News & Press

In this issue:

1. In India, ongoing curative petition for survivor compensation: Indian Government refuses to use own agency's death and injuries figures, activists protest
2. Bhopal occupies the world: 27 years of campaigning for justice (plus Slideshow!)
3. VICTORY: Amid public outrage over Dow's 2012 Olympic sponsorship, the U.S. chemical giant drops its logo from main stadium
4. Bhopali, award-winning documentary, available to stream online
5. "We've had many victories, small and large. None of these would have been possible without you...we are pursuing an extremely ambitious goal for 2012" - Leonid Chidelevitch, ICJB US Advisory Board

1. In India, ongoing curative petition for survivor compensation: Indian Government refuses to use own agency's death and injuries figures--activists continue to protest

A curative petition for compensation for disaster victims is pending in the Supreme Court of India. A curative petition recognizes the grave miscarriage of justice in the previous compensation judgement, which resulted in appallingly inadequate support for a fraction of the affected population. We're talking 7 U.S. cents a day for a lifetime of unimaginable suffering. In the current civil case, figures of death reported is 5,295, while the Indian Council of Medical Research (ironically, a Government agency!) shows the number to be closer to 25,000. Bhopalis in India, after failing with several measures to urge the Government of India to change the figures for the death and injured of the disaster, organized a ''rail roko" (stop the trains) on the 27th anniversary. With such a drastic measure taken, the Government is now willing to come to the table with activists.
 

2. Bhopal occupies the world: 27 years of campaigning for justice

December 3rd, 2011 marked 27 years since the night of the Bhopal Gas Disaster, which has since continued to escalate due to corporate negligence and government-bending by Union Carbide and its owner, Dow Chemical. To commemorate the 27th anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster, events were held worldwide in solidarity with the survivors’ campaign: from Occupy outreach in Boston; educational events in Maine; Bhopali documentary screenings in Toronto; candlelight vigils in Scotland; die-in actions in San Francisco; to hundreds of thousands of Bhopalis in India, laying on the train track to demand fair compensation. View the full event round-up here.

Excerpted from Times of India:

LONDON/NEW DELHI: Dow Chemical has agreed to remove its logo from London's Olympic stadium but the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) said that it is not satisfied with the move and wants US giant to remove its sponsorship from the 2012 Games.

DOW said it was agreeing to the "vision" of the 2012 Games by waiving its sponsorship rights to place its brand on a controversial fabric wrap for the stadium which was objected by campaigners furious at the US conglomerate's links to the deadly Bhopal gas disaster.

Dow was made a sponsor of London 2012 by Lord Coe's organising committee (Locog) in August.

"The agreement - between Dow and - Locog was limited to branding of five 'test panels' that were to be removed in the months before the Games and were not part of the final design," Dow spokesman Scott Wheeler was quoted as saying by a British newspaper Sunday Express.

"In mid-summer, Locog and Dow discussed Dow deferring the rights to these five panels to allow free and full execution of the design as determined by Locog. Dow agreed to this to - support Locog's and London 2012's vision for the stadium wrap," he added.
Reacting to the report, IOA acting president VK Malhotra said he was not clear what exactly it meant and said the body would continue to press for total removal of Dow Chemical as a sponsor of the London Olympics.

"I have also heard about Dow chemical withdrawing their logo from the decorative wrap but I don't know what it means," Malhotra said.

"Our demand is that Dow should be removed as a sponsor and we have expressed strong reservation with the Olympics. We are sending our communication to Dow as well as IOC on this regard."

December 6, 2011
Press Statement
 
BHOPAL, INDIA - Condemning the violence triggered by precipitate police action on a peaceful rail roko staged by Bhopal victims on 3 December, five survivors organisations today said they will organise a detailed enquiry presided over by a retired judge of the High Court or Supreme Court. The enquiry is expected to help survivors in their attempts to gather evidence and initiate formal proceedings against those responsible for the violence, including the police. The survivors groups apologised to the media persons who were hurt, and said they will work towards ensuring that those responsible for the violence against media persons are identified and punished.
 
Calling the State Government's actions vindictive, the organisations laid the blame squarely on the police for the violence that ensued on 3 December. "The first act of the police was to snatch away our PA system through which we could have stopped protestors from responding to police brutalities through violence," said Rashida Bee, President, Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh. Rashida said that she is an eye witness to the police instigating violence and creating a situation for criminal elements to join in.
 
Rashida introduced several women among the over 50 gas victims who were beaten with sticks and left bleeding while protesting peacefully. Even after peace was restored and the agitation called off, a large gang of policemen entered individual homes and shops in Umrao Dulha Baug area and beat up people, damaged furniture, doors, windows and vehicles.
 
The organisations appealed to all citizens who had recorded the violence on 3rd on their cameras and mobiles to send them the evidence for successful prosecution of police officials.