Celebrations on the streets of Bhopal. Now almost 20 years later all survivors will finally get meagre compensation. Full justice will require Dow Chemical to clean up the polluted site.
January 7, 2003:
To show Dow that problems in India cannot just be ignored
because they are far away
we returned Bhopal waste to its new owner at Dow's biggest
plant outside the US. Dow's response: arrests of over twenty
activists.
January 23, 2003: In the
last few months Dow has recieved over 15,000 emails and thousands
more postcards asking it to clean up Bhopal. So far it has ignored
all messages from concerned citizens. Se we organised something
that is not so easily ingnored - a call in day to Dow's ethics
line.
Hundreds of people called in and Dow's response was the closure
of phone lines to any questions on Bhopal.
March 10, 2003: To
highlight Dow's attempts to silence survivors protests in India
with a US$10,000 damages claim, we launch a
internet sit-in of Dow's greenwash site at bhopal.com. True to
form Dow refuses to drop the suit against peaceful protestors and
attempts to evade the internet action with technical tricks. The
protest brings down bhopal.com on Wednesday 12 March.
March 11, 2003: Activists
block the entrances to the Houston Dow Center after
delivering 250 gallons of contaminated water taken from wells
in Bhopal, the site of the world's worst industrial disaster. The
water, the same water that the people of Bhopal are forced to use
everyday, is removed from the scene by a US hazardous materials
team. Dow gets people in chemical suits to remove the water but is
content to let poor Indians use it everyday?
March 18, 2003:
Disappointment as a US court throws out Bhopal survivors' civil
damages lawsuit. The judge, John F Keenan, has thwarted all three
attempts to prosecute Union Carbide in the US, and his latest
decision makes no effort to conceal its bias. Survivors seek an
appeal and a new judge for the case citing his decision as "glaring
instance of juridical prejudice."
March 25, 2003: Survivors
organisations confirm intent to appeal the decision. Read the grounds for
appeal and an interesting look at the shaky grounds
the judge used to protect corporate criminals for a third time.
Even the
local paper in Dow's hometown says Dow should be cleaning up
the polluted site.
April 22, 2003: Rashida
Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, gas affected Bhopal survivors and
Satinath Sarangi of the Bhopal Group for Information and Action arrive in Texas
for a 40 day tour of the US. During their tour, Rashida and
Champa visit various communities affected by Dow Chemical, and also
engage in strategic discussion with support groups to strengthen
their struggle for justice.
May 1, 2003: Rasheeda,
Champa and long-time Bhopal activist Satinath Sarangi along with
other Bhopal supporters launch a satyagraha - fast for justice -
against Union Carbide's new owner, Dow Chemical, with a
demonstration in New York. A Dow spokesman blithely remarks in
response to the hunger strike, "We view the situation as
resolved"
May 8, 2003: At the Dow
annual meeting in Midland, Michigan, Rasheeda, Champa and Satinath
bring the
disaster home to top executives of Dow Chemical. The activists
are reluctantly granted a meeting with the Dow CEO. However the now
familiar stonewalling and another lecture in corporate hand washing
and PR is the only result of the short meeting. William
Stavaropolos, Dow CEO, claims in a speech to the shareholders at
the meeting that Dow-Carbide no longer faces any criminal cases in
India. John Musser, Dow's public relations spokesperson is later
forced to
admit that this claim is wrong.
May 12, 2003: The three
hunger strikers today end their personal fast by calling on
supporters and justice campaigners around the world to take over
and fast in relays from now until the 19th anniversary of the
Bhopal gas disaster.
July 1, 2003: Significant
developments as the Indian government finally and reluctantly does
what it and its predecessors ought to have done long ago by serving
extradition papers to the US government for the chairman of Carbide
at the time of the disaster,
Warren Anderson. This time last year, it was applying to dilute
the charges against Anderson. It has taken huge pressure from
survivors and their supporters around the world, plus two global
hunger-strikes, and angry condemnation by an all-party committee of
Indian MPs to force the government's hand. More from
Bhopal.net (scroll to bottom of page).
July 22, 2003: Eighteen
members of US Congress send a letter to Dow Chairman William
Stavropoulos demanding that his company assume liability for the
wrongdoings of Union Carbide (its 100 percent subsidiary) in
Bhopal. Read the
letter (pdf file) and press
statement.
October 8, 2003: The
Journal of American Medical Association [JAMA] published a study
carried out by the Sambhavna Trust Clinic showing growth
retardation among children conceived by parents exposed to the
toxic gases of Union Carbide after the December 1984 disaster. The
study published in the October 8th issue of the prestigious medical
publication shows that male offspring of exposed parents are
shorter, lighter, thinner and have smaller heads than sons born to
unexposed parents in the same period.
October 18, 2003: US
congressmen file an Amicus brief with the Second Circuit, US Court
of Appeals. Congressman Pallone and eight other US lawmakers on
behalf of the Bhopal survivors Class Action filed the appeal.
December 1-3, 2003:
Around 63 locations around the world joined in the plea for 'global day of
action against corporate crime' and held solidarity actions for
Bhopal survivors.
March 17, 2004: Second
Court of Appeals in New York announced their decision on the class
action lawsuit filed in New York. The decision was a landmark legal
decision regarding the environmental pollution of soil and
groundwater in and around the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. The
US court ruled in our favour that Bhopal victims are legally
entitled to pursue claims against Union Carbide for cleanup and
environmental remediation of off-site contamination on their
properties or private hand pumps (in addition to other claims such
as property damage and medical monitoring).
