Los Angeles, CA – International rights attorneys filed suit today under the Alien Tort Claims Act against Occidental Petroleum and its security contractor, Airscan, Inc., for their role in the murder of innocent civilians in the hamlet of Santo Domingo, Colombia on December 13, 1998.
The filing coincides with OXY’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Friday, where a survivor of the massacre and critics will question the CEO, Ray Irani and the board of directors on the company’s financially negligent and morally questionable practices worldwide including its role in the Colombian massacre. The suit which was brought forth by the International Labor Rights Fund and the Center for Human Rights at Northwestern University School of Law, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
A press conference is scheduled Friday morning featuring attorney Paul Hoffman, and the plaintiff, Luis Alberto Mujica, whose mother, sister and cousin were among the 11 civilians and 6 children who perished in the massacre. Joining them are former State Senator Tom Hayden and leading human rights activists.
WHEN: FRIDAY APRIL 25, 2003 9:30 AM
EVENT: Press Conference and Demonstration at Occidental Petroleum’s Annual Meeting
WHERE: St. Regis Hotel 2055 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, California
The suit charges that both OXY and Airscan helped conduct the attack, providing key strategic information, as well as ground and air support to the Colombian military in the bombing raid on the town. Airscan’s plane – which provides aerial surveillance for OXY’S Caño Limon oil pipeline – accompanied the Colombian air force during the bombing, using its infrared and video equipment to pinpoint targets on the ground. While allegedly targeting suspected rebels, no rebels were killed.
Occidental Petroleum’s Colombian operations are a magnet for violence and have been under fire from human rights and environmental groups for seven years. The company gained notoriety for its relentless attempts to drill for oil on sacred U’wa indigenous lands, but abandoned a direct role in that drilling effort after intense international criticism and local resistance. Occidental has been a chief architect of U.S. foreign policy toward Colombia, which continues to reward the company-despite its track record-with increasing U.S. military aid to protect its oil operations.
Lawmakers granted some $131 million in U.S. military aid in 2003, and $110 million is proposed in 2004 for the protection of OXY’s Caño Limon pipeline. This unprecedented corporate subsidy of $3.58 a barrel is a handsome payoff for OXY’s aggressive lobbying efforts and political contributions.
“The evidence in this lawsuit validates what human rights and environmental groups have been saying all along-that OXY is a morally bankrupt company that directly perpetrates human rights abuses. It’s an outrage that U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for such a lawless corporation,” said Kevin Koenig of Amazon Watch.
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