company representatives, along with traditional straw brooms.They then asked the company to clean up the toxic pollution that stillcovers the area and causes health and environmental problems.Continued presence of toxic chemicals at the site and in thegroundwater could cause tainted breast milk, miscarriages and birthdefects, along with cancer and other health disorders."By filing this lawsuit, Dow is trying to establish a precedent, tosay 'you can't even talk about this,'" said Casey Harrell, aGreenpeace Bhopal specialist. "These people have nothing but theirvoices."Representatives of Greenpeace International were present at theprotest and are also named in the lawsuit.Union Carbide was held liable in 1989 for the spill and paid $470million in direct compensation for the victims and financed a hospit alin Bhopal. Environmental activists have criticized the settlement,saying it provided only about $300 to $500 for each victim.At the protest, Anand Vohra, finance director at Dow Chemicals, toldthe activists that he would personally recommend to "higherauthorities," that action be take to alleviate the suffering of thegas-affected people, according to Bhopal.net.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------For more information:Bhopal.net:http://www.bhopal.net/welcome2.html Statement of The Dow Chemical Company Regarding the Bhopal Tragedy:http://www.bhopal.com/position.htm