Article
Prominent Organizations Publicly Condemn Chevron's Actions in Ecuador Case
[Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Chevron to respond. Response provided.] Today, a dozen prominent environmental and human rights organizations including Amazon Watch, the Sierra Club, 350.org and Food and Water Watch issued a public letter condemning Chevron's actions in its decades-long legal battle to evade responsibility for deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic wastewater into the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador. "Chevron's actions set a dangerous precedent and represent a growing and serious threat to the ability of civil society to hold corporations accountable for their misdeeds around the world," the groups state in the letter…[It] details Chevron's attacks on free speech, vilification of anyone critical of its actions, and active undermining of justice systems both in Ecuador and the United States…In 2011, Chevron lost the legal battle in Ecuador and was ordered to pay $9.5 billion for cleanup operations. Although the decision was recently upheld by Ecuador's supreme court, Chevron refuses to pay…