Video: Amazon Watch's Atossa Soltani Talks About Chevron in Ecuador

Video and Interview by LivingECHO:

Atossa Soltani is the founder and Executive Director of Amazon Watch. Since 1991, Atossa has been working to support indigenous peoples in their efforts to protect their rights to self-determination, territories, natural resources, culture, and way of life. Prior to founding Amazon Watch, Atossa directed campaigns at the Rainforest Action Network (1991-1996). Atossa has worked on documenting and publicizing human rights abuses and environmental disasters caused by extractive industries and large scale infrastructure projects throughout the Amazon. She has led successful campaigns challenging oil companies and international financial institutions to adopt stronger environmental and social standards globally. For more information, see www.amazonwatch.org

– Nick

Highlights From Amazon Watch's LA Crude Primere Event

Amazon Watch just released this great video of people's reactions after seeing the film CRUDE at the LA Premiere. No Question this film as impactful as it is infuriating.

Nick Magel is Communications Manager at Amazon Watch. Prior to joining Amazon Watch, Nick was Director of the Freedom From Oil campaign at Global Exchange. Nick’s critiques of the US oil addiction have run in The New York Times, USA Today, and San Francisco Chronicle. Previously, Nick had worked on campaigns to stop new liquefied natural gas infrastructure on the west coast and developed climate based curricula for classrooms across the country. He received his MA in education from Lesley University.

Chevron Files International Arbitration Claim Against Ecuador: Forum Shopping at the Hague?

This is a good overview of what Chevron's new chapter of delay tactics is made up of. It takes a lot of the legal wonk out of the equation and breaks down Chevron's new international arbitration claim for what it is; as the author puts it, "the latest move is the litigation equivalent of three card monte"

Favorite quote goes to: "Chevron's latest tactic all but mocks the institution's primary mission to administer justice."

Crosspost from International Buisness Law Advisor

By: Santiago Cueto

First, the United States. Then Ecuador. Now Holland. Chevron's wanderlust knows no bounds, as it just filed a parallel international arbitration proceeding in The Hague.

As reported in this article in the Wall Street Journal and in this article in the New York Times, Chevron filed an international arbitration claim before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague under the Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). The claim is based on Ecuador's alleged violation of investment agreements, international law, and its treaty with the United States--the Encouragement and Protection of Investments Treaty.

Chevron’s claims relate to the Amazon oil lawsuit I wrote about in an earlier post. In the arbitration filed in the Hague , Chevron alleges that Ecuador’s judicial process is broken and that the South American nation cannot fairly adjudicate the long-running oil pollution litigation. Through the filing, Chevron seeks to enforce prior settlement and release agreements that the government of Ecuador entered into with Texaco Petroleum when the consortium was terminated, and to hold Ecuador accountable for its obligations under Ecuadorian law and existing international treaties.

The Ecuadorian government says that it will "vigorously" defend itself against the claim.

Chevron's new general counsel, Hewitt Pate, released a statement that accompanied the announcement of the new claim.

"Because Ecuador's judicial system is incapable of functioning independently of political influence, Chevron has no choice but to seek relief under the treaty between the United States and Ecuador."

Forum Shopping is an Unfair Venue Shell Game

Chevron's latest move is the litigation equivalent of three card monty and is yet another tactic to divert attention away from the trial taking place in Ecuador. Chevron first fought successfully to force plaintiffs to try their lawsuit in Ecuador rather than U.S. courts. Then it sought (unsuccessfully) to win indemnification in U.S. courts from a possible judgment in Ecuador. And now it's filed for arbitration in Holland. Chevron's blatant forum shopping is an abuse of the judicial process and designed to avoid a judgment.

The Hague is arguably the most hallowed institution for the resolution of high-profile international disputes. Chevron's latest tactic all but mocks the institution's primary mission to administer justice. The Hague must not be utilized to frustrate legitimate legal proceedings taking place elsewhere.

Forum shopping drains resources by imposing substantial additional costs on defendants, who must transport lawyers, documents, and numerous witnesses to the site of the trial – an expense that is multiplied when the trial is located far from the defendant’s place of business, such as in Holland.

Steven Donziger, a U.S. legal adviser to the plaintiffs, said the latest move by Chevron followed a series of setbacks in courts for the company in both countries.

