Thursday, 26 July 2012

A chemical leak in Bhopal killed 20,000 people

Dear friends,




A chemical leak in Bhopal killed 20,000 people, poisoned 500,000 and caused decades of disease and death. Justice could finally be served on the company responsible but only if our government admits the full scale of the disaster. An international outcry created this opportunity -- now sign the petition to ensure no victim is ignored.
A chemical leak in Bhopal killed 20,000 people, poisoned 500,000 and caused decades of disease and death -- now survivors have a real chance to get justice from the company responsible. But our government is working behind the scenes to help shield Dow Chemical from having to pay compensation to everyone affected. It's up to us to step in and bring victory to the victims.

It took weeks of public outcry to convince the government to target Dow at all for these crimes and now Home Affairs Minister Chidambaram is busy erasing almost 80% of the victims from the claim, drastically reducing the possible damages.

A public outcry forced the Minister to bring the case to court. Now lets pressure him to submit the accurate figures to the Supreme court so that all the victims get justice. Join the call and when we reach 50,000 signers we will take out a hard-hitting newspaper ad that will force his attention:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_bhopal_i2/?bTfWiab&v=16564

The Bhopal chemical spill tragedy wrecked the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and scorched the earth for generations. Yet despite this historic destruction, no justice has been served. Union Carbide, the company in charge of the plant, dodged responsibility, then was bought by Dow Chemical who have also refused to pay out fair compensation to the victims still desperate for help dealing with the loss and destruction around them.

Now, after decades of fighting for justice and a big campaign to push the Indian government to act, the petition before the Indian Supreme Court will reopen the case – paving the way to compensation from Dow to the survivors. But accurately assessing the number of victims is key to ensuring every victim gets compensated if they win. Minister Chidambaram is responsible for a brief submitted to the court, that eliminated almost 80% of the victims as assessed by the Indian Council of Medical Research.

The Minister is likely working to protect Dow in order to keep India’s investment reputation. We can show him that justice is more important than bending the law to please big corporations! Click below to sign the petition and if we reach 50,000 signers, Avaaz will take this message directly to the morning newspaper that Minister Chidambaram reads:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/justice_for_bhopal_i2/?bTfWiab&v=16564

The Bhopal survivors need allies to win their decades long fight for justice, and we can answer their call. In the past, Avaaz has successfully stood with other communities under threat from multinational companies from Guatemala to the Ivory Coast. Now let’s support the victims of Bhopal in their final push for justice.

With hope,

Meredith, Iain, Alaphia, Pascal, Emma, Ricken and the rest of the Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION

The Tragedy Continues (Tehelka)
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main53.asp?filename=Op140712SATINATH.asp

Bhopal Activists Slam U.S. Ruling (blog)
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/06/28/bhopal-activists-slam-u-s-ruling

Between the flames (The Hindu)
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/article3635160.ece

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