Warren Anderson, former CEO of Union Carbide in India, at his door in Bridgehampton, Long Island, New York.
Greenpeace today called on the U.S. State Department to arrest
and extradite international fugitive and Bhopal corporate criminal
(1), Warren Anderson, who has been found by a UK newspaper (2) and
Greenpeace living a life of luxury in New York State. Anderson, the
former Chief Executive Officer of Union Carbide, has been hiding in
the United States since an explosion at his company's plant in
Bhopal, India, caused the worst industrial disaster in history in
December 1984.
Greenpeace paid Anderson a visit at his U.S. home and handed him
an arrest warrant. He has been facing charges of culpable homicide
and an extradition order from the government of India for the past
eleven years. He has never appeared in court to face charges for
crimes in Bhopal or even to explain why his company did not apply
the same safety standards at its plant in India that it operated at
a sister plant in South Charleston, the U.S. State of West
Virginia.
"If a team of journalists and Greenpeace managed to track down
India's most wanted man in a matter of days, how seriously have the
U.S. authorities tried to find him all these years? The U.S. has
reacted swiftly on curbing the financial corporate crimes of Enron
and WorldCom, but has clearly not made much of an effort to find
Anderson, responsible for the deaths of 20,000 people in India,
said Greenpeace campaigner, Casey Harrell, in the U.S.
On the night of the disaster, when an explosion at Union
Carbide's pesticide plant caused 40 tonnes of lethal gas to seep
into the city of Bhopal, six safety measures designed to prevent a
gas leak had either malfunctioned, were turned off or were
otherwise inadequate. In addition, the safety siren, intended to
alert the community should an incident occur at the plant, was
turned off.
Union Carbide responded to the disaster by paying survivors
inadequate compensation and abandoning the plant, leaving tonnes of
dangerous toxic chemicals strewn around the site and the people of
Bhopal with a toxic legacy that is still causing injury today. In
2001, the company shed its name by merging with Dow Chemical.
In May this year, the government of India unexpectedly started
proceedings to dilute charges against Anderson from culpable
homicide to negligent homicide. But yesterday, the judgement of a
Bhopal Court rejected the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation's
plea to dilute charges against Anderson. The ruling has been
welcomed by those representing the victims in their fight for
justice.
Calling on both governments to act swiftly, Mr. Ganesh Nochur,
Campaigns Director of Greenpeace India stated, "Now that Anderson's
address is known, India must immediately and formally push for his
arrest and extradition on charges of culpable homicide. In return,
Greenpeace demands that the U.S. honour this request, per the two
nations' extradition agreement. Anderson and the rest of Union
Carbide, now Dow Chemical, should take responsibility for their
crimes in Bhopal."
Bhopal is an ongoing disaster. One hundred twenty thousand
people still face serious health problems and children born to
survivors are also affected. The toxic chemicals abandoned in
Bhopal by the chemical company have contaminated the groundwater
that is used by thousands of people who live around the abandoned
factory. (3)
Greenpeace and Bhopal survivors (4) are calling on Dow Chemical
to clean up the factory site at its expense as would be required in
the U.S., to secure long-term medical treatment facilities and
medical rehabilitation for the survivors of the poisonous gas leak,
to ensure economic compensation for the gas-affected people and
their families, and to provide clean drinking water to communities
that are forced to consume contaminated groundwater.
"As delegates gather at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, we
fully expect corporate crimes such as this to be high on their
agenda. International legislation must be established to make sure
corporations and their officials are held criminally and
financially liable for environmental terrorism. There must be no
more Bhopals," concluded Ganesh.
Notes: (1) In 1992, a warrant was issued for Mr. Anderson's arrest. He was charged with culpable homicide in connection with the chemical disaster at Union Carbide's Bhopal plant in 1984. This is an extraditable offence under the extradition treaty between the United States and India. Mr. Anderson has also evaded a summons to appear in a U.S. court for a civil trial relating to the Bhopal disaster.(2) The Daily Mirror, 29-08-2002. See www.mirror.co.uk(3) In 1999, Greenpeace and Bhopal community groups visited the abandoned factory to assess the environmental condition of the site and its surroundings. The team documented the presence of stockpiles of toxic pesticides as well as hazardous wastes and contaminated material scattered throughout the factory site. The survey found substantial and, in some locations, severe contamination of land and water supplies with heavy metals and chlorinated chemicals.(4) Greenpeace is campaigning in Bhopal as part of an international NGO coalition AaCcTt including the Bhopal Gas Affected Women Stationery Workers Association, Bhopal Gas Affected Pensioners Association, Bhopal Group for Information and Action, National Campaign For Justice in Bhopal, The Other Media and CorpWatch.