April 15, 2004: The City
of San Francisco became the first US city to introduce a resolution
urging The Dow Chemical Company to address pending issues facing
the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal, Indian
and to observe December 3, 2004 the 20th anniversary of the
disaster as Bhopal Remembrance Day.
April 19, 2004: Two long
time activist and gas survivors, Rasheeda Bee and Champa Devi
Shukla win the
prestigious Goldman Environment Prize in San Francisco
California. They received an award for US$125,000, which they
decided to put into a trust to fund medical care for children born
with birth defects to gas-exposed parents, livelihood regeneration
projects for those unable to work because of their exposure, and a
new award for those fighting corporate crime in India.
April 21, 2004: Innovest
Strategic Value Advisors Inc, a financial group, launches a major
report on Dow's liabilities called "Major Investor Risks Under the
Radar at Dow Chemical." This report(pdf
file) details the significant unreported, or underreported
environmental risks facing the company.
April 29, 2004: Two
survivors of the December 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster in
Bhopal, meet with Mr Jose Antonio Ocampo, UN undersecretary general
of Economic & Social Affairs, to remind him of the "total
absence of initiatives by any of the UN Agencies towards
rehabilitation of helath, economic status, environment or child
welfare for the more than 500,000 survivors suffering as a result
of exposure". Ocampo promises to look into the matter.
May 7, 2004: The Supreme
Court of India has directed the state government to immediately
supply drinking water through pipeline to the Bhopal community
residing around the contaminated Dow/Union Carbide factory
site.
May 13, 2004: The
survivors of the 1984 Bhopal gas leak as well as several supporters
protest against Dow Chemical headquarters in Midland, Michigan for
its ongoing refusal to address its pending liabilities in Bhopal.
More than 6 percent of Dow shareholders voted in favour of the
Bhopal resolution that asks Dow's management to address specific
health, environmental and social concerns of the Bhopal
survivors.
June 16, 2004: The Bhopal
Court issues a notice to Dow to appear in the court in the context
of ongoing criminal case against Union Carbide.
June 18, 2004: Two gas
survivors Rashida Bee, Shahid Noor and long time activist Sathyu
launched the hunger strike to obtain 'No Objection Certificate'
from Government of India regarding the clean up and decontamination
of the Carbide plant site. This certificate was needed in the New
York district court by June 30th, 2004. Over 400 survivors from
Bhopal also attended the launch of the fast in Delhi.
June 23, 2004: After 6
days of gruelling hunger strike, out of which 3 days were without
water, Ministry of Chemicals decided to issue the 'No Objection
Certificate' to New York Court. This was a
significant victory for Bhopal Campaign and global solidarity
following mounting pressure from cyberactivists, local and
international groups and intensive lobbying by Greenpeace
campaigners in India.
June 24, 2004: Greenpeace
confronts the UN "Global Compact" initiative on voluntary calls for
Corporate and Social Responsibility during a meeting in New York
for failing to deal with cases like Bhopal. Demands were raised for
an international binding legal framework on corporate
accountability. Currently the UN only promotes weak voluntary
measures.
July 13, 2004: US
government unsurprisingly rejects Warren Anderson's extradition
request from Indian government. The rejection was on technical
grounds like non-framing of charges against Warren Anderson in the
ongoing criminal case in Bhopal district court.
July 19, 2004: The Indian
Supreme Court orders the Indian Government to distribute the
balance of compensation remaining from Union Carbide's settlement
amount (Rs 1503 crores) among the 566,876 Bhopal survivors whose
claims have been successfully settled. More
on what this means to survivors in Bhopal.
August 2, 2004: Dow
Chemical announces that Andrew Liveris, the chemical giant's
current president and chief operating officer, would replace
William Stavropoulos as chief executive.
September 3, 2004: Dow
files their reply in the Bhopal Criminal case stating that DCIPL
has no relationship TDCC. It also said that TDCC did not merge with
Union Carbide, in fact it was a company called Transnational.
Ummm... sounds clear as mud and probably intended just to confuse -
obviously an interesting legal manoeuvre to flee any judicial
recognition in court!
September 9, 2004:
Greenpeace in India launches its
Solar Generation project from Bhopal. Together with the
International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB), the project is
an income generation initiative for young survivors of the world's
worst industrial disaster. The project will be carried out by
'Bhopal ki Awaz', an organisation of people orphaned by the
disaster and a constituent of ICJB.
September 21, 2004: At
the opening of the Premier Vision textile exhibition in Paris,
Greenpeace activists and Bhopali Survivors from ICJB dressed in
black t-shirts - each one revealing the faces of Bhopal victims -
confronted Dow Chemical as the company presented its new fibre,
XLA.
September 29th, 2004:
Congressman Frank Pallone, introduces a US Congressional
resolution asking for Union Carbide to provide complete medical,
social, and economic rehabilitation to the victims of the disaster.
And to undertake a complete environmental remediation that restores
the badly polluted plant site affected by this disaster to a
habitable condition and fully remediate the drinking water supply
of affected residential communities. He also request to ensure that
Union Carbide appears before the Bhopal District Court for
prosecution on the criminal charges pending against it.