EarthRights International is co-counsel in a
case, Bowoto v. Chevron, charging Chevron with complicity in brutal
attacks against nonviolent demonstrators in Nigeria who protested the oil
company's environmental destruction and economic disruption in their
communities. In May 1998, members of the Ilaje community staged a peaceful
protest at Chevron's Parabe oil platform off the Nigerian coast. Chevron called
in the Nigerian military and "kill and go" police, flew them to the
platform on Chevron-contracted helicopters, and supervised their attack against
the protesters. Two demonstrators were killed, others were shot, and several
others were detained and tortured. In November a jury found in favor of the
defendants on all charges. The plaintiffs are appealing that decision
with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A similar case in
California state court seeking to stop Chevron's ongoing harmful practices was
settled in early 2009.