Filing an international arbitration campaign at this point in time smacks of desperation and is a clear example of forum shopping," Donziger said in emailed statement.

As reported in this article in the Oil & Gas Journal, Steven called the company’s move “one of Chevron’s last cards to avoid paying for a half-century of environmental contamination in Ecuador’s Amazon.”

The country's solicitor general, Diego García, said "Chevron has signaled for years its intention to file the instant arbitration, although only after an adverse judgment had issued and the appellate process completed.

"The environmental case should be resolved by the courts," Garcia added, "not in an arbitration in which the private parties are not even represented."

You can read the entire article at International Business Law Advisor Online

– Nick

Nick Magel is Communications Manager at Amazon Watch. Prior to joining Amazon Watch, Nick was Director of the Freedom From Oil campaign at Global Exchange. Nick’s critiques of the US oil addiction have run in The New York Times, USA Today, and San Francisco Chronicle. Previously, Nick had worked on campaigns to stop new liquefied natural gas infrastructure on the west coast and developed climate based curricula for classrooms across the country. He received his MA in education from Lesley University.

Trudie Styler Invites 6000 Chevron Workers to the Movies

CRUDE is opening in Chevron's backyard on San Francisco today, a mere 20 miles from it's world headquarters in San Ramon. Chevron has refused screenings from CRUDE Director Joe Berlinger and Chevron Spokesman Kent Robinson has even attacked the film without confirming he or any other Chevron employee has even seen the film.

Well now it looks like Trudie Styler has stepped up and invited the 6000 San Francisco Bay Area Chevron employees to CRUDE, so they can come see the film and judge for themselves...

-----

By Mike Brune Executive Director of RAN on Huffington Post

Let's say you're like most Americans. You believe that everyone should have the right to clean water and clean air. You think that rain forests are special and ought to be protected. And you think that all people have basic human rights to be recognized and respected in every country.

But at the same time, you work for an oil company. Chevron.

Just because your CEO is entangled in one environmental and human rights controversy after another doesn't mean you can't care about the planet, does it?

Trudie Styler believes there are certain issues we can all agree on, regardless of who signs our paycheck. On the eve of the San Francisco premiere of Joe Berlinger's Crude, the award-winning environmental and human rights leader reached out to Chevron employees -- and asked them on a date.

Three years ago, Styler traveled to Ecuador to witness first-hand the legacy Texaco, now Chevron, left behind after decades of oil contamination.

Now she's hoping Chevron employees see for themselves what is happening. "Many people will assume that you and I must be on different sides of the fence on this issue. But I don't believe that," Styler wrote. "I'm willing to bet that you and I, and all of your colleagues, agree that everyone has the fundamental right to the life-supporting elements of clean air and clean water."

Let's hope she's right.

Here's the letter, in full:

Dear xx,

My name is Trudie Styler.

You may know me as Sting's wife, and you may know of my work for the environment and human rights. You may also have heard my name mentioned as one of the celebrities speaking out in support of the 30,000 Ecuadorean citizens who are pursuing Chevron to clean up the pollution the company left behind in their homeland.

I am all of those things.

But over and above all those things, I am simply a mother who can't just stand by and do nothing when I see children who are suffering.

Three years ago, I made a trip to the Ecuadorean Amazon. It wasn't my first trip to the rainforest, but it was a life-changing experience nonetheless. I met hundreds of villagers and indigenous people who depend on the rainforest for their nourishment, their livelihoods, their culture and their spirituality. I saw with my own eyes how, over the past thirty years, their home has been devastated by oil pollution, and their health destroyed by the toxicity that has poisoned the soil, the rivers, and even the rain. Chevron left that pollution behind. They've even admitted to dumping more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste there.

On that trip I vowed to do whatever I could to help these people. I believe that any one of you, if you had seen what I saw there, would have felt the same.

So, I went to Unicef, as I am one of their Ambassadors. Unicef agreed that the lack of safe drinking water in the affected area was a serious crisis, and they joined forces with my own charity, the Rainforest Fund, to organize the installation of water filters and tanks to families, schools, and hospitals. (More about this project can be found here.)

I have also been collaborating on a film, Crude, that tells the story of these Ecuadorean people, and their struggle for a safe place to live. I wanted to help shine a light on this terrible situation, and by doing so advocate greater responsibility by multinational companies when they pursue their business interests abroad. Crude is showing in San Francisco for a week, starting this Friday, September 25th.

