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Draft Security Council Resolution Would Extend Corporate Immunity in Iraq PDF Print E-mail
Friday, 04 June 2004

A draft UN Security Council Resolution proposed by the U.S. and the U.K. would extend U.S. corporate immunity from civil or criminal prosecution related to oil operations in Iraq. EarthRights International, the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network and the Government Accountability Project have written an open letter to the Members of the Security Council urging them to strike corporate immunity from the Iraq resolution.

Only existing contractors, like Halliburton, who dealt with the occupying powers, would benefit from continued legal protection. The new resolution on Iraq would not grant immunity to anyone hired the Iraqi government after June 30th of this year.

Legal immunity for the oil sector was first written into Security Council Resolution 1483 of last year; President Bush's May 2003 Executive Order 13303, which was renewed this past May, extended this immunity a great deal further.

Open letter to the UN Security Council Open letter to the UN Security Council
June 4, 2004

Update: On Tuesday, June 8th, the Iraq Resolution passed the Security Council by a vote of 15-0. The paragraph relating to corporate immunity was not changed.