INTERVIEWS, PHOTOS AND B-ROLL FOOTAGE ALSO AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
____________________________________________________________________________
WHO: Larry Bowoto, a community leader from Ondo State, Nigeria, shot multiple times and permanently injured by security forces flown in by Chevron during a protest against environmental and economic harms from oil production near villagers’ homes. Mr. Bowoto is now a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Chevron due to be heard in Federal Court in San Francisco in September.
Emergildo Crillo, a leader of the indigenous Cofan people of the Ecuadorian Amazon, who have been devastated by Chevron’s negligent operating practices. Two of his children died after drinking water from a river polluted by Chevron, and his wife has suffered uterine cancer.
Mercedes Jaramillo, suffers from an intractable skin disease which doctors have been unable to diagnose. Ms. Jaramillo has lived on a site contaminated and then supposedly “remediated” by Chevron in Ecuador.
Naw Musi, a Burmese women’s and human rights campaigner of the indigenous Karen people, who have suffered persecution from Burma’s military dictatorship. Ms. Musi will speak about human rights abuses related to Chevron’s Yadana pipeline and Chevron’s role during Cyclone Nargas.
Torm Nompraseurt, originally from Laos has been a Richmond resident for over 30 years and an organizer with the Asian Environmental Pacific Network and the Richmond Alliance for Environmental Justice. He will speak about the campaign to stop the expansion of Chevron’s Richmond refinery, which would process dirtier crude oil as well as the impacts of the refinery on public health in Richmond.
WHERE: The front steps of San Francisco City Hall (Polk Street steps)
WHEN: 10am, Tuesday, May 27, 2008
WHAT: A photo op and media briefing about systemic human rights and environmental violations in Chevron’s
global operations.
BACKGROUND: As Chevron prepares for its annual general meeting (AGM) for shareholders on May 28th, victims of the oil major’s human rights and environmental violations on three different continents are also converging on Chevron’s global headquarters in San Ramon, northern California, to demand the company begin behaving like a responsible corporate citizen. In Ecuador, a court-appointed expert recently set damages against Texaco (now part of Chevron) at up to $16 billion for the company’s dumping of 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater, with local communities now ravaged by cancer. In Burma, Chevron’s Yadana pipeline has provided revenues that have propped up the country’s repressive military dictatorship, despite international sanctions, while security forces guarding the pipeline have been accused of rape, murder and forced labor. In Nigeria, soldiers flown in and supervised by Chevron shot peaceful protestors in an infamous case that will now be the focus of a human rights trial in San Francisco courts later this year. Representatives from Burma, Ecuador and Nigeria will address Chevron’s AGM as proxy voters, bringing the message to Chevron shareholders and management that the oil company urgently needs to make systemic changes and concrete commitments to protect the human rights of communities near its facilities, if it wishes to be viewed as a responsible corporate citizen. Given the global nature of the problems arising from Chevron’s operations around the globe, the company’s failings appear to be systemic and can only be resolved with decisive leadership from senior management in San Ramon.
A new book, “Crude Reflections”, of photos detailing the human toll of Chevron’s dumping in Ecuador will also be available at the press conference. Photographers Lou Dematteis and Kayana Szymczak will be in attendance.