Many people will assume that you and I must be on different sides of the fence on this issue. But I don't believe that. I'm willing to bet that you and I, and all of your colleagues, agree that everyone has the fundamental right to the life-supporting elements of clean air and clean water.

I'd like to make it very easy for you to learn about these people for yourself. I'd like to give you the opportunity to make up your own mind about what has been going on in Ecuador, and to consider how justice can be achieved for the people suffering there. I'd like to invite you to the movies.

Please join me - I'll buy your ticket. Reply to this email letting us know which showing of Crude you'd like to attend and we'll simply put your name on the list. It's that simple. Come and see for yourself, and you be the judge.

Trudie Styler

– Nick

Nick Magel is Communications Manager at Amazon Watch. Prior to joining Amazon Watch, Nick was Director of the Freedom From Oil campaign at Global Exchange. Nick’s critiques of the US oil addiction have run in The New York Times, USA Today, and San Francisco Chronicle. Previously, Nick had worked on campaigns to stop new liquefied natural gas infrastructure on the west coast and developed climate based curricula for classrooms across the country. He received his MA in education from Lesley University.

Judge in Chevron's $27 Billion Lawsuit Asked to Stay On

After all the media fireworks and PR storms manufactured by Chevron start to settle.

The latest of these facts: Judge Nunez, the judge was preceding over the $27 billion lawsuit, has been asked to remain on the trial after "no reason found for his recusal.

Looks like the truth continues to float to the top of Chevron's muddled concoction.

Bloomberg report:

Ecuador Judge Told by Court to Stay on Chevron Case

By Karen Gullo and Adriana Brasileiro Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Ecuadorean judge who stepped down from a $27 billion environmental lawsuit against Chevron Corp. after the company accused him of bias should remain in charge of the case, a court in Ecuador ruled.

A request by Judge Juan Nunez to recuse himself from the Chevron lawsuit was “unfounded,” Judge Nicolas Zambrano said in a ruling yesterday. Like Nunez, Zambrano sits on the Nueva Loja Superior Court in Ecuador’s northeastern Sucumbios province.

Nunez on Sept. 4 was asked by Ecuadorean authorities to recuse himself after Chevron released tapes allegedly showing that he had disclosed his intention to rule against the company to two businessmen before issuing a final decision and may have been involved in a bribery scheme. Nunez denied the allegation. Ecuador’s top prosecutor is investigating the matters.

Nunez, a former Ecuadorean Air Force officer and president of the Nueva Loja Superior Court, has been overseeing a lawsuit filed by Amazon Basin residents in Ecuador who claim Chevron is responsible for toxic waste from oil drilling in the jungle from 1964 to 1990 or later.

The plaintiffs claim the pollution was left by Texaco Inc., which Chevron acquired in 2001. Chevron said Texaco cleaned up its share of the pollution at its former oil fields, which were taken over by Ecuador’s state-owned oil company. Chevron was released from any future liability in an agreement with PetroEcuador, the company says.

Additional Delays

The case has been pending in a court in Lago Agrio, 20 miles south of the Colombian border, since 2003.

Ecuador Prosecutor General Washington Pesantez said Sept. 4 that Nunez was asked to step down to avoid additional delays in the case. Zambrano, the second highest-ranking judge in Nueva Loja Superior Court, took over the case and considered Nunez’s motion for recusal. Nunez didn’t comply with an order to submit documents supporting his request to resign from the case, Zambrano’s ruling said.

“Considering the request was unfounded, I decide the process by returned to said employee,” Zambrano said, according to an excerpt of the ruling translated from Spanish. Nunez declined to comment on Zambrano’s ruling today.

You can read the entire of the Bloomberg report HERE

– Nick

Nick Magel is Communications Manager at Amazon Watch. Prior to joining Amazon Watch, Nick was Director of the Freedom From Oil campaign at Global Exchange. Nick’s critiques of the US oil addiction have run in The New York Times, USA Today, and San Francisco Chronicle. Previously, Nick had worked on campaigns to stop new liquefied natural gas infrastructure on the west coast and developed climate based curricula for classrooms across the country. He received his MA in education from Lesley University.