Ecuadoreans Take Chevron To International Criminal Court [Subscription required]
Rainforest communities in Ecuador have asked the International Criminal Court in the Hague to investigate alleged efforts by Chevron Corp. chief John Watson to obstruct court-ordered cleanup of toxic contamination in the Amazon...Chevron has fought the verdict...in both Ecuadorean and U.S. courts, claiming the decision was tainted by fraud that included an alleged bribe of the trial judge by plaintiffs' attorneys. The ICC complaint alleges that instead of complying with the Ecuadorean court order...Watson personally ordered the launching of “multiple collateral attacks” against the judgment and the lawyers who represented the affected communities...According to the complaint, an “attack” against a civilian population can be nonviolent in nature, and Chevron’s refusal to comply with court-ordered remediation efforts meet that standard because of the direct impact the pollution is having on the region’s inhabitants...Chevron spokesman Jim Craig characterized the ICC complaint as “another stunt” meant to distract attention from the merits of the underlying lawsuit in Ecuador...